looking for advise: I keep my feeder filled with a grain mix and use about 25 pounds per week for 16 birds. In addition I may have 2 - 3 five gallon pails of veggies' peels and scrap I get from a restaurant.
does this sound like a proper quantity?
I'm not interested in "egg industry - high protein" feed as I believe the cholesterol content of eggs laid by vegeterian chickens is much lower and better for you.
I'm buing my seed mix from a mill that sells it as an old time recipe. Do you guys have recipes for all vegetarian diets?
feed quantity
Do you have the proportion of ingredients in the old recipe?
Chickens are not naturally vegetarians...they are pretty enthusiastic consumers of insects and other small animals which are an important part of their "natural" diet. But I am sure there are a lot of grain based recipes that don't contain meat or meat by products. You do need to be sure you have a balance of nutrients in their diets. Like other pet foods, you can study and create a good homemade diet--although it can be a lot of work. And I think it varies with their age, condition and the time of year.
Does anyone have a good link?
Sounds about like what mine consume in addition to free-ranging...wish I had a link...sorry.
Didn't the CF and others speak highly of black oil sunflower seeds for protein?
If anyone is looking to reduce their chicken feed bill. My experience is chickens forage well if given the chance. My birds consume 2-3 times more feed than needed if I simply fill their feed pans and keep them filled 24/7. If I toss them feed sparingly .... it reduces their feed consumption by 2-3 times (and my feed bill). They're not slowly walking around a coop (looking like pigs) with their craws full of feed pooping out 3 times more feed than is required to live.
Chickens are not mammals but ... like humans ... their bodies want them to save up calories for a rainy day. Humans tend to eat 2-3 times as much feed as they need to live healthy (just look around at the awful rise in the % of obese individuals) ... chickens are even more stupid than people (at least in most cases) and they do the same or worse as far as overeating. All one has to do is look at the CornishX chickens to see that the chickens do NOT know when to say when. The CornishX are bred for overeating but all breeds will eat more than they really need to maintain their weight and health. Kelly
This message was edited Jan 17, 2009 9:45 AM
I buy 50 lb bags of black oil sunflower seeds. They love them. I did not realize they were also a source of protien. I thought it was chicken "candy" hehehe! I do spoil them. I like to give them bread and stuff. They are plump but not obese. They still dig, when the ground is not completely frozen, for bugs and stuff. I dont have a huge number of chickens anyway. My feed bill is not that bad. ;)
Thank you for the feedback! For further clarification of my specific conditions ... well, Wisconsin ... we now have a foot of snow. When the season allows my birds are allowed out of the pen for about an hour every evening (I track one hour before sun down). Unfortunately they are allowed to go play in the woods only when I'm around to make sure they don't become food (foxes, coyote, hawks are becoming very bold and live in our suburban environment).
They respond to my call "OK - OK - OK" and rush out of the pen and make the most of the hour of scratching in virgin territory. But now as the snow is piling up. :O(
Well, my request to you guys is to understand what quantity of seed is adequate. I'm a nutrition nut ... I claim that my way of life and nutrition has kept me drug free, plus I have not missed one day of work in over 30 years. Therefore I totally agree with Kelly!
I guess that I feel the need to keep the feeder full because of the guilt for lacking to provide properly for my birds. With my 24/7 feed approach I go through 25 pounds per week at this time .... same as in the summer but then I had 30 birds. So now each bird eats less than 4 oz. of seed per day. Does not seem much.
So, if you were to leave the feeder empty, when would you do it?
I always refill the feeder before I close the gate of the coop at night. In the morning when I reopen the gate I find the seed level in the feeder reduced by very little. As I'm often gone during the day it would be difficult for me to refill the seeder with smaller portions.
I really appreciate your feedback. And I'll make an effort to get the recipe to share with you. I believe sunflower seed is included. I also add flax seed.
Here is the recipe - my seed vendor has purchased a seed mill founded in 1849 ... I guess the business has sold tons of chicken feed ... but the new owner found a recipe dated 1964 posted on a wall. This is the mix that I've been using:
50# oat growth
100# wheat
200# fine cracked corn
my vendor will change the recipe for me the next time I purchase my monthly 100# and add 50# black oil sunflower seed to the recipe.
I will report back how the new seed mix will work through the winter.
ciao, Curzio
wow, your mill mixes it for you! I have to take the truck to the mill, get all the different grains, mix it myself in a cement mixer and fill my big pickle barrels with it for the month. It usually costs me about $350.00 to feed about 200 chickens and a few various other fowl for about a month. I am going to add the sunflower seeds in to the mix. THanks for the tip
But the cornish X chickens are bred to be heavier. Its kind of like the old battle genetics vs. lifestyle. But you cant really say that the chickens do it to themselves. We do it to them. I fill up my chicken feed once a day and when they are done eating they are done. But my chickens dont all run to the food and gobble it down fast. They are pretty good at picking at it and coming back and picking a little more. The thing mine really down is water! I guess becasue its texas and hot but man they will sit at the water feeder for a long time and just drink drink drink until its halfway empty.
curzio,
check out the thread one of our old member's started. she provided a LOT of information about what and how much her chickens eat.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/888425/
Just like humans, don't the chickens need more nutrients to help them overwinter?
More necessary in the colder climates?
I would think that would be what the proteins provide.... ?
Do the Black Oil sunflower seeds provide that or is there something better?
I do mix in black oil seeds as well. Its a treat really. They always pick them out first. I give them a lot of extra treats in the winter to prevent bordom. They are fat (not over weight) and healthy. ;)
are your sunflower seeds without the shells? does it bother them to have the hulls? i never heard of feeding the sunflower seeds..and i have raised chickens for many years.. my girls will eat anything, and if that helps with nutrition i'm all for it..
They have the shell and all. My father told me they love it. When they free range they always found themselves under the bird feeder to eat what fell down to the ground. They do not mind the hull. They eat it all. hehehe Mine will eat everything as well. hehehe Its protein from what I was told. ;)
Just grist for their little chicken mills, I believe...
sounds right.
its like candy to a kid, they well mine do LOVE sunflower seeds.
I give my birds Black oil sunflower seeds..and along with chopped up dry fish flavor cat food for their feathers dept..keeps their coats shining..
Now mine will not lay without getting a bit of scratch every day. They'll leave the layer mash and crumbles to fossilize, but won't do anything for me without some scratch...still give them the 20% layer, but...
I've never tried sunflower seeds, but I got the idea, I think from somewhere on this forum, of throwing some of my fall leaves into the chickenyard, which is pretty bare right now. The chickens just love them, and like scratching around in them. I wish I'd known about that years ago - boy, do we have leaves for them!
They have a whole field to run around in, but we lock them up at night to protect them from predators. The geese stay close to the waterer but the chickens explore the entire area.
Leslie