Chicken Feed 101

mmmm, kitchen scraps

Yes, chickens like to eat, even more than their 7 months pregnant owner (though I do believe they hold the weight in their slender legs better than I). From a previous post we talked about the few things chickens should not eat, other than that, kitchen scraps are king!

When I visit my old stompin grounds in Athens we like to eat at The Grit. The Grit keeps all their kitchen scraps from their lovely vegetarian creations; they will give them to customers interested in composting. This is a good free way to add nutrition to your hens diets. They will thank you with a smile (do chickens smile?) or better yet, an egg with a nice orange yolk.

a fairly full gullet

From my understanding, chickens, unlike ruminants (sheep and cows) need to have some supplemental feed. People claim they raise their chickens on 100% grass without any grain, but they must have more potent grass than I do. The fescue in the backyard has gone to seed and the girls eat that, but they are still hungry after foraging. How do I know? If I am outside they are following me around asking for food. They do not seem happy and content. Also, you can feel their gullet (chest area by the neck). If it has a bulge they are well fed. If it seems to not bulge, the bird is hungry.

Chicks eat a special formula that is often called chick starter feed (or some version of that). They eat chick feed for about 16 weeks. I start a laying feed after than, and keep my hens on that for years. Some people only feed chick feed for 6 weeks, then move to a grower/maintenance feed, and then start a layer feed when the birds are 5 months or so.

In cold weather especially, the hens like some scratch, which is just corn pieces. They eat it like it is candy. It can make them gain too much weight so go easy in the warmer months.

Oyster shells can also be added to the feed. Chickens don't have teeth so they need gritty things to help their food to be ground up. If the chickens are outside they should have enough grit. However, oyster shells also add calcium for strong egg shells. They are pretty inexpensive as well.