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

[Ula]

Hi Everybody!

I feed my chix leftover bread topped with bacon fat, cooked oatmeal with scraps(leftovers) & cracked corn. This coming year I am adding amaranth, quiona , sunflower & millet(.better to eliminate the corn)& more veggies. Seems the bacon fat keeps them laying longer too.

 

[Mattemma]

Great thread!

When I lived in Hungary as a child there was no pet or livestock food.Everyone had chickens,dogs,cats,maybe a few pigs and goats. All were fed whatever they grew or scraps.No pre-made food products for them.

 

[so lucky]

I remember my grandma had big coon dogs (big to me at the time) that she never bought food for. Every day she would bake up a big pan of cornbread and pour grease over it for them. I'm sure they got scraps when butchering was done, as well. I don't remember what they fed the chickens, but they free-ranged, so they probably got lots of good stuff.

 

[tressa27884]

Mine free range and get whatever leftovers we have from the dinner table...I've been doing it this way forever and mine are all fat and sassy

 

[Britesea]

commercial animal foods is a pretty recent phenomenon

 

[Mini Horses]

Hi -- new to forum & glad to be here.......nice thread as we all need to feed well for less cost. My girls all free range & penned at nigh from predators. 20 hens provide way more than I need but, daughter & grdtr use, plus daughter sells all I have extra at her work. When there are extras, I freeze &/or cook for dog/cats/chickens.

I have milk goats -- as some of you may but, doesn't sound like a lot do -- anyway, living in VA we cannot sell raw milk straight up to people (can for PET USE). Happens that I have lots (might I say LOTS?!!) of milk and the chickens love it. Winter it's served warm. When the frig is a "wall of milk & eggs" I make cheese for self, friends and livestock. Freezes well, thaws nicely and can be fed as is or mixed. Of course, plenty of whey when you make cheese. Chickens get that sometimes as will my two new little piggies coming next week. (yes, they are freezer bound in Spring). And 2 more will be picked up in about 3 months, they are breeding stock intended.

This year my sunflowers did well, the milo was a good effort and comfrey doing nicely. These will all be expanded next yr as the chickens and goats eat them -- in one way or another. Other grains are being grown for animal feeds -- corn, pumpkins, kale, mangel beets, etc. I use non-GMO & heritage seeds. These type plants can all be harvested by hand, grown in smaller areas, are generally easily maintained & dried for winter use. Storage is a big consideration if you have more than a handful of birds. But, most who have several animals also have available space to store using tight lidded trash cans, etc. It is a time when feed stores carry many types of "feed lot" seed pkgs. These are often a great source of mixed seeds that are just as appreciated by our chickens & goats as the deer for which they have been pkgd. Pricy, yes -- but if you only have a small area to work, still less costly than trying to find and buy all these great varieties! You might also check out some of the human food co-ops that sell in bulk for things like buckwheat, chia, flax seed -- small quantities in many grocery stores -- to use for sprouting. In winter it's easy and can be a great source for fresh, nutritious greens. They will eat it, roots and all! My goats and horses will also. While some of these grains take more time & effort for us (grind, sprout, freeze, thaw, heat) I find it saves money. And we generally have more time than money. right? Do it by the fire, in the evening, wth a glass of wine.

Basically, I love my goats for more than their personalities. They give me great milk to drink, make yogurt, cheese, butter, etc., help feed cats, dog, chickens, pigs and their own kids. Now, there's an animal worth it's keep!!! Didn't even mentions that they not only make great fertilizer, they also spread it all around for me....remove weeds & growth on fences...what a helper they are! Everybody needs a couple goats.

My goal is to be as totally self sufficient a farm as I can! Next yr I plan to do canning again. Freezer is full -- have canners and jars, just didn't do much with a garden this yr and kicking myself for that. But did expand chicken coop, added some raised beds for next yr (filling with barn refuse) and my little greenhouse if about 1/2 way done -- all material to finish is on site. Experiments with various grains, beets, etc. to use for animals went well !! Now I know I can expand to at least help offset that winter feed bill.

 

[Britesea]

Your post is an inspiration!

 

[Lewis Adams]

They can eat quite a few different people foods but their are a number of things that they can't eat, some you wouldn't even think. You can see what is good and bad for them to eat at this backyardchickens forum post:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

- P.S. backyardchickens.com is a great website to learn more about chickens

 

[MoonShadows]

Hi Lewis and welcome to SS! Thanks for that chart. Some of the folks here are over at BYC, too. Nice to have you with us and hope you become involved.

 

[lcertuche]

I know it has been a while since anyone has posted but I thought I would chime in. I too belong to backyardchickens. I like to free-range my birds, feed them a few scraps and a little fermented feed. If I was to do away with anything it would be the feed. Years past I mostly let my chickens free range and only threw a couple of handfuls of grain in the evening to encourage them to come to home to roost at night. On BYC though I have had members fuss at me for this saying that it is reckless to let chickens free range due to predators or not to feed them formulated feed because of its great benefits. I will probably continue this because I want healthy,happy birds and that's what they are when they free range. I have lost very few over the years to predators because I lock them up at night and they wise up during the day. The only big hit I ever had was when two stray dogs took out at least 2/3 of my flock. A shot gun cured that though. In the 'olden' days people raised extra squash, turnips, etc. for the livestock and it use to be economically feasible to raise chickens for eggs and the occasional pot of dumplings when the hens got old or you had extra cockerels. If you got money to blow then sure spend it but if you don't you can still afford a few chickens as all ya'll seemed to have figured out.