What is scratch grains and when to use it?

[redinator]

I'm restocking my chicken supplies and I came across these scratch grains https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-5-grain-scratch-poultry-feed-supplement-40-lb. I have 5, nearly 7-week old chicks and aside from chick starter/grower crumbles, grit, mealworms and the bit of forage they get inside their run (working on being able to free range, just not there yet) they haven't had much. When and how would scratch grains be fed . . .as a treat, as supplement when forage is low, . . . .?

 

[DemeterAD9]

It’s just as a treat so don’t feed them too much. I toss scratch into the woods and it keeps them busy for a little while.

 

[FrostRanger]

It's just a treat, it's not necessary at all, too many treats can cause various health problems

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, neighbor. Did you read the analysis on the link you provided. Compare those to the analysis in your regular chicken feed. As you can see, that is mostly filler. They will enjoy eating it as a treat but by itself it is certainly not a fully nutritious food for them.

You also see that 10% comment. What that means is that as long as your regular feed is 90% of what they eat, they'll still get a balanced diet if they eat that much of the scratch grains. But you mention forage and possible free range. If they forage you've lost the ability to micromanage what they eat. They now control that. That's the way I do it so I don't see anything wrong with it, I'm not that into micromanaging anyway.

Mine get garden and kitchen scraps in addition to foraging, I don't see any reason to offer scratch grains. Those scratch grains can be used to train them, maybe to come when called, just don't overdo it. They don't need them but in moderation will not hurt them.

 

[redinator]

Hi, neighbor. Did you read the analysis on the link you provided. Compare those to the analysis in your regular chicken feed. As you can see, that is mostly filler. They will enjoy eating it as a treat but by itself it is certainly not a fully nutritious food for them.

You also see that 10% comment. What that means is that as long as your regular feed is 90% of what they eat, they'll still get a balanced diet if they eat that much of the scratch grains. But you mention forage and possible free range. If they forage you've lost the ability to micromanage what they eat. They now control that. That's the way I do it so I don't see anything wrong with it, I'm not that into micromanaging anyway.

Mine get garden and kitchen scraps in addition to foraging, I don't see any reason to offer scratch grains. Those scratch grains can be used to train them, maybe to come when called, just don't overdo it. They don't need them but in moderation will not hurt them.

Right now there isn't much to forage since the weather is still warming up. At least not much as far as bugs which I why I scatter mealworms and/or soldier fly larvae in the morning and evening. They eat every spring of grass as soon as it appears, lol. I have a pile of leaves that I saved when I cleaned up my yard from the long winter months. I turn the pile and toss some in every few days which probably has some bugs in it. They love to scatter it around and pick through it. I'm a bit worried it isn't varied enough (or well balanced) but I guess that's what the crumbles are for.

 

[nuthatched]

Right now there isn't much to forage since the weather is still warming up. At least not much as far as bugs which I why I scatter mealworms and/or soldier fly larvae in the morning and evening. They eat every spring of grass as soon as it appears, lol. I have a pile of leaves that I saved when I cleaned up my yard from the long winter months. I turn the pile and toss some in every few days which probably has some bugs in it. They love to scatter it around and pick through it. I'm a bit worried it isn't varied enough (or well balanced) but I guess that's what the crumbles are for.

Correct, their feed is balanced.

 

[FrostRanger]

Right now there isn't much to forage since the weather is still warming up. At least not much as far as bugs which I why I scatter mealworms and/or soldier fly larvae in the morning and evening. They eat every spring of grass as soon as it appears, lol. I have a pile of leaves that I saved when I cleaned up my yard from the long winter months. I turn the pile and toss some in every few days which probably has some bugs in it. They love to scatter it around and pick through it. I'm a bit worried it isn't varied enough (or well balanced) but I guess that's what the crumbles are for.

No need to supplement bsfl or mealworms, their feed is good enough and too many of those can cause obesity too. If you want you can scatter some of their regular feed on the ground (although pellets work better for this) that way they can still scratch around for food without any worry of throwing their diet out of balance

 

[redinator]

No need to supplement bsfl or mealworms, their feed is good enough and too many of those can cause obesity too. If you want you can scatter some of their regular feed on the ground (although pellets work better for this) that way they can still scratch around for food without any worry of throwing their diet out of balance

Do they make pellets for chicks? All I'm seeing is the crumbles, the rest is layer or all flock, which I thought they aren't supposed to have until 18 weeks or so . . .?

 

[FrostRanger]

Do they make pellets for chicks? All I'm seeing is the crumbles, the rest is layer or all flock, which I thought they aren't supposed to have until 18 weeks or so . . .?

I am not aware of any pelleted chick feed
All flock is fine for all ages although you are correct about layer feed (although ideally you wouldn't feed it until everyone is actively laying and even then it's not necessary, you can feed all flock or chick feed indefinitely as long as they have oyster shell available on the side)


I would just scatter some of their chick feed on the ground for them, no need to change feed at this point

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do they make pellets for chicks? All I'm seeing is the crumbles, the rest is layer or all flock, which I thought they aren't supposed to have until 18 weeks or so . . .?

The standard way to make chicken feed is to gather all of the ingredients and grind them up. That is called Mash. To make Pellets you take Mash, wet it, and extrude it through dyes, then flash dry it to form Pellets. They break these dried pellets of to a convenient length. The way they form Crumbles is to partially crush the pellets to get the right product. The shape or form does not matter. The analysis based on the ingredients does matter.

Why do they make three different forms of the same feed? Different reasons partly dependent on which chickens are going to eat it. Since pellets are too big for young chicks, all chick feed should be either Mash or Crumbles.

The reason I prefer Crumbles to Mash is that Mash is a powder. The dry ingredients can segregate themselves by specific gravity so the chicks may not get a balanced diet. The Crumbles were mixed when wetted and then formed into Pellets so the ingredients stay mixed.

I'm a bit worried it isn't varied enough (or well balanced) but I guess that's what the crumbles are for.

The Crumbles are formulated to provide everything they need. If they eat nothing but crumbles formulated for chicks they will get all the nutrition they need for a balanced diet. They do not NEED meal worms or black fly larva in addition to the Crumbles, but as long as you limit the amounts it won't hurt them.