Feed rations:
Biology – Chickens are a prey species and have evolved a digestive system
that allows them to eat a lot now and digest later when they are safe. Most
foraging occurs at dusk and allows digestion of food while they roost. This
also means that most of the littering occurs at night.
The digestive system of a chicken DAFF Queensland |
Food goes into the crop, an expandable organ, where food is stored.
Afterwards food moves to the stomach (pro-ventriculus) where enzymatic
digestion takes place. It passes into the gizzard (ventriculus) where food is
digested mechanically by the strong muscles lining the pouch and the pouch is filled
with small stones (grit).
Types of Feed – Chickens are omnivores. Thus they require proteins
(insects, green forage); starch (grains, pellets) and greens (leaves, plants).
Most of the chickens’ dietary needs are fulfilled with pellets (growing for
young chickens, layer for hens and broiler for meat birds).
Mash: Ground chicken food. I prefer to give chickens pellets – it’s easier
to peck, less messy and wasteful.
Pellets: Mash that has been compressed into pellets. Pellets that have
fallen on the ground around the feeding area are more likely to be pecked up
and not wasted.
Chicken pellets |
Growing pellets: These are for young birds that have not started to lay
eggs. There is more protein in this than normal layer pellets and the
additional protein is required for growth.
Broiler pellets: Cocks get fed broiler pellets to put on meat and thus
these pellets have more protein and energy.
Feed
|
Protein level (%)
|
Age of Bird (weeks)
|
Laying Chickens
|
||
Chick starter
|
20-22
|
0-6
|
Pullet grower
|
14-16
|
6-20
|
Layer
|
15-18
|
20 - ∞
|
Broiler Chickens
|
||
Broiler starter
|
20-24
|
0-6
|
Broiler finisher
|
16-20
|
6 - slaughter
|
Since the feed is nutritionally complete, chickens only need to eat a
small amount of food for their nutritional requirements – this is problematic
for chickens that are cooped up all day, since they are bored the rest of the
time and peck at each other for entertainment. Therefore, providing some leafy greens hung
in bundles or green forage (alfalfa hay or grass) around the coop, and by providing
some scratch/scraps inside should keep them from misbehaving. Boredom is not a
problem for chickens who are allowed to forage as they find more than enough things to
keep them busy. Another factor to consider for cooped chickens is grit – this
need to be made available for them since they can't get out and find it for
themselves.
Scratch: A feed supplement that contains grains. A common formulation
is equal portions of wheat, corn and oats. Barley is sometimes hard to digest.
You just scatter some on the ground and the chickens will swoop in and start scratching
up the place. Scratch is high in protein, vitamins and minerals. Too much makes
for fat hens and reduces egg production, so should be fed sparingly. Scratch is reduced in summer and can be
substituted with whole oats that improves water retention by chickens during
hot weather.
Table scraps: Usually any leftovers from the kitchen or plant matter
from the vegetable patch. In general chickens know what they can and cannot
eat. This means that you can give them just about anything.
The exceptions are raw potato peels and raw legumes. Legumes (peas and beans)
need to be cooked before given to chickens as they contain trypsin inhibitors (trypsin
is an essential amino acid). The inhibitors are deactivated during the cooking
process. No onions or too much of the cabbage family as they impart disagreeable
flavour in the eggs. No avocadoes, the brown seed cover contains persin, which
is lethal to chickens. No fried or fatty foods – fat chickens are unhealthy and
don’t lay well. No caffeine or alcohol (obviously) and no foods with high
amount of sugar or salt.
The compost heap makes for a great scratch patch – chickens get extra bits to eat and the compost gets aerated and de-bugged in the process. Chicken poop makes for excellent compost.
Chickens in the compost heap after scraps |
The compost heap makes for a great scratch patch – chickens get extra bits to eat and the compost gets aerated and de-bugged in the process. Chicken poop makes for excellent compost.
Green forage: This is plants specifically planted on for livestock (or
chickens) as forage and the green parts are consumed (leaves, shoots). Some also
double as green manure. Several green forages are available for planting, but I
suggest Alfalfa.
Clover is also popular chicken green forage, but make sure you get the
correct species. Spoilt or damaged Melilotus
clover species (Melilotus officinalis,
yellow clover, or M. alba) contains dicourmarin
(gives clover their distinct odour). Dicourmarin is a derivative of courmarin, which is an anticoagulant
(antagonist of Vitamin K needed for blood clotting) and may cause haemorrhage in
chickens. Low-courmacin containing feeds have been cultivated, such as M. dentate known as Polara or Artic
clover.
