Chicken feed

[HollowOfWisps]

My impression is the opposite; most birds with digestive problems are on commercial feed. The feed question is asked, and when someone replies, as they often do, that they give just layer feed, the questioner moves on to consider other possible causes (especially treats, if they also are given, usually met with an injunction to stop feeding them immediately). Perhaps we should trawl through old posts and test our impressions?

You are taking that part out of context. I was referring to chickens that are kept in a run/coop 24/7 without adequate space to forage and are fed incorrect ratio homemade feeds because someone who is a trendy chicken owner on YouTube told them to do it. I was not referring to properly made homemade feeds that meet the correct nutritional needs of chickens and are fed in conjunction with adequate forage diet. My point was that you can’t buy a tractor supply tinder box sized coop/run where your chickens are always contained then feed solely corn and wheat berries expecting healthy chickens. I am very pro allowing chickens to live and eat as naturally as possible when done right and people take the time to research what they need. I have been trying to work towards that myself, but by doing it the right way. Also if you read any of my posts on this forum I am against commercial layer feed.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I feed my flock all kinds of stuff, they do great!

 

[bearcreekbees]

Feeding whole grains while truly free ranging chickens on acreage that can support year round diverse vegetation and an abundance of insects can work when done correctly. However, the biggest issue I see now is you have a lot of chicken keepers with minimal to no land or their chickens are contained in a coop/run set-up 24/7 that see flashy words and take their advice from blogs trying to feed homemade feeds composed of whole grains or corn instead of regular feeds. They also always seem to be the ones with chickens that have all of the health problems. I have no quarrels with anyone who has the land to truly free range and the resources to make their own feed. However, I cannot support someone who contains their chickens 24/7 only feeding a homemade mix of wheat berries, split peas and dried corn because a YouTuber told them it was healthier. To clarify, I am not against people keeping their chickens locked up for safety reasons, but in doing so they must ensure that their chickens are being fed a nutritionally complete profile. Everyone has to do what is best for them, but it is our responsibility as chicken owners to ensure that they receive proper nutrition.

I think the worst one I have seen on you tube is the guy who told everyone to STOP BUYING CHICKEN FEED_ IT'S A SCAM!!!!! and instead, feed their chickens beans and pasta. The last time I looked he had over 350,000 subscribers and this video had over 1.8 million viewers- many of whom went in whole hog on this fabulous new diet. Poor chickens.

 

[bearcreekbees]

I have had my flock on a homemade diet of fermented whole grains, animal meat/organs/fat, and some insects for the past 7-8 weeks, since I obtained a meat grinder and have been able to grind animal parts. My flock looks amazing- they were molting at the start of the diet and most of them are "almost" finished now and just growing in the last of their new feathers. In over 30 years of raising chickens I have never had a flock that looks and acts so healthy. Their feathers are glossy/shiny, eyes bright, they are active and seem "happy", whatever that means in chicken world.

Until they start laying again I have no way to compare egg production. I did not weigh any of the chickens before I started this diet and now I wish I had, just to see if they are putting on any weight- pretty sure they haven't lost any but with feathers it is hard to tell sometimes.

The only way I can think of to tell if this is a "good" diet for them is to wait until I butcher some of them and examine the carcasses- which I am not an expert at but guessing that if anything was seriously awry it would be obvious upon inspection.

At this point, I am mostly satisfied with the diet, the chickens seem very satisfied, in their own little chicken way, but I will say that it takes an enormous amount of time even to feed my little flock of eight. Which is okay because I am retired and at home most of the time and this is more pleasure than work. I believe that my flock is getting a much higher quality diet than I could possibly purchase for them, and if one discounts the labor involved I am definitely saving $$$. How much remains to be seen, but I am not spending any more for this than I would if buying store bought feed. But if I added in my labor this diet would be unaffordable!

 

[Apis mellifera]

STOP BUYING CHICKEN FEED

Was it the faux Amish guy that said they were putting something in the feed to make chickens stop laying? He was another one!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I am too lazy to try and create my own chicken feed. Mine get 20% protein pellets and food scraps. I have a chicken bowl next to the sink which goes out to the coop daily. I just lost my oldest chicken she was a barred rock and she was 7 and a half. No more named chickens just groups. I just culled the pandemic girls to make room for more in the spring.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I think the worst one I have seen on you tube is the guy who told everyone to STOP BUYING CHICKEN FEED_ IT'S A SCAM!!!!! and instead, feed their chickens beans and pasta. The last time I looked he had over 350,000 subscribers and this video had over 1.8 million viewers- many of whom went in whole hog on this fabulous new diet. Poor chickens.

Yes this is the type of stuff I am referring to.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I think the worst one I have seen on you tube is the guy who told everyone to STOP BUYING CHICKEN FEED_ IT'S A SCAM!!!!! and instead, feed their chickens beans and pasta. The last time I looked he had over 350,000 subscribers and this video had over 1.8 million viewers- many of whom went in whole hog on this fabulous new diet. Poor chickens.

Sadly the beans and pasta idiot keeps adding Followers. The questions about the Beans and Pasta diet have shown up here on BYC a couple times, and on Facebook far more than that.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Beans and Pasta diet

I could probably live on that! along with eggs....

lol