What I Feed My Chickens

 

So if you're new to the site, or even to chickens, I wanted to let you know what I feed and why. I've posted about it before but we'll revist the topic! 

I'll try to keep it as short as I can! When I got serious about breeding, it became very obvious that what you feed your chickens is important. Now I grew up on a farm, and we did not pamper the chickens lol. They got basic layer mash, some corn in the winter, scraps and they free ranged as much as they wanted. They were tough barnyard mixes mostly, so it worked. If you want to show, or just have chickens that look like you do, there's more involved than farm chicken life. After studying and listening to many lectures, I messaged Mr Jeff Mattocks to see what he thought about what I came up with. Purina Flock Raiser as the base feed. Henhouse Reserve by Kalmbach, and at certain times, a supplement from Fertrell. Jeff stresses the importance of certain vitamin levels, A and E especially, and giving them a good source of protein from a meat source. The supplement has fish meal as that source. Chickens aren't vegetarians. 😊
Most commercial feeds are severely lacking, but purina Flock raiser has been the best i can find in this area. The chickens lay extremely well, and i dont see the problems I did years ago, especially in Silkies. They need higher levels of vitamins or you will see wryneck, hatching problems, weak chicks and other issues in them. When I first started, seriously, with silkies,  I ordered hatching eggs from several good breeders. I did experience some of those problems I'm talking about. Not knocking any breeders but since I changed feed and was selective in what I kept for my breeding groups, those issues went away.
I do give them some boiled eggs, especially chicks(also oats for the chicks), and some scraps here and there like things from the garden, leftover spaghetti ect. That's like us having chips as a snack, not for our breakfast or dinner lol. Don't forget to give them actual granite grit, not oyster shells. Jeff stresses the importance of grit. It works like teeth in the gizzard. And lastly, clean water.
Hope this helps!

Cheryl