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Feeding chickens requires more than a hanful of pelletsFeeding chickens properly should involve providing free choice for various components.
Chickens are different from other forms of livestock. For one thing, they are mono-gastric, non-ruminant animals. This means they need highly digestible food (closer to the nutritional quality of human food) and, although it is an important resource for them, grass has a very different role in their diet than it does for cows, sheep or even horses. However, the most important difference between chickens and other "pastured" livestock is that a hen is essentially carnivorous. Well, actually omnivorous (like us), but 'meat' is nonetheless a very important part of their diet. To begin with, let's look at these differences a bit more closely. When you put a cow into a paddock of grass it basically eats whatever is in front of its face at the time (cows are very clumsy and non-selective feeders). Its only real preference is for grass that is long enough to easily give it a whole mouthful with every 'chomp'. Also, cows get pretty much everything they need from grass, but for them the limiting factor is Energy. They can easily get all the protein they need, but only very leafy grass will give them enough energy. Feeding chickens with grass is a very different prospect, since most of the plant is largely indigestible for them. They can use only the tips of actively growing leaves and seeds. Being more digestible and higher in sugars, these parts will be high in energy, but (apart from some seeds) low in protein. This means that when ranging on grass, hens will also be pecking and scratching for worms and insects as well. Grass cannot supply more than 5% to 10% of a laying hen's diet. Its main value (together with a green, leafy "Scatter" - described below) is for the chlorophyll that helps give a good deep yolk color. Chickens also produce eggs (under ideal conditions - 1 egg per day) and the need to build a shell around these eggs also means that feeding chickens also considers there relatively high mineral requirements (specifically Calcium and Magnesium). Lastly, there are two Amino Acids that hens need in their food that are rare in grass and in cereal grains that predominate in pelleted feeds Lysine and Methionine. This makes the range and selection of feed components important and a "Free Choice" feeding strategy the best (if not always the most practical) option.
The following 'recipe' includes a range of feedstuffs that, together, will provide a balanced diet and can be provided as separate items as part of a "Free Choice" system. That is, the birds choose which things to eat according to their appetite at the time. This is the ideal way of feeding chickens - free access to grass and a choice of other food as they 'feel' like it. Of course, for practical reasons backyard chickens can only ever approximate commercial Free-Range, but the closer you get the better.A few things to note beforehand though:
Naturally, there is more to keeping happy, healthy hens and producing Organic Eggs than simply feeding chickens. It is also important for you to pay attention to how you care for your chickens. There is a lot more to feeding chickens than we could fit here, but we will be adding more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, why not share your experiences and get help with any problems by posting items - with photos and even videos - to the Food Garden Photoblog You can also keep up to date by subscribing to our free email newsletter - The Food Gardener.
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