Anyone feed chickens a simple mix of whole grains?

[daisycullen2003]

so happy to have found this thread!

i am trying to simplify, save money, and feed my chickens as close to a natural diet as possible.

i fed a homemade mix of wheat, corn, and sunflower seeds for a while and they seemed to do well, although i felt that they did moult for an awfully long time last summer! but these grains were still pretty pricey so i looked for another option.

i switched to using Azure standards livestock grains, unhulled barley and oats, and left out a protein source--they have several acres to pasture. they still seemed to lay well for a few weeks but now they are laying at least 50% less. i added back some peas and some milo and wheat but still hasn't helped.

am wondering if it has to do with the fact that the barley and oats are not hulled?

can i sprout grains that are not hulled?

i was really hoping that they could forage for what they needed--on another forum one member feeds over 100 chickens only 2 cups of oats a day! but now i am thinking this is not possible?

thanks for any suggestions!

 

[freemotion]

How old are your hens? Production drops each year they are laying.

Also, with whole grains, they lay fewer eggs but each egg is larger.

And yes, you can sprout grains with hulls...that is what I feed. Get some of the barley to a just-emerging sprout stage and that will boost their protein.

Do your hens have access to the compost pile and other areas that would be rich in worms? Under oak trees is a good place, too....have you seen an acorn moth larva? Big as a mouse!

 

[daisycullen2003]

this is their second year of laying. the thing that is interesting is that when production picked back up in feb/march or so they were back to laying about 17 eggs per day but it only lasted for 2 weeks and they have been down to 5-10. i think i have about 23 layers or so. i need to count them. anyhow, it seemed like that number was low but of course there are so many factors. maybe i will sprout their grains--glad to hear that i can sprout w/ the hulls! they have access to lots of wooded areas under oaks, yes, so that is good!

thank you!
lisa

 

[savingdogs]

Daisy, I have been feeding layena this whole winter and I could say that my egg production has been about the same as what you relate, my birds are the same age for the most part and have gone to not laying again as well. I've come to the sad conclusion that some of them are just too old for high egg production anymore.

 

[lwheelr]

Thought this was worth posting:

http://www.handhpoultry.com/SoyFree_ChickenFeed.html

I'll bet it is expensive, but I think you could probably make your own mix that is similar.

Should not need much if you give the chickens access to lots of vegetation though. Scratching in the dirt won't give them much in the way of nutrition. Put them in a field with plenty of weeds and grass though, and they'll get greens, seeds, bugs, and pretty much everything they need.

 

[Marianne]

Okay, at what age can I start giving chicks grains instead of starter? My chicks are about 5 weeks old now, can I give them some scratch grains?

 

[freemotion]

Yep!

 

[Our7Wonders]

I just wanted to mention that my chickens seem to be doing well on this, thank you to all who have posted such helpful info here. I'm using Azure Standard's barley and oats (at 50/50 mix) as well as what they call their chicken wheat (mix of wheat and seeds). I have 15 laying hens and we dropped to a low of 9 eggs for a couple days when we first switched, but now back up to 14-15 daily. I haven't switched to the legumes fully for protein yet, they're still getting some of the leftover commercial feed in their feeder, will be working them over soon. I think I may have found a source of field peas as well, so I'm following up on that lead.

 

[lwheelr]

We fed our chicks grains, meats, and greens from day 1. They never had chick starter at all.

That's what they'd get in the wild.

You just use small seeds and cracked grains if you feed them raw, or you can cook them into a mash. We cooked it because they ate better that way and grew better that way.

We fed a simple mash of cracked wheat and rolled oats for the first two days, then added alfalfa sprouts and finely chopped wheatgrass, lettuce, chard, cabbage, etc after that, and we added chipped sunflower seeds, finch seed mix, cooked ground meat scraps (we had an antelope that was too gamey to eat), chopped boiled egg, a bit of fine oyster shell, etc.

By one week old, they were eating a pretty good mix of grains, greens, and proteins. We just kept increasing the variety, according to what we had on hand.

We used some dried herbs - dill, parsley, savory, etc, for greens when we didn't have fresh.

We used Calendula, Chamomile and Garlic medicinally - once a week or so to keep them from developing opportunistic infections from being raised in a brooder instead of under the wing of a hen.

We did not give them grit, we just tossed in a handful or two of sandy dirt for them to peck in for grit. Seemed to help keep the smell down a little.

Their favorite things seemed to be the greens - they'd mob those every time we put them in. The grown chickens still do that - they'll eat as much green stuff as we can gather up.

 

[valmom]

Our hens don't get out much to get greens- too many predators. They have a chicken fortress that is probably 20x30 feet with their coop in the center of it. I wish they could free range! We feed whole sunflower seeds, cracked corn, crimped oats and they have a free choice pan of layer pellets in the coop that I swear they don't touch. Of course, they are now old hens and not laying much! (they are 6 years old now). I didn't think of whole wheat- I should see if it is available at my feed store. They also get food scraps like leftover rice, oatmeal, and any yogurt that gets old (or sometimes not old yogurt- my SO tends to think *MY* yogurt is good for the chickens and I am always running out)