Chicken Feed

[Abigayle]

This is Ann old discussion, but one thing we did not mention is that chickens love raw fish.  If you catch one that is not a size to keep, slit it and feed it to the chickens.  They will eat the small bones for protein, and leave the large, dangerous to swallow, bones.  For those of you with eggs coming out of your ears, cook, chop and feed back to the chickens, leaving some very small shell.  This will not promote the eating of fresh eggs in the coop, if you cook and chop.  If you have marigold heats, sprinkle in some dried heads, for health benefits.
You can also grow sunflower to cut your grain prices, but don't over-feed.  In fact. don't overfeed ANYTHING you decide to add. They are little creatures....  I just love my chickens!!!  Today, Thor asked "did I hear you say "mommy loves you", when you locked the chickens in last night?  I quietly replied....maybe.....

[Abigayle]

We are all going in so many different directions right now.  Everyday, there is something new on the new, that is another alert that things are going to be bad.  I just wanted to repost the chicken feed information several have shared, because if we are cut off from our grain supplies, we need to feed them so they can feed us. 
Yesterday, I ordered some more hulloes oaks.  The were from Southern Exposure and over four dollars for a small bag.  They germinate prolifically and grow fast.  I plant them in a black plastic flat, only a few inches deep, this not requiring a lot of soil.  I have used the soil over several times and will use it again.  Adding some cracked corn to the feed storage, since the weather has cooled down. I put ten pounds of chick starter in the freezer, in case there is none available and I hatch out spring chicks.
Right now, I have ten chicks left to sell for the year.  They are getting little wing feathers, even though they are less than a week old.  If they don't sell, I may add one more coop and keep them for duel purposes. The grains I planted last summer did not do well, with the exception of the clover.  What did grow, they ate off, but I did not have enough to process, as the weather turned so hot and dry.  They were planted on a hillside getting afternoon sun...didn't work.  This is why we have to try many different ways, and try them twice.  Maybe next year I will have a better experience with growing some grain, maybe not.  We have to have backups.  I need to lear to grow meal worms, but I just got goose bumps thinking about it.  Anyone with new ideas, please post so we all can get ready... I thought about raising a few turkeys, but with black head, I don't think I could keep them far enough a part, and my chickens free range a few hours a day.

[John Galt 1]

Abigayle,        Do your birds free range?         Mine used to run over roughly 5 acres of mostly grass which seriously reduce my feed requirements.      But doing that means we'd lose birds to stray dog attacks a few times a year. 
Nowdays the birds stay in a 1/4 acre fenced run so I have to supply a lot more feed.

NJ_715 knows a lot about how to grow soldier ants for bird food.      Soldier ants  are just as nutritious as mealworms but larger and easy to grow using kitchen scraps.       

[Abigayle]

John Galt, If you have that large of an area to turn out, you are free-range.  Have you thought about planting some quick growing greens, that you know grow well in your area and they will eat?  Of course, you have to cover with chicken wire, or bird netting  ( which needs to be tight) they remove it a little at a time, because they will clean house.
Ours have a big turn out area, and I am constantly throwing in scraps from the gardens as I thin.  I plant tray for them.  They are out several times a day, when one of us is working outside.  I carry a small piece, just in case.  We have not lost any but our birds are a pretty good size.  Sterling, our Lavender rooster, looks like a turkey.  He is full of testerone, and keeps a good eye out for trouble.  He and Thor are on very modest terms, but he and I do great together.  As the sun begins to set, they are under cover.  We have not had stray dogs, but owls hawks and even Eagles, call us neighbors.  I would like to hear from N.J. on ants.  Since we fight fire ants, introducing more is not appealing, but I get it.  When we have good rain, I would say I can save about 25% on grain costs.

[Fixit]

Another good winter feed source would be your winter squashes . There is a reason some pumpkins are referred to as hog pumpkins . Butternut squash stored properly In a cool dark place will last 18 months easily. We think grains for our livestock because that is what we get from our feed stores but most Do not require near as much of the grains as we feed .

[Abigayle]

Chickens love fish and will even eat some of the bones.  I would remove small bones, so they would not get stuck going down.  It is a good way to thin out a pond of too many small fish.  They can eat a minnow, just like a frog.  When we had a pool, it drew the frogs in at night.  Every morning, I had to get the net and remove as many as a dozen little frogs, esp after a rain.  The chickens caught on to the routine so got ready to catch what I would throw out of the net.  Kept the frog from returning and gave the chickens a fun, heathy activity.

[Abigayle]

Days are shorter, layers may be slowing down.  If you add a red light, it should pick up productivity.  I don't do if.  If we have enough eggs, I let them rest.  A chicken's number of eggs it will lay is determined well before they start laying.  Do you want to spread them out and make it easier on your birds?  Do you need more right now for some reason?  The choice is yours.
I am still getting enough right now, and will start putting a whole egg in one cube in an ice cube tray.  It has to be plastic.  Once they freeze in a few hours, transfer them to a freezer bag. Take out what you will need the night before and put them in a dish.  If you use them for baking, let them warm up.  You may do well all winter and net need many, but there isn't always a lot of warning, esp. if the start molting.
Some pretty good studies show that a little corn will not produce much heat in your birds in winter, or any other time.  A little for a treat is just fine.  Mine are following me as I clean up the garden and are happy with scraps, like broccoli leaf and cracked cherry tomatoes.  After Ii clean a bed, I let them dig around in it.  They have a sand bath in the turn out areas, but prefer the dark earth.  Hopefully, if there are grubs, etc. they will find them.  Gotta love a chicken.

