Anyone feed chickens a simple mix of whole grains?

[aggieterpkatie]

I'm glad I have a mill nearby. They put the ingredients right on the label, and I'm not worried about GMO anyways. Just about all of their grain is local, and they buy it from local people and grind it right there.

 

[Buster]

So can I ask a honest question? What is the point of feeding whole grain to chickens? Are people trying to avoild bagged pellets and crumbles from large stores like TSC?

Less than half the price of the premixed processed stuff.

 

[lwheelr]

I don't actually find that it is less expensive. Not where we are now with little homegrown stuff to supplement. But we still think it is worth it to control the quality of the feed, and to prepare to start swapping store stuff for homegrown stuff.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

With other livestock I know there's an increase in digestibility when grains are cracked, rolled, crimped, etc. Whole corn is not as digestible as cracked corn, for example. Once you get to a certain size (smaller), the extra cost of processing the grain again (to crimp it, crack it, etc) is not worth the minute increase in digestibility.

Now, I know chickens have gizzards that are great at grinding stuff, but cows and sheep and goats also have teeth that are good at grinding, and they chew a cud. So I wonder if there's a decrease in digestibility when you feed poultry whole grains vs. cracked? And I wonder what the rate of increased digestibility is when it is cracked. Is it worth it to crack it just so they're more efficient?

Just curious, does anyone ever see any whole grains being passed in chicken manure? Or does anyone even pay that much attention to their chicken poop?

This is all just based on what's more economical. I'm sure it won't matter to those who really want to feed whole grains whether or not it's more economical or not!

 

[HEChicken]

I'm currently doing research to find out what is cheaper where around where I live. So far I've only visited TSC where they have BOSS, corn (whole and cracked), alfalfa pellets and oats (whole and rolled). The alfalfa was way expensive but each of the other items came in around $3-4 cheaper for a 50lb bag than a 50lb bag of premixed food.

I've located a source of fish meal and understand it is around $50/50lb bag. However much less of it would be used by weight than the grains. I think overall it will come out a little cheaper for me, but I'm not going to dive in until I've completed the research and made sure I can actually get everything to make it balanced, especially since finding a way to store all this stuff will be the next challenge.

 

[freemotion]

I've been feeding whole grains, including corn, for some time now. I've never seen it in their poo, and I am obsessed with poo! It is a very easily observed measure of health. I look at poo daily on all my critters, when possible.

An interesting study showed that chickens on whole grains lay fewer eggs, but each egg is slightly heavier, so production remains the same or slightly higher on the whole grains. This is a problem for the big growers, since people buy by the dozen...smaller, more plentiful eggs are to their advantage.

I feed whole grains because it is healthier (Coccidiosis? What's that?), cheaper, can be duplicated at home if need be, and I never worry about recalls. And there are a lot of recalls. Many never make it to our attention. You have to go the the feed company website regularly to monitor this. Who does? I only hear of recalls via emails from other animal-owning friends, and it is an occasional reminder that for me, I made the right decision.

I didn't start out that way, though, and I do recognize that it is not a method that is for everyone.

 

[Buster]

So I wonder if there's a decrease in digestibility when you feed poultry whole grains vs. cracked? And I wonder what the rate of increased digestibility is when it is cracked. Is it worth it to crack it just so they're more efficient?

Maybe, but cracked or ground grains loose their nutritional value much more quickly than whole.

ETA
Or so I'm told.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

we trying for cheaper also. and i like that i know whats in it. my birds free range a lot - especially in summer - so the whole grains to me is less processed stuff and more "hey you lazy bums get out there" and be natural chickens.

and nope havent seen any change in the poop. Harvey Ussery says you dont need to crack the corn for them but as Free says, make sure you transition to whole grains over the course of at least 3 weeks.

and last winter we only fed layer mix and we were completely overloaded with eggs. no pigs and just the two of us - it was nuts. people were running and hiding from us because they didnt want eggs anymore either.

this year we have more younger hens due to ..ahem.. attrition... and i didnt want to fire up the egg laying until we were into spring. i'm not sure if we are getting fewer eggs b/c of the age of our hens, the transition to whole grains, or because we arent giving them any extra light at all (last year we did).

 

[lwheelr]

Cracked grains are not necessarily more digestible, so much as they digest more quickly, with less effort on the part of the chicken. So there is a slightly higher feed to growth conversion with meat chickens on cracked grains.

But, as Buster says, they do lose nutrient value faster. Once the grain is cracked, and the surfaces exposed to oxidation, they gradually lose trace nutrients, and some other nutrients convert into less usable forms. Significant difference starts after 2 weeks, degrades from there.

We use fresh cracked grains for the chicks, whole for the adult poultry.

 

[freemotion]

i'm not sure if we are getting fewer eggs b/c of the age of our hens, the transition to whole grains, or because we arent giving them any extra light at all (last year we did).

I experience this with the whole food diet and also using heritage breed hens. Don't worry. The floodgates will open in the spring. Remember that eggs stored in the fridge will keep for four months, so you can stock up for moulting season and then for winter if you'd like.