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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
 
| I've got 8 hens.. they've started laying a few weeks ago... averaging about 4-6 eggs a day... my question is what do ya'll feed? They hate the layer pellets .. won't touch them.. same with the crumble... they aren't overly excited about scratch either... right now they eat alot of grasshoppers and since the rain been pulling out earth worms and snacking on crickets too. They are pretty much free range during the day we lock them up in their hen house at night and for a few hours in the morning but everytime I go outside they follow me squawking for food.. dog food cat food even horse feed seems that's what they want and I occasionally throw out some table scraps they eat it all up.. I stepped on a pecan and they went crazy over it. I feel like they aren't getting enough food because they won't touch their chicken feed! I'm usually so focused on horse nutrition this is a bit different for me lol! |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
 
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Mix in Meal Worms with their feed. I feed crumbles from Purina. Meal worms are like a desert to the girls. They'll love you for them and they'll start to eat their feed if it smells like meal worms.  |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| IRunOnFaith - 2015-10-28 5:12 PM
Mix in Meal Worms with their feed. I feed crumbles from Purina. Meal worms are like a desert to the girls. They'll love you for them and they'll start to eat their feed if it smells like meal worms.
I did buy a "party mix " as a treat for them a while ago... meal worms and corn mix. They went wild! I haven't tried the purina feed yet for them it was just an off brand I got from the feed store 20% protein pellet. I'll get some meal worms for them tho and mix it in their feed and see if they start eating it better. Thanks! |
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 Horsey Gene Carrier
Posts: 1888
Location: LaBelle, Florida | If they are free ranging they are filling up in the yard.
Mine free range during the day and go in the coop at night with a scoop of layer pellets. Look at thier crop, if it looks like they are toting a baseball around on their chest, crop is full.
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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | My chickens free range most of the year, I only feed layer pellets or scratch after it starts freezing.
Edited by equussynergy 2015-10-28 5:38 PM
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I discovered they love steak... by accident. .. I threw out some fat and cuts of steak for my cats and those hens chased the cats off to eat it.. vicious! |
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 Thread Killer
Posts: 7545
| want2chase3 - 2015-10-28 7:05 PM I discovered they love steak... by accident. .. I threw out some fat and cuts of steak for my cats and those hens chased the cats off to eat it.. vicious!
Quite the little savages, aren't they.
I LOVE THEM!
...to answer the question, we feed ours Purina Layena crumbles. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Just Plain Lucky - 2015-10-28 6:11 PM
want2chase3 - 2015-10-28 7:05 PM I discovered they love steak... by accident. .. I threw out some fat and cuts of steak for my cats and those hens chased the cats off to eat it.. vicious!
Quite the little savages, aren't they.
I LOVE THEM!
...to answer the question, we feed ours Purina Layena crumbles.
They are! My kids were actually afraid to go outside for a while because they'll chase them lol! They got a snake the other day... and also feasted on a dead baby rabbit that one of the cats brought up.. grossed me out but they cleaned it up... |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Watching 3 grown cats run for their lives while a few hens in hot pursuit was hilarious! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1718
Location: Southeast Louisiana | I don't know what to tell you... mine will eat anything, lol. Never had that problem. But, I do feed the crumbles. Recently, my son rejected some cereal, and I ended up feeing it to the chickens. It was the really finely ground baby cereal. They devoured that. You might try mixing their pellets with something like that, they might eat it then. |
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Thread Killer
Posts: 7545
| If the hens aren't eating their food, that means they're getting their fill of free range goodies for now. You probably don't need to change feed at all. They might be eating catfood for the protien - that helps regrow feathers during molting season.
Be careful not to "over-treat" as chickens do not carry/process fat well and can easily die from being too fat. We lost a few before we realized what was wrong. :( |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | Renew Gold makes a layer pellet that contains no soy, is non gmo and has coconut in it. This is a complete feed that need no further supplementation of any kind. Lab results on the eggs shows high omega 3 and low estrogen when compared to commercial eggs that use soy based feeds. Available in the West now. Everywhere soon. The name of the product is "Renew Poultry, Non-GMO - No Soy" it comes in a 40 pound bag.