[RWS]

You always have to have a salt shaker when using this source; however,  You may want to read this if you have chickens.

(Natural News) CLAIM: The popular Tractor Supply chain of farm stores has reportedly reformulated its “Producer’s Pride” chicken feed, causing hens that eat it to no longer produce eggs.
Multiple online sources, many of them hen farmers, say that ever since Tractor Supply changed the Producer’s Pride formulation, their birds have gone desolate. This could be because of a reduction in the amount of protein contained in the feed, or it could be caused by other factors such as aflatoxin contamination.

It is wintertime, which means birds are exposed to less sunlight and thus naturally produce fewer eggs. However, farmers say the drop-off in egg production is so dramatic this year that many hens are producing no eggs at all, as opposed to just a reduction in eggs.
https://dcdirtylaundry.com/claim-tractor-supply-chicken-feed-allegedly-laced-with-ingredients-causing-chickens-to-stop-laying-eggs-company-board-members-tied-to-wef-jeffrey-epstein/

Watch Doug & Stacey.  He mentions Tractor Supply chicken feed.

[Starlady]

'multiple sources online'
All coming from gateway pundit which spiraled a woman's tweet saying she switched her non layers to goat feed, WITHOUT EVEN NAMING THE FEED THEY WERE ON, into rumor.    All saying 'sources report' without any validation whatsoever.  And THAT has morphed into 'they added something to make the birds stop laying' - as opposed to others claiming the protein has been decreased.   Board member ties are so tenuous and out of date, I'll probably never believe another thing from GP.  This has been going on for over a week, gets more ridiculous every day and I'm totally SICK of it.

TSC still advertises Producer's Pride layer feed at 16% protein.  15-16% is the normal maintenance for the lower priced feeds for layers.   Nature Wise, Nutrena, and Purina are all owned by Land o Lakes and DuMor (TSC's other in house brand) is made by them for TSC.   Farmer owned.   And calcium carbonate is still the 3rd highest ingredient, so it's not a shortage of calcium.

In addition to avian flu (which is a bigger issue than most non-chicken owners realize), rising gas, transportation and feed prices, remember there are thousands of new chicken owners over the past 2 years, whose chick purchases during the C-thing laid through their 1st winter, AS IS NORMAL, then stopped when weather went cooler coming into their 2nd winter.  And they don't know why.   It's f***G NORMAL!  Only God knows what conditions some of these newbies have their birds in.   The 'hen farmers' referenced in the above news reports are most likely commercial folks who don't feed Producer's Pride anyway!

One of my homesteading groups did a post/survey with reports from members that at various times over the past 4 months, say their chickens have stopped and then restarted laying, or not restarted.   Sometimes they know birds over 1 yr will slow down in a cold spell (see October for N GA, lol) and start again when it gets warmer, some have added light at night, sometimes with a change of feed and MANY times chickens stopped with some of the most expensive, nutrient dense feeds you can buy already being served!  Including Nutrena and Mazuri.  Some even switched TO PP or DuMor and said their birds started laying again!  Unfortunately, most of these reports from those swearing it's the feed are from newbie owners. 

Not a single person I know who has been doing this for more than 4-5 years believes that the country's largest supplier to the small and hobby farmer would shoot themselves in the foot this way - even if one of their board members once knew Jeffrey Epstein.   And even though most of us hate TSC for their marketing of baby poultry and accessories.

Thank you.  Rant over.   And not directed at you, RWS!

Oh & PS, I totally agree with that guy about Great Britain.

[RWS]

Well, I don't have chickens and don't know anything about them.  I saw these articles and posted for those that do.  Mike Alan is always better with a salt shaker in hand.

[Abigayle]

Star Lady, Your post is right on!  Well said, my dear!
I would add that the weather patterns across the whole country have been off and must be confusing to our chickens.

[Surveyor1]

Check around and you may find someone that makes their own feed to sell.  I have a few friends with chickens and other animals and they found a Mennonite farmer that makes quality feed and they say they are saving close we to 50% versus what they were paying at Tractor Supply.  They said basically he’s cutting out at least two middlemen and transportation cost so he can sell cheaper.  If there s a Mennonite community within driving distance it may be worth checking out?  You could probably search for Mennonite churches on the web and that would be a good place to start…

[HogJowlHomestead]

For those in region 1 we use  Resaca sun feeds right off I-75

 http://www.resacasun.com/

Starter chicken feed is 31c a pound non gmo. We buy 1200lb totes but they will fill barrels or bag it for you. Best meat and pig feed around, i prefer it over south eastern co-op but they two are reputable.

[BennyMG1]

We use the Dumor (TSC) All Flock feeder with our ducks. Egg production is higher now than ever.

[Abigayle]

Benny, We fed our ducks the same feed.  They were healthy and laid large hard shelled eggs every day.