Feeding Chickens just People food...Can it be done??

[Denim Deb]

Think I'm going to get me a big bag of rice and some oatmeal!

 

[LilyD]

We did have some mites this year for the first time ever. I had the DE food grade powder and that worked well although the girls didn't enjoy being put into the dust and covered with it head to toe. Due to their protests I think I ended up with just as much dust on me as they did. At least I won't get mites.

My egg production has been down very low to begin with. My older girls which are 17 birds out of my 23 are really not laying well at all. There are quite a few who are molting and just looking horrible. I told my mom to knit them little chicken jackets since they are bare backed and it's already starting to get cold lol. I am hoping that doing my own food I will be able to add more calcium and protein myself than the commercial foods have and that will help them get through it quicker. Otherwise it's going to be a very cold winter for those girlies.

 

[Wannabefree]

Protein is the key to pull them out of molt. Sunflower seeds and meat scraps are great for that.

 

[LilyD]

I just gave them their first people food breakfast 1 cup of cooked rice per coop some leftover salmon (canned ) and some beef leftover in the fridge plus some cheese and cooked cornmeal. I didn't give them any greens because we still don't have snow on the ground so they can still forage but they are lacking in protein now that the bugs are gone so they got a power shot of that and will get another big shot of it tonight. They do still have some feed left in the feeders but I will let that peter out and increase the real food as they run out.

 

[Marianne]

Good for you! I'm also wanting a more SS way to feed my hens, less commercial chow! My chickens free range, but there still are plenty of days coming that they won't be able to.

Found this page that has links for different chicken related foods, their protein levels, etc. Good and easy to understand.

http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/Chickweed_is_a_winter_pick-me-up_for_chickens/

A few more thoughts:

Last winter I got fat scraps from the meat dept of our local grocery store for free. They first asked why I wanted it, I told them it was for my barn cats. They want to make sure it's not for human consumption. Anyway, the cats had to fight the chickens for it! I was really surprised at how much the chickens were going for it every time I took it outside. I thought about mixing some scratch grains with it, but who knows... I did take some ham scraps, and mix them with the fat. Formed balls and froze them. Thawed overnight, gave to critters in the morning.

Weeds and weed seed - I just NOW started to gather some dandelion leaves, cut some orchard grass into little pieces with scissors, etc. Spread it out to dry on sheets in the house. I'll add that to the feeders this winter. I pulled some ragweed seed, put it in the feeder and they thought I'd given 'em treats. I have been gathering weeds and leaves for the goats chow and it's been a battle to keep the hens out of it. Next year I'll get started earlier! Anyway, on a blog a gal had a picture of her dandelion seeds sprouting! She had little kids, so they made a game of gathering dandelion puffs and saving them. She later sprouted them and fed to the chickens.

If I had a mower w/ a catcher, I'd be saving short grass clippings! Dry them well, use them for bedding in the coop or add some to the chow.

Whey has a lot of protein and is easily added to oatmeal or rice. If you don't want to get whey from making yogurt, make some ricotta cheese! Easy, peasy, lots of good liquid left for the birds.

I started saving bread ends, etc...instead of just throwing it out to the birds, I dry it and save it to add to the winter feed.

Last year I threw scratch grains on the ground instead of in the feeders. My hens have a fenced front yard as well as an enclosed run on the back. I thought the chickens ate every bit of the scratch, but what they missed grew into a regular jungle in their front yard! Gave them a lot of shade, and more free food later.

Any garden greens that will freeze. One year I froze a lot cucumbers for the chickens. I just sliced them in half lengthwise, put them in grocery bags and then the freezer. I thawed them in the sink over night and fed them the mush the next morning.

Do sunflowers grow there? I have a zillion wild ones around here this year.

Okay, I'll shut up...another mind that goes a million miles an hour.....sometimes.

Edited twice because I can not spell today!!

 

[Marianne]

OH! I forgot about the cat and dog food crumbles at the bottom of the bag. Still processed food, but it serves a purpose.

Cat food is pretty high in protein. Check the back of the bags, usually there's a lot of corn in it.

