what food should i feed my chickens?
Image by LollyKnit
Kris and I joined our friends Aaron and Melissa for dinner last night. We fed their neighbor’s chickens our table scraps.
I haven’t spent much time with chickens, so these birds really made me laugh. They made really funny sounds and were very excited to get the scraps.
Question by : what food should i feed my chickens?
what can i feed my chickens because they are very fussy, i give them wheat and crumble and sweet corn in a bowl but all of a sudden they wont it from it. what should them or do.
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7 Responses to what food should i feed my chickens?
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chicken feed.you could also use seeds or corn. don’t know much but I asked a friend who has chickens. hope this helps. need anymore information, you can email me.
9548coolgirl
April 19, 2012 at 5:20 am
you can feed them spray millet or grains or even mine use to eat all sorts of stuff like bugs wich reminds me ive em buggs like house flies or moths if they were with there mom thats what she’d do.
hope this helps.
please select my answer the best answer thanks.
Jimmy
April 19, 2012 at 5:31 am
Laying mash and scrap.
My grandparents use laying mash, it’s all this stuff all mixed together and it probably helps them produce better eggs. They grind that with shell grit and scrap foods (vegetables and such). The chickens love it!
KayNine
April 19, 2012 at 6:05 am
Go to your local feed supplier and buy a formulated laying mix if your birds are laying- you don’t mention how old they are but if they are not laying yet they will need a formulated feed appropriate to their age such as a chick starter (for those under 6 weeks) or a pullet grower (for those up to point of lay).
Wheat and dried corn isn’t always the best choice for very young chicks because they may not have accumulated enough grit to be able to “chew” the seed. If these are older birds, you’ve made no mention of grit in their diet and so they may require some grit to re-stimulate the digestive system. They could be feeling a bit constipated…
Is the sweet corn fresh or dried? Don’t feed canned corn as in many cases salt is added to it- and salt can reach toxic levels in birds although it is a necessary part of their diet (they should get enough from their specially formulated food). Both fresh and dry corn is extremely high in energy and low in protein- so if these chicks are still growing, large amounts of corn is not a good idea and in some birds it can cause obesity. Most (not all) chickens know when they’ve had enough of a particular nutrient- if they have stopped eating what you are providing then it’s generally because it has no nutrient value to them any more.
The majority of the birds diet should always come from a specially formulated feed- animal nutritionists have worked very hard to save you the bother of not having to work out what to feed your birds to create the best health and production levels. Everything else should be relegated as a treat only.
There are a number of diseases that affect appetite in chickens and other birds. So do watch for other symptoms and address them quickly if they do appear .
Araucana
April 19, 2012 at 6:58 am
Starve them lady. Youve spoiled them. or they have canker or cocciciosis or worms and don’t wanna eat cuz theyre sick.
Google GSE Grapefruit Seed Extract on the internet to cure all sicknesses. Purchase at local healthfood stores. ( check phone book )
TRpart3
April 19, 2012 at 7:17 am
Get them a good chicken feed from a feed store, let them out to find their own, feed them leftovers (pretty much anything except citrus). I’m not sure what crumble is as it can be almost anything. But wheat and sweet corn isn’t enough for healthy birds. They need seeds, plants, and meat to be healthy. I let mine free range, a layer mix (mainly to get them back in the coop), left overs from the house (including meat), old fruits, melons, squash, etc. A variety is best.
murigenii
April 19, 2012 at 8:07 am
you can feed them stuff like lettuce and other veggie scraps. they also love grapes, sometimes you can feed them old rice.. uuhm.. whatelse…. well they can eat most things, but depending on whether they actually want to eat them is a different story, so you have to just experiment sometimes, see what works.
the ♥chicken♥ whisperer
April 19, 2012 at 8:55 am