Providing nutritious food and clean water for your flock is one of the most important aspects of their health and development. It’s also important to know what your chickens are eating because in turn, we eat their eggs (and for some, the birds themselves). Chickens can thrive on a variety of different foods and feeding programs. The following posts will help sort out some common questions about feed choices and help you decide what’s appropriate for your flock.
Feeding
Selecting the Right Feed for Your Flock
There are many options when it comes to store bought chicken feed. As chicken keeping becomes more popular, feed stores are carrying several different brands for the consumer to choose from. Within those brands, there are quite a few options; different protein percentages, starter, layer, grower, finisher, crumbles, pellets, mash, organic, vegetarian, medicated and some with added supplements like the Omega range and calcium. The following posts will help you decide what is an appropriate feed for your flock.
Need a Little Help in the Chicken Feed Aisle?
Why and How to Ferment Your Feed
Product Review: My Pet Chicken Chunky Chicken Crumbles
Feeding the chickens who feed your kids – Do you buy the best or settle for less?
Food Safety
While many kitchen scraps are healthy for chickens to consume, some can make them sick. Learn about food safety in the following posts.
Reader’s Question: Are hedge-apples safe for my hens to eat?
Whey-ing In on What to Feed Our Chickens
Top 5 Myths and Facts about Treats for Chickens
Grit and Calcium
Along with a balanced diet, chickens do better with a calcium supplement for healthy eggshells and grit to help them digest their food. Learn how to add these important elements to your chicken’s diet.
Eggshells, Crushed Oyster Shells or Both?
Grit/Shell Feeder from Salvaged Materials
Supplements
Learn what supplements might benefit your flock.
About Coconut Oil and a D.I.Y. for Coconut Butter
Dietary Supplements for Backyard Chickens~Part Two in a Two Part Series
Dietary Supplements for Backyard Chickens~Post One of a Two Part Series
Home Grown Feed
Learn what plants you can grow to feed to your chickens.
Growing Broccoli Sprouts for Chickens-a Review
Preserving the Harvest For Chickens Treats – Grass, Dandelion and Clover
7 Early Vegetables to Grow for You and Your Flock
Product Review: Fodder Seed Blend for Laying Hens
Pumpkins with Benefits: Boost Your Flock’s Health
Help Pollinators and Your Chickens with Sunflowers
7 Common Weeds your Chickens Will Love
DIY Feeders
Chickens love to scratch. It’s part of their instinct to turn up the soil and find insects and worms under the dirt. However, scratching inside the chicken coop causes feed to be tossed around and wasted. A properly designed feeder limits waste and will keep feed dry and fresh. Check out our assortment of do-it-yourself chicken feeder designs!
DIY Chicken Feeders: Choosing the Right Materials
How to Build Your Own Continuous Feeder and Grit Dispenser
Community DIY: Bag Collar Feeder
DIY Chick Feeders / Bird-Feeders
Grit/Shell Feeder from Salvaged Materials
Mealworms
Mealworms provide a nutritious boost for your chickens. Many use mealworms as an alternative to soy, which is the usual source of protein in store bought chicken food. Learn about feeding mealworms to your flock, and how to raise an ongoing supply.
Mealworm Molting Treats and a Giveaway!
DIY Raising Mealworms (Part 1)
Vegetarian vs Not
There is an ongoing debate right now in the chicken world as to whether vegetarian fed chickens are healthier than non-vegetarian. Learn the pros and cons and decide for yourself.
Chickens are *NOT* Vegetarians
Treats
Chickens love treats! Learn which treats are healthy for your flock and what is an appropriate amount to feed.
Preserving Corn for Chicken Treats
Juicing Our Way to a Happy Flock
4 Healthy Snacks for Chickens-Treat ’em Right!
Product Review: My Pet Chicken Chunky Chicken Caviar
Product Review: My Pet Chicken Chickie Puffs
Living snacks from the Ball jar
This Cooking Is Still For the Birds
Free Ranging
Free ranging and pasture raising are alternative ways to provide your chickens with food. It is a more natural way to rear chickens but there are pros and cons. Learn about free ranging and decide what’s best for your flock.
Free Range Eggs–what does that mean?
Free Range Chickens = Free Entertainment!
Free-range Chickens Produce the Best Eggs
Question and Answer: Gardens and Chickens
Reader’s Question: What is the nutritional value of free-range eggs?
Free-Range Chickens and a Free Book!
Waterers
Clean water…the nemeses of every chicken keeper. Chickens are notorious for messing up their nice clean water source. They love to scratch and because of this, soiled bedding almost always ends up polluting the waterer. Learn about different poultry waterers and tricks that help keep your chicken’s water fresh and clean with minimal effort.
Product Review: BriteTap Chicken Waterer
All About Watering Nipples – Keeping Your Birds’ Water Clean
Keeping Poultry Waterers Clean~ A Neat Solution
Community Challenge: Frozen Water Solutions
Community Challenge: Frozen Water
Product Review: The Chicken Fountain
What is your feeding regimen with your flock? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below, or visit the Community Chickens Facebook Page
4 Comments
Heard about a person that claims 100% off commercial feed for chickens. Combination of compost piles, fly breeding setups dropping maggots to the ground, different palnts we consider weeds like dandelions, and dead mice taken from a 5 gollon-water bucket trap.
How about the grain made from GMO seeds thatg we feed to our chickens? As you probably know, GMO crops are designed to be tolerant to high levels of insecticides which are then absorbed into the meat and eggs we eat. Montsano, the other producers of GMO seeds, and the retailers who sell products made from GMO seeds insist that there is no credible evidence that they are harmful. There is plenty of evidence from other sources that this is not true. Organic is the only safe alternative. The GMO sources are fighting hard to prevent GMO product labeling so we can choose.
What is the blue waterer pictured above?
I give the emptied egg shells back to my hens. However, there is absolutely no need to rinse them before oven drying. Every little bit of residue is just more nutrition for the hens. Just throw the empty shells onto a collecting tray or pan. Bake them to dry them, crush and give to your hens. They love them.