Feeding Chickens for Optimal Health and Production

Nutrition

Feed your birds quality poultry feed. A balanced nutrious diet can ward off disease, will increase the productivity of your laying hens, and prolonge their productive lives. Non-GMO, organically grown feeds will benefit everyone. The eggs taste better and are healthier for your birds and you.

No one feed ingredient contains all the nutrients required for a complete diet. There are five basic classes of nutrients needed. These ingredients are mixed in different
proportions and sold in the form of :

Pellet feed is mash that is held together with a binder and then heat-treated, extruded, and cut into various lengths and diameters depending on the type of feed produced.
Crumble consists of pelletized feed broken down into smaller pieces.
Mash feed consists of all ingredients ground into particles and mixed loosely together.

A chicken will stop eating once a certain quantity of energy has been consumed in a day. This will happen even if the bird has not ingested enough protein or vitamins. Therefore, the energy concentration needs to be in balance with the other nutrients in the diet. Commercial diet formulations take this into account.

You can also purchase your own feed ingredients and manufacture your own feed, but experiments have shown that it doesn't save much in the way of money and you need to be diligent in your mixtures. For that reason, most people - especially those new to chickens - prefer to purchase manufactured chicken feed. For adult hens, select a product marked as "Layer Feed". There are many brands to choose from.

Scratch is another food product that you frequently hear people feeding their birds. Scratch is a mixture of milo, corn and other ingredients that birds enjoy. However, because it is high in carbohydrates, it should be considered more of a treat given only occasionally in small handfuls rather than as a staple feed. In the summer heat, chickens can have problems digesting high carb feeds, so be especially careful and consider eliminating the treat altogether. Organically raised soldier fly larva are an excellent source of protein and are a better option for your birds.

You'll find different chickens have different opinions and preferences, even relative to the size of the feed pieces.

Required nutrients and where they come from

Nutrients

Carbohydrates (for energy)
Protein (for amino acids to build bone)
Fats (supply energy)
Minerals (see supplements below)
Vitamins

Feed Sources

Corn, sorghum, wheat, other grains
Soybean meal, meat products, canola meal, fish meal, fly larva
Vegetable oil, tallow, blended fat products
Salt, limestone, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, oyster shell, trace minterals
Feeds

How much to feed?

A layer breed of chick matures between 4 and 6 months old and will eat about 2 pounds of starter feed in its first 6 weeks of life.

Feeding adult birds is not an exact science. Many factors influence how much food the birds consume including, but not limited to, breed type, weather conditions including heat, humidity and cold; numbers of hours of sunlight, how much exercise they get and stress levels.

It is best to keep your feeders about half full and monitor how quickly the birds consume the food. Also be aware that some of the food will be thrown onto the ground, so overfilling the feeder can lead to a distorted perception of how much feed the birds are consuming, but never allow the feeders to go completely empty.

A word on free ranging and offering table scraps

Free ranging
It’s OK to let your chickens forage around for bugs and greens, but always provide them access to the appropriate type of formulated balanced feed. Totally “free-ranged” poultry will rarely be able to consume a proper balance and quantity of nutrients necessary for maximum capable rate of egg production. It has been reported that free ranging chickens produce eggs lower in cholesterol and higher in omega 3.

Free Ranging Feed Alternatives

If it's not possible to allow your chickens to free range, they'll appreciate you bringing them some insects from the garden and grass clippings with seeds - as long as the grass was not exposed to pesticides or herbicides.
Pull a handful of weeds such as dandelions and include those in their diets. By including suitable yellow flowers in their diet, you will also notice your yolks will be a lovely, deep yellow color.
Feeds such as organic soldier flies, often sold as "grubs", but also easily raised, are an easy addition to improve the health of your birds as well as the quality of your eggs.

Table and garden scraps
It's fine to supplement your birds' diet with scraps, but be careful with the nutrient contents. For example, lettuce or other greens that have almost no nutritional value for a chicken - even though they generally love them.

Figure 1: Feed is kept securely away from rodents and pests in special feed bins. Yes, plastic trash cans may work, but we've seen too many rodents chew through these.