Clover best for chicken forage is white clover (Trifolium reprens) and allows good weight gain in chickens. Red
clover (T. pratense) contains more
phytotestosterone that white, but seems to be only a problem for sheep. T. subterraneum (Subterranean clover)
and T. hybidum (Alsike clover) are also
used as green forages.
Courmacin poisoning is not associated with Alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Alfalfa is a legume species and
the young leaves and shoots are used as chicken forage. It is a good winter
supplement of protein when insects are scarce. It can withstand grazing after
it has formed a ‘crown’ with 5 week rest intervals. It contains 18% protein and
a range of amino acids, vitamin and minerals (Vit A, Vit E, Vit B1/B2/B6/B12,
Vit K, Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Niacin, Folic Acid, Chlorine, Magnesium,
Copper, Sulphur, Cobalt, Boron, Pantothenic acid, S-methyl methionine,
Inocitrate, Molybdenum and trace amounts of Nickel, Strontium and Palladium).
It does however contain saponins (used in plant pest resistance) that may affect
egg production and growth performance, but a balanced diet should prevent this.
Chicken Green Forage includes:
Alfalfa*
Amaranth
Barley Watercress
Birdsfoot trefoil*
Borage
Brassica species (kale, rape, swede, turnip, beet) *
Buckwheat*
Chamomile
Chickpea
Chickweed
Chicory
Clover (White and red) *
Comfrey
Corn
Dandelion
Duckweed
Field Beans*
Field Peas*
Horsetail
Linseed
Mangles
Millet
Nettles
Oats*
Parsley
Plantain
Raspberry
Rye grass
Sorghum
Soybean*
Sunflower*
Winter Rye*
Yellow dock
*Green forages double as green manure – read here for more details.
Grit: AKA chicken teeth! This is essential for chickens that are given
grains or green forage, chickens that feed exclusively on pellets don’t need
grit. You can buy chicken specific grit with small insoluble stones and pieces
of oyster shell (extra calcium). Our chickens round up stones and even their
own egg shells (extra calcium) in the compost heap (no wet eggshells should be
fed to chickens as to prevent bacterial infection or induce egg eating).
Routine – Chickens are creatures of habit. Being a chicken is quite
stressful and routine helps to manage this. Our chickens get fed snacks in the
morning (05:30 weekdays, 07:00 weekends) and let out for the day. They have learned
to recognise the container that is filled with foodstuffs for the compost heap and run
after us all the way to the heap to get first share. Pellets and water are
always available during the course of the day. Another round of snacks is in
the afternoon (17:00 in summer, 16:00 in winter - daylight restrictions J),
which usually consists of grains and seeds (scratch - usually a mixture of
sorghum, crushed maize and sunflower seeds).
Snacks: Tomatoes (chickens looove tomatoes – keep them away from tomato
plants, ‘less you not want tomatoes!), Squash (this being all the fibrous flesh
with seeds), smashed bananas, pears, milk and rice mix, yogurt (chickens do
well to have some dairy in their diet), tinned cat food (once a week during
moulting) and warm oats (winter for warmth and prolonged digestion to keep them
fuller for longer).
Mouldy or spoilt food should not be fed to chickens to prevent disease –
food not yet spoilt, but not preferable for human consumption can go to the
chickens.
Water provisions:
Water requirements of 12 birds per day
Age
|
Amount (litres)
|
1-7 days
|
1
|
1-4 weeks
|
2
|
4-12 weeks
|
4
|
12 weeks +
|
6
|
I get all of my
chicken supplies for food and water at Farm City:
Complete Layer Feed: Afgri Animal Feeds
(g/kg)
Protein
|
150
|
Min
|
Lysine
|
6.6
|
Min
|
Methionine
|
2.9
|
Min
|
Moisture
|
120
|
Max
|
Fibre
|
70
|
Max
|
Fat
|
25
|
Min
|
Calcium
|
35 - 45
|
Min - Max
|
Phosphorus
|
5.5
|
Min
|
Amankhukhu: Mixed fowl food – maize, sorghum & sunflower seeds.
Drakansberg: Sunflower seeds, cuz the mix at the top doesn’t have
enough according to me J
What do you feed your chickens? What type of routine do you have?
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What do you feed your chickens? What type of routine do you have?
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