Edited by winwillows 2015-10-28 7:19 PM
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | Chickens will eat anything. I bring home leftovers from meetings at work and they will start eating with whatever is green. Their second favorite is spaghetti, I think because it looks like worms! |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I make a mix of crumbles, cracked corn, and rockn rooster, with calcium and grit added in separately. It's gone by the end of the day. We now have 12 chickens and 6 ducks and they all eat the same feed. Yes, they love cat food in any form, and we feed out a handful of sunflower kernels a day, and any leftovers that aren't going to be eaten. Ours free range and pretty much scour all 7 acres. Also sure we don't ever need to think about pesticides since the bugs are afraid of our yard now -- I just wish they would catch more flies in the summer! |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| lonely va barrelxr - 2015-10-29 7:03 AM
I make a mix of crumbles, cracked corn, and rockn rooster, with calcium and grit added in separately. It's gone by the end of the day. We now have 12 chickens and 6 ducks and they all eat the same feed. Yes, they love cat food in any form, and we feed out a handful of sunflower kernels a day, and any leftovers that aren't going to be eaten. Ours free range and pretty much scour all 7 acres. Also sure we don't ever need to think about pesticides since the bugs are afraid of our yard now -- I just wish they would catch more flies in the summer!
I was thinking of mixing my own chicken feed like I do for my horses.. I wonder if flax would be good for them or black oil sunflower seeds in small amounts.. I'll probably try another brand of crumble and mix a few things in.. yep... they will pretty much eat anything (except their feed) lol! Noodles and some pinto beans I tossed out. |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | I fed layer crumbles, and that is because of one breed I had. The biggest rooster was 1 lb, they couldn't eat layer pellets if they tried.
I would still offer them the food just incase, but I wouldn't worry unless they started feeling thin. If that were the case I would leave them penned a little longer in the morning, after they eat turn them out.
Or maybe they don't know they are chickens ;) lol |
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 Expert
Posts: 1392
Location: Central Texas | want2chase3 - 2015-10-29 7:35 AM lonely va barrelxr - 2015-10-29 7:03 AM I make a mix of crumbles, cracked corn, and rockn rooster, with calcium and grit added in separately. It's gone by the end of the day. We now have 12 chickens and 6 ducks and they all eat the same feed. Yes, they love cat food in any form, and we feed out a handful of sunflower kernels a day, and any leftovers that aren't going to be eaten. Ours free range and pretty much scour all 7 acres. Also sure we don't ever need to think about pesticides since the bugs are afraid of our yard now -- I just wish they would catch more flies in the summer! I was thinking of mixing my own chicken feed like I do for my horses.. I wonder if flax would be good for them or black oil sunflower seeds in small amounts.. I'll probably try another brand of crumble and mix a few things in.. yep... they will pretty much eat anything (except their feed ) lol! Noodles and some pinto beans I tossed out.
I toss my chickens a handfull BOSS everyday. They also get the purina crumbles for their feed but they prefer to fill up on grasshoppers, worms, etc. I usually hang a head of cabbage or broccoli every couple of days from a chain with an eye hook at the end (just screw the eye hook into the stalk) and watch them peck at it..they go nuts and I'm entertained by the fact that it looks like they are playing tether ball. LOL.
As some one else said just be careful not to let them get too fat. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | kasaj2000 - 2015-10-28 5:35 PM If they are free ranging they are filling up in the yard.
Mine free range during the day and go in the coop at night with a scoop of layer pellets. Look at thier crop, if it looks like they are toting a baseball around on their chest, crop is full.
Yep!
Also I was told that if you crunch up some of the egg shells and feed it to them, it is a great calcium source for them.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | I think the best thing for them to eat is bugs and free range stuff. At least that is what I have been told by my wife. We feed leftovers and they get a little chicken feed as well. I am told that vegetarian chicken eggs are not as healthy. Although adding alfalfa oats and flax are great for them, as I am sure other things are too. Most of the time our chickens are foraging and the eggs they have been making are great. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 929
| Mine eat whatever, they are just like hogs. I try to give them the old salad mix that gets too wilty for me to eat but isn't "bad" yet so they get the vitamins from the greens. Also a bit of boiled hamburger for the Iron, but not too much. Like someone said if you feed them too much fat their livers can't process it and they die. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Tdove - 2015-10-29 9:15 AM
I think the best thing for them to eat is bugs and free range stuff. At least that is what I have been told by my wife. We feed leftovers and they get a little chicken feed as well. I am told that vegetarian chicken eggs are not as healthy. Although adding alfalfa oats and flax are great for them, as I am sure other things are too. Most of the time our chickens are foraging and the eggs they have been making are great.
