What Chickens Need in Their Diet

Since we run out of chicken feed, I am glad to find this article that tells me what I can give to the chickens in the meantime.

WHAT CHICKENS NEED (It's simple!)
1. Grains (whole, living grains are way better than cracked, and a mixture is way better than pure corn)
2. Greens (grass! weeds! fresh veggie parings from kitchen!)
3. Protein (in summer, they get enough bugs -- but in colder weather they need protein supplementation, including perhaps the following: yellow-jackets from restaurant traps, soybeans -- see below, worms, milk, meat --- but sea fish is the very best)

And WATER, WATER, WATER.

Chickens won't always search far for food or water. Sometimes they won't even go around a see-through fence to get it. And they need lots of water, especially when laying. We put the water dish right by the door of their coop, where they can get it every time they go by. They can die of salt toxicity in a few hours if not given water at all times. They will shun dirty water, so make a point to keep it fresh using the BAMN method (By Any Means Necessary).

If they're Fenceless Free Range, that's about it. But if you keep them penned up most or all of the time, even in a largish yard, you will also need to make sure they get . . .

4. Hard grit (do not confuse this with oyster shell or calcium --- these dissolve in the chicken's digestive system, grit does not --- grit is used in place of "teeth"); quartz-based sand with angular edges (not rounded, as often is found in riverbeds) can be collected wherever you find it.

5. Calcium (crushed oyster shell, other shells, ground or hammered bone) (There's lots of calcium in greens, if they get to forage all day.)

6. Vitamins A (and D if the weather is cloudy for long stretches)

7. Salt (best given separately, free choice; kelp is the very supreme choice for this, if you can get it --- it supplies all the minerals in the world --- see below)


Suggested Diet for Chickens

GRAINS

Scratch grain mix, from feed store, containing many kinds of grain ($5/50 lb)
Extra yellow corn (cracked) --- it gives them warmth in the winter, we're told
GRAINS MUST NEVER BE WET AND MOLDY -- CAN KILL!

GREENS

Grass forage
Garden clippings
Kitchen trimmings (thrown in the compost pile near their coop)

PROTEIN (MAINLY SOYBEANS)

Every morning (quantity for 12 chickens): 3/4ths cup of boiled soybeans ~~ (make a batch every week or so: SOAK 2 cups of dried soybeans in three or four times the volume of water overnight; bring to ROLLING BOIL in the same soaking water for 15 minutes; DRAIN; STORE in fridge) mixed with 1 cup of instant oats, some sunflower seeds, milk to moisten, warmed up.

Every other afternoon, same thing, with some fish flakes, bits of scrap fish, or some canned cheap fish.

OYSTER SHELL

Crushed, is kept in their coop, $5 for 50 lbs

MINERALS

Dried kelp fronds (the leafy parts, not the stalks, which are too hard to chop up and don't get eaten) are kept in their coop on a sturdy clip. They can free-choose it, letting them adjust their salt and mineral intake. There are nearly 100 minerals on Earth. Only sea water and sea life has them in the ratios that animals need. All blood of animals contains these minerals, in the same proportions as in sea water! Scientists have barely scratched the surface of understanding all the things that these minerals do in living bodies. For optimum health, it's best to get all of them.

Just gather a mess of kelp off any beach that is more than 50 miles from a city, sling it into a garbage bag and take it home. At home, set it out in the yard, and in a very short while, it will be dry and crisp. Take the flakey parts, and clip them about a foot off the ground where your chickens frequently go --- those document clips with a black "hinge" and two folding silver "arms" work best.

GRIT

Collect angular granite grit from trips to areas that have it. Tiny chicks need tiny grit, so get a variety of sizes. A little lasts a long time. The girls will pick and choose a few choice pieces now and then. Fun to watch them study and try out the different grains of grit.

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Another article for feeding whole grains to chickens.

If you decide to change your flock from ground feed to any whole grain feed, expect a temporary drop in egg production. Once the hens' digestive systems adjust to a natural feed (who grinds up grains for them in the wild?) then they will begin producing again. Be sure to include plenty of grit, which is even more necessary with a whole grain diet. We have heard of a few people having difficulty switching their hens to a whole grain diet, but most people don't have a problem. Patience on the part of the owner is crucial, as well as knowing that if the chicken is hungry enough, she will eat something new or unusual. Even so, you may find it easier to start with chicks and feed them a whole grain diet from the beginning.

