How to Feed Chickens
Whether your chickens are egg layers or meat producers, they have the same basic nutrition requirements. Find out what to feed your chickens to keep them healthy and how to feed them in their coop or the backyard. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Mash
- Cracked corn
- Feeder
- Water
- Chicken waterer
- Food scraps
- Crushed eggshells
- Pebbles or sand
Instructions
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Buy chicken food at the local tractor supply store or feed mill/grain elevator.
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Feed chickens a chicken mash that fulfills most of their dietary needs. Wheat, corn or oats serve as the fine grain; soy, milk and meal are sources of protein; and calcium comes from the ground oyster shells and bone meal.
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Give the chickens about 4 to 5 ounces of mash per chicken per day and increase the amount during winter months. The birds need more fuel to stay warm during that time.
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Feed your flock a special mash made just for egg-laying hens or for organic and natural feeds.
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Put mash in a chicken feeder, not spread on the ground, which wastes most of the grain.
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Provide your chickens with at least 2 cups of fresh water per bird in addition to fresh food each day.
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Choose a cheaper diet for your chicken flock and feed them scratch (whole, not ground, grain like corn or cracked corn), food scraps and crushed eggshells for calcium and allow them to scratch in the yard for grit.
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Put the scratch in a chicken feeder or scatter on the ground in a clean dry area where the chickens can get at it.
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Add pebbles or sand to the mix if the chickens cannot naturally get grit, needed for proper functioning of their gizzard.
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Encourage the chickens to free range the yard or large fenced area and get extra protein from ingesting bugs.
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Throw unfertilized lawn clippings, vegetable and potato peels and tops, and weeds from the garden into the chicken coop as additional snacking material.
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Leave chicken feed out all day and let them feed at will, or feed early in the morning and again several hours before dark.
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Tips & Warnings
Avoid feeding onions, garlic and other strong tasting foods; eggs will taste just like what the chicken ate.
Store chicken feed in airtight containers and keep dry to prevent mold from forming.
Resources
- Photo Credit Dodi Kingsfield 2008
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Comments
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I give my chickens dry rolled oats every 3 days or so. This is the kind you would purchase to make oatmeal for yourself. They go after that oatmeal like they have not eaten in days. It's a good healthy snack for them. My chickens gained weight and produce far more eggs, than before I started using it! As anything good, moderation is the key in giving them oatmeal. Although healthy, they will need Jenny Craig if you over do it!
