Chicken Feeding
When choosing feed for your hens, you’ll have to account for their age and your goals for them. Chickens being kept for meat will require different feed than those being kept for eggs.
How to Feed Chicks
Start out your chicks on 20-22% protein for egg producers and up that to 24% for meat hens. Use chick starter until the age of 6 to 9 weeks (depending somewhat on the breed of chicken and how quickly it matures). After maturity, the feed should be switched to “broiler finish” grains until they are ready for slaughter (if meat chickens) - otherwise, continue with the egg feed.
Many who raise meat hens should use feed that has antibiotics to prevent Coccidiosis. This is often also given to other chickens unless they are being billed as “free range” or “organic.”
Commercially grown meat chickens are often loaded with hormones, so raising meat chickens at home is a popular way to avoid ingesting those.
Chickens as Adults
Once the hens are ready to go on adult feed, you should choose feed that is fourteen percent protein. Calcium is extremely important for laying hens and in the extra-large breeds like Jersey Giants that need strong bones to hold their weight.
Adult chicken feed comes in crumbles, pellets, mash and scratch. A balanced diet for hens is usually made by mixing scratch with pellets or crumbles and supplementing with calcium and vegetables.
You can supplement your chicken’s calcium intake by adding clean, crushed egg shells in their feed. They will eat what they need if it is available.
Peelings and Vegetables
Leftover veggies like spinach, Romain, apple peelings, carrot peels, and whole grains like oatmeal, barley, and small amounts of fruit make your hens healthier and happier. Just remember this is a supplement to chicken feed, not a replacement. Your chickens must have the protein and other nutrients that is provided by a good chicken feed unless they are totally free range in a very nutritious environment.
Just remember that as long as it is fresh, you can give it to your chickens instead of throwing it down the garbage disposal - as long as it is not a meat product, of course.
Chicken Tractors
Chicken tractors give you the ability to move your flock from place to place in your yard. This allows the chickens exercise and gives them fresh available bugs, vegetation, and grit. For areas that are a little too small to allow the chickens easy range, you can use a tractor to move them in rotation, keeping the ground fresh.
This movement will keep your yard from getting brown areas where the chickens have been.
Hazards
Beware of using pesticides and fertilizers in any area where your chickens might feed. They are not picky when pecking at granules on the ground and can poison themselves and your eggs.
Weed killers and sprays can poison hens who eat the plants they have been sprayed on. Remember that whatever goes into your hens will go into your eggs. Pesticides and chemicals can be in your eggs before the hen shows any sign of illness.
Chickens raised properly can provide eggs and meat with great nutritional value for your family. Well fed chickens provide excellent eggs and meat.
For information about building a chicken coop, view Chicken Coop Plans.
View Chicken Coop Kits for an even faster way to build a coop.
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