Organic seeds and grains can be purchased in bulk from co-ops and food buying clubs, as well as other sources. Ask your local health food store where they buy their organic grains; you can buy direct and save! Join Organic Chickens at yahoogroups.com to learn more about keeping chickens organically, and for information on sources of kelp and organic grains and feeds.

2 parts whole corn (in winter this is increased to 3 or 4 parts)

3 parts soft white wheat

3 parts hard red winter wheat

1 part hulled barley

1 part oat groats

1 part sunflower seeds (in winter this is increased to 2 parts)

1 part millet

1 part kamut

1 part amaranth seeds

1 part split peas

1 part lentils

1 part quinoa

1 part sesame seeds

1/2 part flax seeds

1/2 part kelp granules

free choice of granite grit

free choice of oyster shell

I store the above items in 6 bins; the corn in one, both types of wheat are mixed in the 2nd bin, barley in the 3rd, oat groats in the 4th, sunflower seeds in the 5th, and the remaining seeds and grains are mixed into the 6th bin. I leave the granite and oyster shell in the bags they come in. I then scoop out what I need into a 5 gallon bucket, and pour back and forth from one bucket to another until mixed well.

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Here is an article about providing an organic diet to the chickens.

Feed Ingredients

It may be possible to buy a complete commercially prepared organic poultry ration or an organic supplement which can be mixed with organic grain on-farm to produce a complete diet. If commercial feeds or supplements are unavailable, a number of ingredients are needed to mix a balanced diet on-farm.

Wheat - is one of the best cereal grains to feed to poultry and organic wheat is commonly available in Manitoba. It is a good source of starch for energy and moderate source of protein. Any variety of wheat, including hard red spring and durum, can be fed to birds, although some are slightly more digestible than others. Some shrunken or sprouted kernels can downgrade wheat for use in human foods but in many cases the feeding value of the wheat will remain acceptable for poultry.

Barley and Oats - can be used to replace half of the wheat included in the poultry diets listed in this factsheet. For example if a ration calls for 600 kg of wheat, you can use 300 kg of wheat and 300 kg of barley or 300 kg of wheat and 300 kg of oats as an acceptable alternative. Oats and barley are lower in energy and crude protein and higher in fibre than wheat but are still acceptable ingredients. Unless an enzyme is added to aid in the digestion of the sticky starches found in barley and oats, young birds may have a temporary diarrhea when these ingredients are first fed. Despite this problem, oats and barley can be fed at moderate levels to birds of any age. Be careful not to feed low bushel weight cereal grains - especially oats with a high proportion of hulls.

Roasted Soybean Seed - is a good source of protein and fat for poultry. Soybean seed contains a trypsin inhibitor that can severely interfere with digestion in a bird's gut and the seed must be heat treated to inactivate this compound. Roasting is a fairly common method of heat treating seed and roasted soybean seed has been used successfully in organic diets in Manitoba. The processing cost to produce roasted soybean seed is lower than for soybean meal. Roasted soybean seed is sometimes referred as being "full-fat" because the oil has not been extracted from the seed. Because of the high unsaturated fat content of the seed, feeding 20% or more soybean seed may produce a slight fishy taste in the poultry meat or eggs.

Soybean Meal - is the best protein source for chickens and turkeys. Unfortunately, organic soybean meal is very expensive because the seed must not only be grown organically but also be processed organically. In making the meal, the oil must be mechanically removed without the aid of the solvents used at most commercial soybean plants. The limited supply of organic soybean seed and the small number of organic soybean processors has served to increase the price of organic soybean meal to approximately four times that of regular soybean meal. Despite the cost, organic soybean meal may still be attractive, especially in turkey diets where high levels of protein are needed. Soybean meal can be included in the diets in this factsheet by removing the roasted soybean seed from the feed and adding back an amount of soybean meal equal to 80% of the formulated inclusion rate for soybean seed. As an example, in a roaster finisher diet containing 100 kg of roasted soybean seed, all of the soybean seed can be removed from the diet and replaced with 80 kg of soybean meal. Replacing the roasted soybean seed in this manner will reduce energy and modestly increase protein in the diets; the bird performance should be the same or better than the diet containing the roasted soybean seed. No soybean meal is produced in Manitoba and the cost of importing the meal can be high.

