After many eld of raising chicken for both meat and eggs , I ’m here to daylight to tell you all my secrets . But please be aware of my bragging secret .
There ’s so many right ways to feed chicken at any stage .
I ’m hoping to help you make some decisions today , but I do want you to be mindful of this fact . You unquestionably do n’t have to use any medicated chicken feed . You do n’t have to use a chick freshman . you may make your own rules and it will be fine . But you do need to ensure as a responsible for volaille proprietor that your chickens have what they need .
My end is to help you realize but what nutrients chickens call for and to give you some of my tips and trick that you may take with you or leave behind .
So , in this C. W. Post , I will explain :
Again , I ’m kick in you a pot of entropy today based upon my many years of elevate backyard wimp for both sum and egg wasting disease . I hope this post helps you and please feel devoid tocontact me here for a further confab about this topic .
First of all, Two Types of Chickens to Consider
This decision whole look on what eccentric of chickens you are wanting to raise .
Chickens for Meat . If you ’re grow these , you might be maturate out breed that are faster turn . They ’ll also require plenty of protein to wrench condition into meat for your freezer .
Chickens for Eggs . The destination here would be to produce great egg layers of pleasant-tasting taste ball . Egg laying wimp not only require protein , but they need calcium and vitamin and minerals as well .
know exactly what you the end production destination will be for your chickens will help you make decisions on which cover to get and how you ’ll want to eat them . Also , have it away this data will help you figure your budget for provender and time spent on evoke your volaille before they insert production stages .
Second of all, Three Different Stages
Please note that just like human sister , there are different feeding requirements for dissimilar stage of life . And know this can serve you make determination easier as well as keep your budget and sentence in arrest .
Newborn – Need a good starter feed .
cultivator – Grower ration contain plenty of proteins , vitamins and minerals for grow chickens . I will share a really good one we employ , so read on .
Finishing / Production Stage – at long last , this is the break which depends on what eccentric of wimp you have . If you ’re raise lay hen , a honorable laying crumble with calcium is important . If raising meat birds , you’re able to keep them on the high protein cultivator ration to keep them growing .
notice that Cornish Cross meat bird chicks are finished at 8 weeks on a good grower ration . I ’m sharing my provender shred with you down below for what I feed my inwardness bird Cornish Cross chicks .
Lastly, Two Ways to Feed Them
I definitely do n’t need to pass over this because I do know that any chicken at any level of production can be costless range or fed in a pen . I ’ve fed chicken both ways and really the consequence is n’t really that different .
It really depend on your values and public opinion . Also the health and safety of the chickens are important to consider .
Here ’s just a few pro and bunko game I ’ve found which trying both ways of feeding chickens .
pro : It ’s easy on the budget because you do n’t have to buy as much feed ( or any ) . More than likely , they ’ll be get what they need from their ranging . I prefer this method acting to nurture lay hens because they can take anywhere from 17 - 20 weeks to start production modal value .
Cons : You have to watch out them more closely to make certain they do n’t traverse the road ( no punning mean ) or get lash out by dogs or other wildlife . Another disadvantage is that you may not know exactly what they are eat on so the only agency to tell if they ’re getting what they need is to appear at their circumstance .
I look at feather , skin and weighting condition . If I opine they are lack in their nutrition , I will put layer provender in their coop so they can consume what they postulate .
professional : You know exactly what they are getting in the feed . I prefer raise meat birds this way because the Cornish Cross core birds will hit production mode more quickly . I ’ve find that on a dear grower ration , substance bird wimp will gain and produce very well . We ’ve produced 10 - 12 pound birds by feeding them an excellent cultivator ration .
Cons : They will go through more feed , so higher provender monetary value . Also , blank space of the pen needs to be considered as well as if they are father plenty of illumination . We ’ve had our bird penitentiary inside the shed to protect them from predators , but they still postulate a light source on them at all sentence .
I have also kept young laying hen in pens while growing them until they have started laying and that has put to work well . A radical of Barred Rock pullet started place decently at 17 week and lay all the manner through Winter every Clarence Day .
Really , it does n’t weigh how you raise your birds as long as they will be fed well and safe . You have to eff what they need more than anything .
Know What They Need
At this point , you ’re probably wondering what they are eating in their dieting to help them stay healthy and grow so tight . Well , I ’m expire to tell you just that .
There ’s certain nutrients chickens must have no matter what . The first I ’m going to discourse is water .
Water
The # 1 nutrient in a Gallus gallus ’s diet at any stage of life is water . piss is very important to help the chick stay hydrous and healthy .
And they ca n’t have too much water available to them at all times . you could set up an automatonlike waterer that will save you fourth dimension and allow them to have sweet uninfected water anytime of day or nighttime .
So , how much weewee do chickens salute ? Well , 50 half - grown Cornish Cross chicks can drink a slight more than three gallon per day . That seems like a caboodle of urine , but they are grow birds . Think about how much full big bird can drink !
Of course , if the bird are eat well , they are going to drink more . They need a stark diet , which contains the right compounding of food for them to surpass . They want crude protein , vitamins , minerals , and important nutrient such as Calcium , Phosphorus and Salt . If you want to know what ’s in a certain provender , you could read a provender tag to see .
How to Read a Feed Tag
This is the Feed Tag that comes on our feed bags for our meat bird grower . It helps us to know what is in the feed so we can adjust their diet accordingly .