Cheap cat food - bad for cats, good for ducks and chickens!

I agree with whoever suggested growing your own meal worms. Paul Wheaton had a boatload of them growing in scratch grains. If I remember correctly, he had them in a tote in the house. I remember that there was a comment asking if he felt like he came out ahead as the worms ate the scratch. He thought he did as the hens got the additional protein w/ very little work on his part. You might check pet stores for a small container if you go that route.

 

[LilyD]

Marianne ~ That website had tons of information thank you.

I haven't researched much about raising meal worms but I am definitely interested in giving it a try. My cat never finishes her canned cat food when we give it to her so I will give whatever she doesn't finish to them. I am thinking as long as I keep what I am feeding constantly changing with lots of protein and calcium that I should hit everything they need. I will add more greens once they don't have access to the grass anymore.

I was thinking of collecting weed seeds to grow during winter but I wasn't sure if that would be bad for them so I haven't done it yet. I will collect those and plus I also saved the carrot tops from actually pulling my carrots to give them as well. I would love something to collect the grass when I mow for them. I do rake up the larger clumps for them but having a large lawn it's hard to get it all. I am looking for a pull behind lawn sweeper to get to pick up the grass maybe one will show up cheap on craigslist since the mowing season is all over.

 

[Marianne]

I think the best thing I did with this last batch of chicks was to give them ragweed and lambsquarter for treats. They had to be corraled in the enclosed run until they were big enough that the barn cats weren't going to have them for dinner. So, it was all processed food and scratch until I started putting in huge piles of weeds. They loved them! Still do, too.

I probably wouldn't sprout any weed, just yank/cut and dry if I had the space. You could probably google something to come up with a list of common weeds/grasses in your area that would be good chicken food.

Sounds like your window of opportunity for gathering is getting pretty narrow, though. So is mine!

I think the cheap cat food I have is 30% protein.


PS - Do you make bone broth? The resulting mash would be good for the birds, too. I started making cat chow using half raw/cooked chicken, etc. for my cat that has allergies. If you did that occasionally, you could have pints of chicken broth plus bone broth and chicken food (or dog food, too.) I can get a lot of mileage from a whole chicken.

 

[Beekissed]

Why not just ferment your whole grains and a little layer ration and call it a day? It stretches your feed, adds valuable probios, keeps the mice from wanting it so much and carrying it away. Only feed what they can eat in a day and don't feed any free choice, continuously.

Feeding chickens cheaply and healthier doesn't have to be that complicated and what you will run into is some of your flock may thrive and produce well on human foods but some may not....the genetics for the flocks that could still produce well on foraged food sources are long gone and one would have to cull for this trait and keep breeding to get feed thrifty birds who can produce on more free and natural food sources.

You can try it but I expect you will run into nutritional deficiencies that will need tweaking later on. Right now they are in molt and need some good nutrition to recover effectively. Feeding high carb diets do not "heat them up" in the winter time, despite the rumor, no more than a high carb diet keeps you any warmer in the winter than a low carb diet does...there is a percentage of protein, fats, phosphorus, calcium and roughage that needs to be combined with the carbs to keep a bird healthy.

 

[~gd]

Actually on second thought...I have fed mine sprouted lentils...not precooked. So, I guess it depends really on the precooking of the beans. I have heard not to feed them raw, but sprouted isn't *exactly* the same huh? I wouldn't sprout pintos for them or anything, but they seemed to really like the lentils I gave them. Maybe someone else will chime in with the why on the beans Now I'm not so sure.

Well you shouldn't have been sure because the ideal that they can not eat or digest beans is generally false. Soy beans do contain a tripsin inhibitor that can be bad for chickens [because of the amount they will eat] or humans in large amounts. The soy protein in chicken feed has generally been tosted to dryness to destroy this inhibitor and make it easer for dry blends. Most human soya foods are either cooked or fermentated which does the same. Most chicken and pet foods use soy protein as the main protein source because it is a cheap source.
Chickens love mice for food but the fur slows them down. you could try spliting trapped mice [not poisioned] for them. "pinky" young before fur are real treats which they will fight to get.~gd