Buying and storing chicken feed

Feed quality will affect feed consumption. Feed should be consider and modified depending upon the living conditions and weather. If you're chickens will be free-ranging and there are plenty of grasses and insects, your chickens will obviously require less feed. If you need to keep them in their coop for either local regulations require this, predators, you'll be traveling, or whatever other reasons, you'll want to provide your hens with extra feed.

Ensure that the feed is not stale, rancid, or moldy. Immediately remove obviously moldy, rancid smelling or any other questionable feed. Such feed will, at best, not be eaten; and at worst, cause disease or nutritional deficiencies if consumed.

Always store feed away from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight. Feed bins designed especially for storage, such as the one in Figure 1 are worth the extra money. Tough enough to prevent rodents from chewing through with air tight lids, bins like these will save you money over the course of time as they prevent the lose of feed and ruined cheaper bins such as trash cans that will require replacement.

Purchase feed as fresh as possible. Vitamins will start to degrade if finished feed is stored for prolonged periods. Plan your schedule so that new feed is purchased at least every two months and check for the manufacturing date on the bag.

Place feed in a feeder and don't over feed at any point in time to help eliminate waste. Read more about this in the Feeder section below.

Supplements

Oyster Shell

Calcium is the main component in egg shells as well as necessary for the production and regeneration of feathers. If you are seeing eggs with weak shells and cracks and you have plenty of bedding in the nesting boxes, a lack of calcium could be the culprit.

It is a good idea to always have a calcium supplement available to your birds free choice. You can purchase a supplement at the feed store, usually in the form of "Oyster Shells". Offer the calcium supplement free choice in a dish and your birds will consume it as they need.

Some people will also give egg shells to their chickens. To avoid teaching birds to eat eggs, only use the shells from eggs you have hard boiled and make sure they are clean on any egg white or yolk and dry.

Grit

What is grit?
Grit is small rocks used to supplement a bird's diet to help them digest their food. It generally comes in two sizes, small for chicks, usually referred to as Chick Grit, and large for adult birds, often referred to as Poultry Grit.

Do I need it?
Chickens have no teeth and have to swallow their food whole. Commercial feed is formulated to be easily digestible, so grit is not a requirement. Therefore, if your chickens are confined to cages - as required in some urban settings - and have no ability to eat anything other than the commercial feed you provide, grit is not necessary.

If your are eating anything other than a commercial feed, supplement with grit, this includes any amount of foraging, you'll want to provide some grit. Simply sprinkle a little in with the commercial feed you are providing them.

Vitamins and minerals

If you feed a balanced meal, you don't need to worry about providing extra vitamins and minerals.
Common mistakes made with supplements include giving vitamins, medication and electrolyte supplements without need or for more that 10 days. Check with a veterinarian if you are thinking your birds need vitamins.

Feeders

Figure 2: Top view of adult feeder, hung from the coop roof and off of the ground

Figure 3: Chick feeder

Practical feeding systems for the urban farmer

Feeders come in a wide array of sizes and designs and can range from a dog dish to a fancy automatic feeder. Practical recommendations for the backyard farmer are:

1. Bucket feeders (Figure 2) of various sizes are inexpensive and appropriate for both older chicks that are still growing and adult chickens.

The advantage of bucket feeders is that they can store a few days’ worth of feed, thereby alleviating daily restocking. However, do not let old feed accumulate in them and become stale and moldy. Clean and brush the feeder out often.

Use the appropriate size of bucket feeder for the class of poultry being raised. Using too large feeders with chicks will prevent them from being able to reach the feed. Also chicks might get inside the lip of the feeder and not be able to get back out. Using feeders with too narrow of a lip for adults birds will cause excessive waste of spilled feed.

Feeders should hang from the roof of the coop, raised off the ground, and generally positioned level to the mid to upper chest area of the birds being fed. You can also raise the feeders onto blocks, but generally you'll get more wasted feed this way.

2. Chick feeders (Figure 3): Plastic or metal chick feeders are often used for chicks. Both metal and plastic versions are available and come in a variety of lengths and holes. The openings for the chicks heads helps keep the chicks from getting into the dish, scratching and throwing out feed. However, smaller bantam chicks will sometimes be able to crawl in and can't always find their way out. for them it may be worth sacrificing a bit of feed and using a small dog or cat food dish.