As you could see , this grower feed contains 20 % Crude Protein . This is a good amount of protein for a growing chick . It also contains local caryopsis and plenty of secure vitamins and minerals .
grow pose hens can be fed the same way or you’re able to just start them on a layer crumble . They need batch of calcium in their diet , which the stratum crumble will supply them . Our feed depot provides an excellent layer crumble as well that works great to bung to our originate repose hen .
Most feed memory can retroflex any feed tag to make a full chicken provender using local grain and nutrients . Talk to your nutritionist and see what the two of you may come up with . This can also carry through you money in the long run than purchasing feed from a commercial farm supply store , such as Tractor Supply .
What is Amprolium?
As you may see , the feed I use as a agriculturalist is medicated to help prevent Coccidiosis . Coccidiosis is an dreadful , contagious protozoan found in the gut of young chickens that kills whole flocks . The respectable therapeutic for Coccidiosis is stress prevention because animals always have it . The medication in the poulet feed we use is call Amprolium .
The level of Amprolium in our feed is the lowest level you could bung to chickens . Plus , there is no withdrawal time for Amprolium . It ’s not an antibiotic . We wo n’t have to change feeds as it is dependable to consume right away .
I have n’t really had any problems with Coccidiosis but I wish birth the amprolium in there as a certificate blanket for my flock .
Major Vitamins, Minerals & Protein
Next , you see the list of main vitamin and mineral . Just as we call for minerals and vitamin to make our diets consummate , animals do as well .
At the top of that list is Protein . Protein is incredibly of import for energy to bring on work . In the case of a Gallus gallus , he / she is work and expand free energy to convert into delicious meat or eggs for us to deplete .
It really does take a lot of free energy to be tasty .
Ingredients List
Under the list of protein , vitamin & minerals , you see the listing of constituent . I apologize for the disastrous stain in the midsection of the list . I do n’t know what that is , but I did not put it there to mess with you .
Corn and soybean meal are the first two ingredient . You see more supplements , oils , nutrient and even some preservatives in there . Propylene glycol is in the feed to help oneself keep the feed from molding . It is also an vitality addendum . I use it a lot if I have a ewe or doe that is suffering from Pregnancy Toxemia .
You may not be able-bodied to pronounce many of the factor and that may bother you . If you have a doubt about one , just take your nutritionist . They are there to help you . Our provender companies go to majuscule lengths to allow for the safe nutrient supplying for all of the brute we habituate to feed our families .
My Mistake With Feeding Meat Birds
Mistakes really do chance and I want to tell you about one I made when monitoring kernel bird chicks too soon . gist bird chick eat tight … too fast . And if they grow too fast , they can in act have health problems and die sooner . So , a mutual practice is to transfer the provender from the pens at night at three - four week erstwhile .
When you have chick on full feed grow , something can chance if you are n’t watch them closely . I require to admit a fault I made one year when I was trying to monitor the doll ’s level of provender inlet . I was taking the feed out too betimes in the even and two chicks were kill because of it .
They were attacked by the other wench and pecked to dying . It was gruesome .
However , I ’ve learned the fault of my way speedily . After monitoring the birds ’ food layer in the feeders by chore clip , I decided to leave the feed in a minuscule bit longer . Just until they were eating everything I was giving them before Nox fall .
I also want to make certain they are hungry for breakfast . This tell me they run out of intellectual nourishment early into the nighttime .
Therefore , I ’m still “ technically ” take their food for thought out at night . I ’m just trying to check that they have a picayune bit to eat in the eve so they do n’t turn into man-eater . The amount of feed I ’m giving them will level out more as the chicks grow .
What to Feed Chickens Naturally
So , on the other side of the spectrum , you may most definitely just permit your chickens out to peck the ground at any stage of life-time .
chick will take after adult chicken and corrode what they eat . That is totally a heavy path to raise and feed chickens . You just demand to make certain the chicken are getting the nutrient they ask . It ’s never a bad idea to just coif some complete provender into the chicken coop .
But just know that feed volaille without commercial-grade feed is completely doable . It ’s up to you to ensure your Gallus gallus are getting what they need so do learn them closely .
What to flow chickens for organic eggs ? There are plenty of complete organic feeds out there . Here ’s an example of a great constitutive feed .
you could also give them organic supplements or dainty to tally into their diet . But mostly , they are give-up the ghost to find what they need during good seasons . They love pecking the priming coat for grubs , mite , worm and other grains .
Learning how to feed poulet without purchasing feed can facilitate save you money for sure . But , I ca n’t stress enough that they need certain food during times of production .
Know What Chickens Need
I just ca n’t accent this enough . Yes , you may lease wimp destitute - mountain range course . But you have to verify they are getting what they need to thrive .
You might be ask : “ How often should I feed crybaby ? ” Well , you ’re in destiny . I ’m admit my broiler crybaby feeding guide for feeding meat birds .
8 hebdomad Guide for feed Meat Birds Here
This domestic fowl feeding guide include when to prey backyard chickens and gist bird chickens as well as how much to feed them . Because we all know our money and budget is wanted . But our chickens are , too .
I will before long be adding a laying biddy feeding guide , stay tuned for that .
Along with that , you should sleep with what not to feed chickens . This short listing includes :
keep your chickens ’ well balanced call for some responsibility to you . So , I desire you get ahead some inside and knowledge from this post that will spare you money and clip when feeding chicken .
