Chicken feed: non-commercial

[Nikki]

Hi everyone,

I've read a bit about pellets and such, but I'll be moving somewhere where commercial feed is rare. What can chickens eat that is not commercially produced and still remain healthy, happy, and productive (eggs)?

I mean, there must have been a time before commercial feeds. What did farmers do then?

TIA

[baldowrie]

My last chickens I hardy fed at all. Firstly they found the games keepers grain store but secondly they scratched the earth for insects and seeds.






Oh and they also cadged the Woodman's sandwiches

[Nikki]

My last chickens I hardy fed at all.

Wow, that's surprising and interesting.

Although... slightly more so if it wasn't for grain and sandwhich stealing. hmmm

:)

[baldowrie]

they didn't actually eat a great deal of the grain or sandwiches, they were just junk food snacks

They used travel a far distance during the day, and I live on a hill, and I did try and feed them but they were just not interested. They spent the entire day eating the hedge fruits and what ever else was crawling.

and just to prove junk food is not good for you, their last meal when the fox got them was the grain!

I should add these hens for the first year I had them were in a run and full time eating the pellets I gave them, and were happy to do so until they went free range

[ina]

My friend's hens are never really fed, either - just a bit of barley now and then. They do have a very large free range area; so I suppose they just feed themselves with what they need! OK, they are not the world's greatest layers... I suppose that mixed grains plus crushed eggshell would probably keep them healthy (plus freerange greens and worms etc), if not up to commercial laying standards.

[paddy]

Fenwoman spoke some good common sense on chicken pellets and feed.

When we had a few chickens (6) when i was very young all they had was mash that my dad did which consisted of bran..stale bread...potatoe peelings and vegetable peelings...and any dinner left overs the dog didnt eat.....then anything they found in the garden.

One of them lived to be 8 years old so we must have done something right.

But you can still buy sacks of corn...barley and oats......as long as they have grit to grind the grain then they should be ok i think otherwise get them rolled oats thats quite availiable

Because you may live miles from anywhere.....

Keep your feed in metal or concrete containers cause i had grass seed in plastic containers with a good strong lid to keep the rats out...when i took the lid off to use it the rats had chewed a hole in the back where i couldnt see it and scoffed loads.......boy did i enjoy picking those dead ones out of the traps afterwards.

[paddy]

Where are you moving too Nikki ????????

[Wombat]

G'Day Nikki!

But you can still buy sacks of corn...barley and oats......as long as they have grit to grind the grain then they should be ok i think otherwise get them rolled oats thats quite availiable .

You also need a source of calcium. To get the best out of your chooks, like the rest of us, they need a balanced diet. Here is a site that gives some feed mix formulations to go through!

Nev

http://www.lionsgrip.com/recipes.html

[Millymollymandy]

I give mine wheat as well as layers pellets.

[Nikki]

Great advice everyone. Thanks.

Wombat - those feed mixes look too complicated - aragonite, alfalfa meal, fishmeal, poultry Nutri-Balancer??!! lol

Paddy - We also had chickens when I was a kid and we lived in the suburbs. I remember they ate table scraps and all seemed healthy.
(moving to Montenegro)

Seems that if I want to go natural and simple, then giving them plenty of space they'll get worms, insects and berries/etc naturally, then greens from the home plot, veggie table scraps, and egg shells (that's a new one for me), they should do well?
Then possibly see about getting my hands on some grains if not too difficult/expensive.

[contadino]

I'm fairly convinced they need some sort of grain in addition to the various bits'n'bobs that you'll find to give them. Have a go at growing something like grain amaranths or quinine (sorry probably spelt wrong.) The grain is small and easily removed from the plants. Check out realseeds.co.uk (I think). Also, you can grow excess beans of many types, dry and split as necessary. There's some ideas (recipes...yum) for mashes in John Seymour's book.

All your neighbours will be dismissive, but chooks lay better when they're fed properly.

[Nikki]

Ciao contadino,

Are you saying that beans are a suitable alternative to grains, or just suggesting them in addition to grains?

[Wombat]

Have a go at growing something like grain amaranths or quinine (sorry probably spelt wrong.)

I'm sure you mean quinoa rather than the bark of the cinchona tree!

Nev

[ina]

I'm sure you mean quinoa rather than the bark of the cinchona tree!

Nev

Well, you never know - quinine is good for malaria, isn't it?

[Wombat]

Yup!