We now have in the region of 160 chicken. We sell the eggs at the farm door. What do you feed your poultry? Do you buy feed at the feed store or do you mix your own? Do you have it mixed for you by the mill?

At the moment we buy layers pellets, which they have free feeding all the time, then mid afternoon we feed cooked cabbage, potato peelings, and chopped up leaves and peeling from our own meal preparation. This we mix with cracked mixed corn, served warm, they love it. The yolks are really yellow, due I think to the corn and folic acid in the greens.

We also have grit and oyster shell in two hoppers free choice.

The chicken free range all day and are locked up at night.

I would like to mix my own feed but I don't know where to start.

Finally, is the plural of chicken , chicken or chickens. This is the dispute in the house hold at the moment.

Thanks for all the help

Alison

-- Alison Homa (Alisonhoma@hotmail.com), December 02, 2001

Answers

I was trying to cut my feed bill and asked around to some of the old timers. They gave me lots of ideas.Heres what we do--(I get everything at the local feed meal-soooo much cheaper!)-cracked corn and chicken scratch. I mix these together and then add hog feed. It is very fine. They love it .I have doubled egg laying and the chicks I started on this are 3 times as big as the ones we started on starter feed. I also feed them left overs. They will eat anything.Also a friend of mine closed a small store and had lots of old cereal. I give them this and they almost attack me as I come through the door. I ask our local grocery what they do with the outdated stuff. If we get there in time we can have it for free!!!!! God BLess.

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), December 02, 2001.

I do like Michaele does, a very depression-era mentality of use it up, waste not want not. I feed chicken scratch and supplement with hog feed (now that it's winter and they aren't finding many bugs for protein).

I've been gleening soybeans in our field for them. I pick some greens (weeds or the tops of my turnips )on the way to be barn each day.

I don't cook a thing for the chickens--except the leftovers they get from dinner. Why are you cooking cabbage and potatoe peelings? Think of them as wild birds who would not be cooking their food, but foraging for it.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), December 02, 2001.

I feed cracked corn and laying mash, but they don't seem to eat much of either, as they free range. My chickens get most of our scraps, but they don't eat raw potato peelings, if I boil them they will eat them then.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), December 02, 2001.

We feed layer crumbles free choice, and things like leftover bread crusts and such are treats. In the spring and summer, they free range and eat bugs for me, and not as much feed. We bought feed one year from someone around Austin who formulated his own high-protein feed, which was almost the consistency of corn meal, but I don't know what his formula was(and didn't really like it as well as the feed store stuff.)

-- mary (mlg@aol.com), December 03, 2001.

I grew many extra squash this year, spaghetti,acorn, zuccini etc. I have been feeding these to the chickens. I just piled them next to the pen. They are starting to get soft, but the chickens still love them. During the gardening season I fed turnips and beets everyday. They didn't like the rutabbega (sp).

What percent protien hog feed are you using for your chickens? Do you feed the cracked corn/chicken scratch/hog feed to broilers? layers? both?

-- Darcy in NW WA (gatecity@nomail.com), December 04, 2001.