The best types of grain for chicken feed?

[sydney13]

This spring I am going to start growing grain in my yard and at a community garden to use for my chicken feed. I was thinking of growing kamut wheat, sorghum, field corn, oats and also sun flowers and soy beans. Are these good grains for chicken feeds and are their any others you can recommend? I was thinking of also doing barley but I thought I remembered reading something on here saying chickens don't like the taste of barley?
Can give me an estimate of how many pounds of feed a free range chicken would eat per month or per year?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have grown kamut before. The grains are larger than reg. wheat, and it is easy to grow and thresh (if you want some for you, too).

There is a hulless oats variety that I tried growing too...so if you wanted to eat it too, you don't have to send it to a mill to get that hull off.

Soy beans need to be cooked, or feed roasted soybean meal, as raw soybeans are toxic to poultry (antinutrients).

My chickens eat rolled barley just fine. Even when rancid.

If you like you can look at my BYC page for my grains and seeds that I feed....

Sounds great!!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=98885
see post #6 for one person's account of how much feed...there are some threads on that. I will look more.

 

[sydney13]

I love your page, its really helpful

Ive read that sometimes chickens can choke on certain types of grains that are not dehulled. Does anyone have any information on this?

 

[gsim]

I read that buckwheat and cowpeas are two things grown for home made feed.

Gerry

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Thanks!

I have read one person's account of a chicken getting a sunflower seed stuck in her throat for awhile- but I forget if it was a bantam??? I just feed black oil sunflower seeds and don't have any problems. I used to buy the dehulled ones but switched over because they are so expensive.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=91580
here's another thread on feed amts...there are quite a few threads on this...if you type "free range lb feed" or per month lb feed free range...something like that in the search bar.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I think the cowpeas, southern peas, black eyed peas and such would be awesome because they run 28% protein which little else can touch.
Seems easier than threshing and grinding too.

 

[sydney13]

Ive heard some people have trouble getting their chickens to eat peas, do you guys find that true?

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
The feed I mix has 4 different peas in it and my birds eat them.
It will take some time for them to get the idea to eat it.

Chris

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
That is one of those foods that my chickens have a "dose" above which, they bill them out on the ground. I have learned the hard way only to put 4 lbs of them in my recipe.

I used to go around saying my chickens really disliked peas. But now, I just say they like them ok, but not too many.

 

[princessmama]

Mine always left the whole oats (with the hull on) and the peas for last

They wouldn't eat much of it until the other food was gone. They gobble up corn like pigs! This year we are going to try growing some quinoa and amaranth and tossing the seed heads to the chickens. (I may keep some of the quinoa for me though!)