They love oats and will follow me into my feed room and stand there and wait patiently for me to drop some on the ground. I unloaded some alfalfa hay yesterday and they were picking at it all afternoon. Interesting on the fat... had no idea about that. So if I wanted to add a little flax seed into their mix... how much is too much? They are laying brown eggs and they aren't very big.. yet. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | We have done a lot of testing, and have made bulk poultry feed for several years for commercial specialty egg producers that market high omega 3 eggs from chickens fed a non-gmo high omega 3 diet. There is also an interest in eliminating soy since it is estrogen producing. The chicken egg is a direct reflection of diet to an amazing degree. There is clear proof that you can effect omega 3 and estrogen levels with diet. Free ranging birds pretty much do this on their own. Birds fed commercial soy based feed rations produce eggs with a significantly different nutrient profile from those that either free range, or those fed with this goal in mind. |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | winwillows - 2015-10-29 11:00 AM We have done a lot of testing, and have made bulk poultry feed for several years for commercial specialty egg producers that market high omega 3 eggs from chickens fed a non-gmo high omega 3 diet. There is also an interest in eliminating soy since it is estrogen producing. The chicken egg is a direct reflection of diet to an amazing degree. There is clear proof that you can effect omega 3 and estrogen levels with diet. Free ranging birds pretty much do this on their own. Birds fed commercial soy based feed rations produce eggs with a significantly different nutrient profile from those that either free range, or those fed with this goal in mind.
I knew when I saw you had commented on this I would learn something.  You never disappoint winwillows! |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I have chickens and enjoy the heck out of them and love the fact that will kill snakes  Mine get their laying pellets and grain and they free range all day long they go where ever they like. I have the hens that lay brown eggs, with them being free range I can tell the difference in their yokes the yokes are way darker yellow color then your chickens that are kept in pens/cages. And I give most of my eggs away to friends and they love to bake with these eggs they tell me their cakes and cookies are way better with my chickens eggs.
And yes they get locked up at night but are let out first thing in the mornings. They are really happy campers. And they are the boss out here the dogs and cats stay way out of their way when the girls are locked on food. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | IRunOnFaith - 2015-10-29 11:10 AM
winwillows - 2015-10-29 11:00 AM We have done a lot of testing, and have made bulk poultry feed for several years for commercial specialty egg producers that market high omega 3 eggs from chickens fed a non-gmo high omega 3 diet. There is also an interest in eliminating soy since it is estrogen producing. The chicken egg is a direct reflection of diet to an amazing degree. There is clear proof that you can effect omega 3 and estrogen levels with diet. Free ranging birds pretty much do this on their own. Birds fed commercial soy based feed rations produce eggs with a significantly different nutrient profile from those that either free range, or those fed with this goal in mind.
I knew when I saw you had commented on this I would learn something. You never disappoint winwillows!
We have worked very hard to apply current available science to the poultry feed sector. This was by request, originally from Redmond, the salt people who also have a specialty egg sector of their business in Utah. When I did the formulation work and ask our company Vet, Gary Kaufman the great horse Vet from Scottsdale AZ, what he thought about being in the chicken feed business he told me "That's not something that I would want on my tombstone". At any rate, it has turned out to be fascinating to see how much you can effect the actual nutrient profile of a chicken egg. The formulation just became available recently in a retail bag because some of our good West Coast stores learned that we were making a unique commercial product and asked for the same product to sell to their chicken customers. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| You know what's funny is that I don't even eat eggs.. I cant. They effect me in a very bad way ... horrible stomach ache that lasts for hours. I can eat stuff that eggs are baked or cooked in but if I eat a straight egg I will be keeled over for hours... weird.. but my family eats eggs and I've given plenty of these eggs away already. I've tried egg whites too and same results. |
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OT- Chicken feed