Feeding, Supplementing, and Foraging
Chickens need a good nutritious food to keep them healthy. We have chosen a feed that is called Homestead Chick Starter/Grower Crumble. It is something we can feed to our starting chicks and keep feeding as our chickens get older. There is a good amount of protein, and it is not overly high in calcium so as to cause problems for our roosters. We supplement our hens as they get older (see supplements below) to make up for needed calcium when they are of egg-laying age (4-6 months).
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Chicken scratch is not feed. It will make the birds fat and unhealthy. Even "good" food can make your chickens fat and unhealthy if given in too high of quantities. Birds will generally eat about 3 oz of nutritious food per day.
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If your chickens have the ability to forage through lush pastures, then they will probably get everything they need. Where we live, they have the ability to forage as much as they want, but we still need to feed and supplement because in the high desert, there just isn't enough available food most of the year.
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Some people will use chicken tractors to give their chickens the opportunity to feed in various areas in a protected manner. You can get plenty of ideas of how to make these moveable pens that allow you to move the chickens around through your gardens or fields and get lots of healthy goodies for themselves and rid you of a lot of pests that damage plants and crops and pester your animals.
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https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/chicken-tractor/
https://foter.com/chicken-tractor-for-sale
FORAGING
If you have a safe place for your chickens to roam, when they forage, they will find all kinds of insects and worms that will supplement their diet and give them a bunch of protein. Grass cuttings, vegetable plants like peas, beans, but stay away from nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, etc.) You can also grow some grasses for your chickens. Check out these websites.
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https://www.thegardencoop.com/blog/grazing-frames-backyard-chickens/
https://thehomesteadinghippy.com/moving-the-compost-bin-into-the-chicken-area/
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BENEFITS OF FERMENTED FOOD
The benefits of fermented foods are well documented. It will make for healthier chickens, bigger and better eggs, and will help decrease your food bill. We are just implementing this, and I am looking forward to seeing how well it works. It is easy and only takes a couple of days to ferment. Check out this website.
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https://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/blog/why-fermenting-chicken-feed-is-better-for-your-flock/
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SUPPLEMENTS
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Extra Protein
for growing chicks or during molting (see health concerns)
Meal Worms - alive or dried (you will become their hero if you serve these to them!). You can buy these in bulk (at Walmart, feed stores, or online), but you don’t want to give more than a couple per chicken a couple of times per week. Here is a great website of how to make a mealworm farm. It is not difficult and if you have kids or grandkids, it may be a great learning experience for them. You can continue to grow your own treats for your chickens for years to come (for pennies once you get started).
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3YBScCks7A&t=9s
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Eggs - You can scramble (without milk) or hard boil eggs to feed to your chickens a couple times a week. Count on about 1 egg per every 5-6 chickens. You can also feed some finely chopped egg to chicks about 1 egg per 10 chicks. This should only be given 2-3 times per week.
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Extra Calcium - for egg layers
Crushed oyster shell - For extra calcium for laying hens. You can spread on the ground or put it in a container or dish) and allow them to eat this free choice. The roosters will leave it alone but the hens will eat it.
Egg Shells - You can also feed them their empty egg shells. Don’t feed them store bought egg shells. These have detergents and chemicals on them that can harm your chickens! This does not encourage them to eat their eggs unless they are unhealthy, hungry, undernourished, or bored.
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Extra Fat
for cold months - extra fat to burn for heat
Suet - is just animal fat that can be purchased and put in a cage like container that the birds can peck at. You can buy suet and suet blocks in feed stores, some grocery stores, and online.
Sunflower Seeds - you can scatter these around for them or buy a treat block made of sunflower seeds. You can spread a handful around a couple times per week. You want to find unseasoned black oil seeds which you can find in feed stores. You can also sunflower seed kernels (without shells) but make sure they are raw and unseasoned.
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Kitchen Scraps and Fruits and Veggies
Any of your raw or cooked fruits or vegetables, garden scraps, or kitchen scraps can go to the chickens (with some exceptions). Make sure there is nothing too long or stringy. We gave our chickens the insides of a spaghetti squash. One of our hens started eating it, and since there was no end, she swallowed too much and died of a congested crop. We learned to give big things they can peck at, or we cut it up into smaller pieces. Check out the websites below for things that should or should not be feed to your chickens.
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https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/what-chickens-should-not-eat.html
https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/what-chickens-can-and-cant-eat/
https://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/blog/what-to-feed-your-chickens-and-what-not-to-feed-them/
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Other Goodies
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Pumpkin seeds - fresh out of the pumpkin is great or you can lightly roast them. If you buy pumpkin seeds make sure they are raw or oven roasted with no oils or salt added.
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Sprouted Lentils - these are high in protein and low in fat so they can be used to feed your flock any time. Sprouting lentils is an easy process and you can find a lot of help on the internet.
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Peas - fresh out of the garden still in their pods or you can use frozen peas but not canned.
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Parsley - spread parsley around for them and let them eat as they want. It is high in protein and it is an effective immune booster for chickens.
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Herbs - fresh herbs can make your coop smell nice, give your birds vitamins and minerals, as well as deter certain pests.