In addition to their balanced feed, our chickens also enjoy weeds, bugs and whatever treasures they can find and kitchen scraps. A chicken on average eats around grams of food a day. This is a good amount of daily protein for a chicken to produce an egg each day or at her maximum capacity for that breed, etc.
That works out to be around a 2 tsp. If you keep 6 chickens or less, if you toss in left over pasta and a handful of scratch in your run, your chickens are already overdoing it with the treats. If you think your chickens are bored, toss them some protein rich meal worms, cooked eggs or even some of their layer in pelleted form. Cancel Comment. I see this posting is from 11 months ago and my guess is either your chicken is no more or you got her treatment at your vet.
Sounds like egg yolk peritonitis or fluid in her abdomen. I have two chickens that were treated with antibiotics and so far so good. Rhoda, the one with the EYP, had a 1 in 10 chance of survival. She is doing beautifully. Beatrice has been treated twice now for fluid in her abdomen and right now appears to be doing good. Welcome to Community Chickens! Training the hens to eat from your hand is easy once they realize how good it is. Those chickens you see on YouTube performing tricks and navigating obstacle courses were all likely trained with scratch!
As we have already mentioned, getting them to return to the coop nightly is easier with a handful of scratch. It can also be used as a reward for enduring an unpleasant, but necessary treatment such as delousing.
If your hen gets a reward for being good she will come to you time and time again. All of these things encourage the birds to come to you and they will learn you will do no harm to them. In the winter months, giving some scratch before bedtime gives them a little boost of heat overnight. As they digest the grains the extra heat generated keeps them just a bit warmer. If you are on a limited budget do away with the scratch and buy a small bag of mid-priced bird seed.
This way you can ensure the seed is fairly fresh and when you need to change for fresh, give it to the wild birds well away from the chicken yard. Do you use scratch, make your own, substitute? Let us know how you spoil your ladies in the comments section below….
Great info as always Claire. Thanks for being there for us and helping to keep our lovely ladies healthy and happy. They love tomatoes and cucumbers. And I give them a few rolled oats each evening. I really enjoy reading your posts — thanks! Thanks for the advice. Daughter inadvertently bought 50lbs. I will now limit the amount they get. Thanks again. When should you switch from scratch to regular feed? Mine are juat now in their coop but yet to start foraging and I havent switched them yet.
I have an Old English Bantham rooster tiny 2 male ducks and, 5 Toms. I was told not to feed males too much calcium. It could cause heart failure. What would you recommend I feed the males? Jun 9, 87 Sounds like they free range, and if so, they have access to bugs, and can probably make up for a lack of protein in scratch by foraging. Mine also get some free ranging time as well as access to a bunch of compost bins.
Last edited: Sep 28, Chris09 Circle M Ranch 10 Years. Jun 1, 10, Ohio. So for every pound of feed they get you can give them 1 to 1. Apr 12, 3, Kentucky Heartland. Scratch grains are basically starch if I've read correctly. It is very low on protein. It contains a lot of corn depending on the brand. It should only be fed as a supplement to their regular diet. Therefore it is not a complete food. Chickens will require it more in the winter as it will help provide much needed extra warmth.
Personally we do not feed scratch grains in the summer. Our flock free ranges much of the day and get protein from flockraiser feed, bugs, etc. We only provide scratch grains in the winter. Normally we'll throw a few handfuls on the ground for the flock each morning. Red Barn Farms said:. Click to expand Achickenwrangler 1 Songster 8 Years. Aug 7, 2, west virginia. Chickens require more food in the winter because there isn't as much else to eat I'm planting my winter rye and wheat now.
They can also have meat based dog food, as well as animal fat and scraps. Cindy in PA Crowing 13 Years. Jul 8, 2, 1, Fleetwood, PA. Sep 28, 42 1 24 Puyallup, WA. I give my flock some scratch to eat at night right before bed time only in the winter.
I've heard that it is more work to digest so therefor it helps keep them a little warmer at night in the winter months. Chris09 said:. Since scratch is mostly corn it will not keep them "warm". Just a note, try to find information from people with a PhD in livestock nutrition then you will find the truth. We must discern whether the discussion is about energy content or actual heat production. Corn and other concentrates are sometimes called "hot" feeds. This is in reference to their higher energy content compared to hay or straw cool feeds.
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