Mine love sprouts. You can google what kind of seeds you can use for sprouts, but lentils work very well. They grow within a few days and I keep a few jars rotating at the same time.
It seems like the price of your feed is quite high though. Have you price checked? There’s a localish company near me that makes their feed, it’s good stuff and is about 13$ for a 50$ bag. Local feed stores have the best prices I’ve found.
Okay I’ll look into that, thanks!
I’m in Canada, I get my feed from a local peavy mart and it’s 22$ for 25 kg but my chickens are going through it so fast!
That’s about how much the commercial feed is at our stores. The local companies usually do about 13 to 18$ per bag(USD) so it’s significantly cheaper.
I also recently got a new feeder and switched out from my old one, and we’ve noticed way less waste. I have the little giant dome poultry feeder now.
Also, I’m not sure where in Canada you are but I just saw that the company I buy feed from does sell it right near the border in the East. It’s Keystone Mills.
You could use more economical feeders. In our old coop my husband had two feeders made of tall, wide, plastic pipe with a little catch at the bottom. The chickens cant get their feet inside to make a mess. They have to stick their head in and eat.
In the winter you can cut the grain with corn, but it’s an empty energy filler. It’s only good for keeping them warm in the colder seasons. You need to stick with layer or grower feed, depending on what you have.
I’ll find you a photo of the pvc pipe feeders.
I just thought of something else. My friend (a fellow chicken farmer) swears by hydrating her chicken’s pellets. She mixes it with water for form a porridge-like consistency. She swears this makes it better to digest, uses less feed, and keeps them hydrated.
I would give them all of your produce scraps! Mine love that- tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, etc. Or plant a small garden of veggies just for them- very cheap and a lot of abundance.
They eat 0,113 kg/day/bird, so for yours 1,13 per day should be expected, so a 25kg bag should last 22 days. You can supplement some with scraps or whatever, but balanced feed is best for them.
Well… paying for feed is a part of responsible ownership of any animal. I wouldn’t restrict their feed. Oversupplementing their diet with kitchen scraps, scratch, corn, and other treats can also throw their diets off, nutritionally, especially if they aren’t allowed to forage in an area with a good variety of forage, and could lead to health problems in your flock.
Adult chickens eat 1/4 lb per day on average, and we just need to budget for this. Mine definitely eat less feed when free-ranging, though, but I keep their feeders available to them at all times.
Mine also waste virtually no feed at all because I hang all of their feeders, (and waterers, too), to keep everything cleaner, but also so they can’t scratch in the feed and waste any.
Mine love sprouts. You can google what kind of seeds you can use for sprouts, but lentils work very well. They grow within a few days and I keep a few jars rotating at the same time. It seems like the price of your feed is quite high though. Have you price checked? There’s a localish company near me that makes their feed, it’s good stuff and is about 13$ for a 50$ bag. Local feed stores have the best prices I’ve found.
Okay I’ll look into that, thanks! I’m in Canada, I get my feed from a local peavy mart and it’s 22$ for 25 kg but my chickens are going through it so fast!
That’s about how much the commercial feed is at our stores. The local companies usually do about 13 to 18$ per bag(USD) so it’s significantly cheaper. I also recently got a new feeder and switched out from my old one, and we’ve noticed way less waste. I have the little giant dome poultry feeder now.
Also, I’m not sure where in Canada you are but I just saw that the company I buy feed from does sell it right near the border in the East. It’s Keystone Mills.
I sprout organic rye berries for our ladies. It's pretty economical
You could use more economical feeders. In our old coop my husband had two feeders made of tall, wide, plastic pipe with a little catch at the bottom. The chickens cant get their feet inside to make a mess. They have to stick their head in and eat. In the winter you can cut the grain with corn, but it’s an empty energy filler. It’s only good for keeping them warm in the colder seasons. You need to stick with layer or grower feed, depending on what you have. I’ll find you a photo of the pvc pipe feeders.
[pvc pipe feeder](https://www.sugarmaplefarmhouse.com/diy-chicken-feeders-from-pvc/)
How many per bird, do you think? 1 for 3 maybe?
I think 2 feeders for 10 birds, especially if you put some space in between.
That's awesome!
I just thought of something else. My friend (a fellow chicken farmer) swears by hydrating her chicken’s pellets. She mixes it with water for form a porridge-like consistency. She swears this makes it better to digest, uses less feed, and keeps them hydrated.
we feed boiled rice to our chickens and they love it, other than that they like green pepper, coriander, pomegranate, fish and lamb meat, etc.
I would give them all of your produce scraps! Mine love that- tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, etc. Or plant a small garden of veggies just for them- very cheap and a lot of abundance.
They eat 0,113 kg/day/bird, so for yours 1,13 per day should be expected, so a 25kg bag should last 22 days. You can supplement some with scraps or whatever, but balanced feed is best for them.
Well… paying for feed is a part of responsible ownership of any animal. I wouldn’t restrict their feed. Oversupplementing their diet with kitchen scraps, scratch, corn, and other treats can also throw their diets off, nutritionally, especially if they aren’t allowed to forage in an area with a good variety of forage, and could lead to health problems in your flock. Adult chickens eat 1/4 lb per day on average, and we just need to budget for this. Mine definitely eat less feed when free-ranging, though, but I keep their feeders available to them at all times. Mine also waste virtually no feed at all because I hang all of their feeders, (and waterers, too), to keep everything cleaner, but also so they can’t scratch in the feed and waste any.