What's a more natural feed? aka: what did my grandparents feed their chickens?

[Lorax]

We feed our hens on organic layers' pellets. TBH I've no real idea what's in them.

What's a more natural feed? What do you feed your laying hens? What would my grandparents have fed their chickens (they were farmers and kept them but unfortunately not here to ask).

A

 

[centrarchid]

For part of year when the laying hens were free-ranged most of the day, they got most of their eats as they found them. They could go as far they wanted typically foraged no more than about 10 acres. They were provided lots of table scraps and shell corn. The hens tended to look a little rough at times. This was my grand mothers approach for dual purpose breeds. When the birds were confined more they got a lot of hog feed that was effectively slopped.

My great aunt was confining her birds more (they were mostly game hens and pullets) and they got more protein in the form of ground soy beans and corn. They also got soaked oats. She also applied a lot of table scraps.

 

[Folly's place]

'Natural' is relative, and needs to relate to who's being fed, and where.
Natural chickens would be wild jungle fowl in SE Asia, living in the jungle, and hens laying maybe 30 or fewer eggs each year.
Domestic chickens 100 years ago produced maybe 100 or fewer eggs per year, and may have lived on a farm having horses, cattle, and hogs, all of whom were fed different grains, and who roamed around on diverse pastures. Those chickens would have been harvested too, along with many of the hogs, etc.
These are not our modern chickens, except for some of the game types, who are still more original in production, and few properties have either the diversity in plantings, space, or other livestock that happened then.
A hen who produces 205 to 350 eggs per year, or a bird who grows to large size fast, needs a balanced diet ,just like a modern dairy cow compared to a landrace animal.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Bagged feed from the feed store is natural enough, and way less expensive than anything you could concoct at home. Read the ingredient list, and call the company for more information.
Mary

 

[centrarchid]

'Natural' is relative, and needs to relate to who's being fed, and where.
Natural chickens would be wild jungle fowl in SE Asia, living in the jungle, and hens laying maybe 30 or fewer eggs each year.
Domestic chickens 100 years ago produced maybe 100 or fewer eggs per year, and may have lived on a farm having horses, cattle, and hogs, all of whom were fed different grains, and who roamed around on diverse pastures. Those chickens would have been harvested too, along with many of the hogs, etc.
These are not our modern chickens, except for some of the game types, who are still more original in production, and few properties have either the diversity in plantings, space, or other livestock that happened then.
A hen who produces 205 to 350 eggs per year, or a bird who grows to large size fast, needs a balanced diet ,just like a modern dairy cow compared to a landrace animal.
Mary

Sound, well rounded response.

 

[centrarchid]

Bagged feed from the feed store is natural enough, and way less expensive than anything you could concoct at home. Read the ingredient list, and call the company for more information.
Mary

Going off topic

 

[Folly's place]

Not too far off topic, I don't think.
Mary

 

[CatsandCrops]

My grandparents lived on a HUGE farm - 150+ acres. They basically didn't feed their chickens. The chicken coop was built off of the cow/horse barn and had a human door going into it from the inside of the barn and a human door/prop door on the outside. In the morning, they opened both doors and the chickens just roamed. I remember seeing them all over the inside of the barn one day when it there was a thunderstorm, including one sitting on top of horse and my grandma laughing hysterically because the horse couldn't shake the hen off.

They ate leftovers from the cows/horses/pigs (housed in a different barn) and roamed the fields. They grew everything they needed for a family of 12 and sold wheat/barley/hay to others. The only thing I remember doing for the chickens was refilling their own waterers and opening/shutting the doors at night after dusk. So in a long about way - they let their chickens free range, eat whatever they wanted/found, and be freeloaders off of the other animals' feed. They got about 2 dozen eggs a day and constantly were processing/raising chicks for food.

 

[Lorax]

My grandparents lived on a HUGE farm - 150+ acres. They basically didn't feed their chickens. The chicken coop was built off of the cow/horse barn and had a human door going into it from the inside of the barn and a human door/prop door on the outside. In the morning, they opened both doors and the chickens just roamed. I remember seeing them all over the inside of the barn one day when it there was a thunderstorm, including one sitting on top of horse and my grandma laughing hysterically because the horse couldn't shake the hen off.

They ate leftovers from the cows/horses/pigs (housed in a different barn) and roamed the fields. They grew everything they needed for a family of 12 and sold wheat/barley/hay to others. The only thing I remember doing for the chickens was refilling their own waterers and opening/shutting the doors at night after dusk. So in a long about way - they let their chickens free range, eat whatever they wanted/found, and be freeloaders off of the other animals' feed. They got about 2 dozen eggs a day and constantly were processing/raising chicks for food.

Thanks for sharing that. It sounds very much like my grandparents'. I just wish I'd paid more attention!!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Between the changing nutritional needs of chickens and there being a lot fewer large, integrated farms (Meaning various types of animals and crops raised) around, I think there are a lot fewer places the old way would “work”...especially places that have winter seasons with limited insect activity and plant growth.

Are there places it’d work? Probably. Are there more places that’d require some supplemental feed (be it chicken feed, grains, food waste, or “other”)? Probably. Is much of that within the reach of your average backyard flock owner? Probably not.