Chicken keepers love their birds and are loosely interested about the wellness of their batch . That said , they are also concerned about thecosts associated with feast hatful of layers . Many people over the years have talked to me about the monetary value of chicken feed and the equal cost of the nut they eat .
Such word get more pointed when eggs are on sales event at the market store for less than $ 1 per dozen . In practice , I rarely see experiment or study on feed flocks or seeking efficiencies in the operation and economic science of owning poulet . Instead , I usually see people searching for a chintzy feed source . While I believe we can mitigate the cost of volaille feed , the substantial saving are in efficiency we can hire in the eating process .
Seasonal Expansion
poulet are omnivoresand , as such , eat just about anything . Their digestive systems are very simple-minded and allow for the ingestion of many food types . As chicken steward , it ’s important to take advantage of the wide range of food for thought items and sources at our discretion when feeding them . While most of your chickens ’ dieting is feed ration that you provide , recognize the many options available .
depend on the clip of year , many humble cost or even free solid food source of crybaby provender are available beyond kitchen scraps and the horticulture leftovers your hens enjoy . While there is majuscule value in letting your wimp graze on unused lea in the spring , many people do n’t have the acreage to do so .
“ The amount of complete provender consumed may be reduced by supplementing with pasture or lawn clippings , ” state the Suburban Rancher bulletin on feeding wimp by the Cooperative Extension University of California Division of Agriculture Sciences . “ Young , tender plant provide valuable nutrient for chickens , but honest-to-god fibrous plants are not well digested and are of petty value . ”
That say , make certain these are fresh clippings not from areas spray with pesticides .
In the summer , many growers take to get disembarrass of extra squash and zucchini . These can be great sources of nutrition for your flock while stretching your purchased feed . summertime also provides a special treat for chickens in the form of watermelon and cantaloup rind .
In the fall , many people call for to discard fade pumpkins and gourds that were used as decoration in October . chicken screw the soft insides of pumpkins . Just slice the pumpkin like a loaf of bread of pelf so chickens can get to the insides in a ring configuration .
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All these supplement are enceinte for chicken health as well as our feed budgets . That said , supplement should make up no more than 10 percentage to 15 percent of poulet ’ diet . The main feed — metric grain — makes up the big percentage . As such , it requires our greatest attention .
To Feed or Not to Feed
you may safely feed these supplemental foods to your chickens in moderation :
Don ’ t feed these food for thought items to your heap , as they can be potentially hazardous to domestic fowl .
Good Grains
InStorey ’s Guide to Raising Chickens(2010 ) , author and Gallus gallus - steward Gail Damerow write that “ a bed eat about 4 pounds of ration for every dozen eggs she lays , which work out to between 4 and 41⁄2 troy ounce of provender per biddy per mean solar day , or just less than 2 British pound sterling per hen per week . ”
Starting with an gauge amount of feed per chicken per day lets you be much more efficient in feeding . acknowledge the accurate amount you should dispense at each eating . Many dollars are ravage every 24-hour interval dispensing ration without regard for the amount that ’s sincerely needed .
How Much?
As you take the number of chickens and procreate it by 4 ounces , you get the amount that you should feed each Clarence Day . To avoid weigh the feed each sentence , consider the appropriate amount one clip and label the container in which you dispense the food .
This brings us to continuous affluent . uninterrupted feeders are ready to hand for time management , but they are the least efficient way to feed . The use of a public treasury - style feeder is the most efficient tool to use in feeding your muckle . The till rent you feed exactly the amount your chickens need and lets you keep their feed fresh and cleaned up .
Trough How-to
Here are a few central issues when using a trough - panache feeder .
Timing
When expeditiously providing a specific amount of ration , feeding crybaby more than once a twenty-four hours consecrate them the optimum daily nutriment . Fill their crop multiple clock time a Clarence Day to good aid in the initiation of the egg .
The egg - development cycles hold out about 25 hours , with about 20 hour dedicated to the shaping of the shell and the bloom . As you diffuse your provender to your quite a little throughout the day , you ram them to clean up the nutrient allowance each meter they are fed .
Pioneering poultry scientist Gustave F. Heuser of Cornell University found this to be the case , too . In his Hellenic pathfinder to poultry nutrition , Feeding Poultry(second edition , 2003 ) , he cites several studies that address to feast chicken twice a day for estimable results . The good results were shown when the chickens were fed half their ration in the morning and the other one-half in the afternoon .
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Water
Finally , for efficient feed employment , provide your chickens with passable , clean , sweet weewee . poulet drink a little snatch of water supply multiple clock time a day to keep their systems hydrous . Their bodies are about 50 per centum water , and ballock hold back nigh 65 pct piddle . Clearly , the most important ingredient in your chicken ’s dieting is water .
If your hens do n’t get enough water , they do n’t lay well . It does n’t matter how much you feed them . If you want an effective eating regime , cater a continual germ of water .
Each of us raises poulet for reasons devout to us . There is no established blueprint for the feeding of chickens in the most effective manner . However , approach the national of feed for your chickens gird with the correct form of birdfeeder and dispensing provender according to prescribe measure will keep your shuttlecock glad and healthy while minimizing the cost of your wimp feed .
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This narration originally appeared in the March / April 2018 issue ofHobby Farms .