Peas - provide moderate levels of protein and starch for poultry. The protein level is much lower and quality more variable than soybean meal or roasted soybean seed. Peas are particularly low in methionine (a component of protein that is important for normal feathering and growth) and should not be used as the sole protein source for young birds. Peas, however, are readily grown in Manitoba and organic peas are sometimes available. Cull peas which are not suitable for the human market can be relatively economical for poultry.

Limestone - is the most common and economical source of calcium for bone development and shell quality.

Dicalcium phosphate - is one of the mineral phosphorous sources that is commonly used in organic diets. Because meat and bone meals are not allowed in organic diets, it is essential to provide a mineral source of phosphorous to promote good skeletal health. The mineral sources used in poultry diets have been acid treated to remove heavy metals that can be toxic to the birds. Untreated rock phosphates that are sometimes used as phosphorous fertilizers in organic crop production can be harmful to birds and should not used. The feeds in this factsheet have been formulated assuming that dicalcium phosphate contains 22% calcium and 18.5% phosphorous. Slight alterations in the amount included in the diet may be necessary depending on the actual calcium and phosphorous levels in the dicalcium phosphate.

Salt - is essential for growth, production and appetite in poultry. Nutritionally, common table salt is adequate as a feed ingredient but some organic producers do not like the iodine added to it. Non-iodized salt is sometimes used and kelp is added as an iodine source; care must be taken not to add too much kelp or the birds suffer from iodine toxicity.

DL Methionine - is a concentrated form of methionine, one of the important building blocks of protein needed by birds for growth, feathering and egg production. Because animal protein by-products cannot be used and organic soybean meal is very expensive, most organic poultry diets use some purified methionine. All of the diets presented in this factsheet contain DL Methionine; failure to add it to the diets will result in poor production, uneven flocks, and in severe cases, cannibalism.

Lysine HCl - is a concentrated form of lysine, another essential protein building block required by chickens and turkeys. The added lysine in the diets in this factsheet help to maintain normal production and are particularly important in the high protein diets needed by turkeys. Failure to add extra lysine to turkey diets can add weeks to the time needed for turkeys to reach market weight.

Vitamin-Mineral Premixes - provide a broader range and higher levels of vitamins and minerals than possible by using "old-fashioned" ingredients such as milk, green feed and fish oil. Indeed, many organic certifying organizations will not allow fish oils to be added to poultry diets even though they can be good sources of vitamins A and D. To see old style diets where no or few commercial vitamin sources were used, see the factsheet, "Poultry Rations and Feeding Methods", on the Manitoba Agriculture and Food web site. Use of a commercial vitamin-mineral mix is strongly recommended. Always follow the manufacturer's recommendation for the amount of vitamin-mineral premix to add to the feed. Some vitamin-mineral premixes contain iodine and will allow non-iodized salt to be used in the ration.

Enzyme Supplements - are mixtures of enzymes that have been produced by bacterial fermentation. These enzymes can assist the birds in digesting the sticky starch compounds found in oats, barley, and to a lesser degree, wheat. The enzymes help to reduce the variation in feeding value between different loads of a cereal grain. Some enzymes are specifically designed for use with an individual type of cereal grain such as barley while others will work well with a variety of cereal grains. These enzyme preparations are particularly beneficial in young birds because they have immature digestive tracts. The actual add rate of feed enzyme should be varied according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

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A Natural Diet for Laying Hens

Ingredient   lbs/100 lb. of mix
 Yellow corn meal  60.00
 Wheat middlings   15.00
 Soybean meal (dehulled)  8.00
 Maine herring meal (65%) 3.75
 Meat & bone meal (47%)  1.00
 Skim milk, dried  3.00
 Alfalfa leaf meal (20%)  2.50
 Iodized salt   0.40
 Limestone, grd. (38% Ca) 6.35