Feeding Chickens
If you want to raise healthy chickens, you have to be careful about what you feed them. They can’t eat just anything. They do need plenty of water, especially if you have hens that lay eggs. Always keep the water dish right next to the pen where the chickens can easily reach it. If they do not have enough water, they can die within a few hours due to salt toxicity. They won’t drink the water if it is dirty, so you have to make sure you check on the water regularly and keep the dish filled.
The kind of food that you need to feed chickens consists of:
- Grains. If you buy commercial chicken feed, this contains a good mixture of pure and cracked grains. If you do have pure corn on hand, chickens will eat this as well, but it shouldn’t be the sole source of food.
- Greens. Chickens need to eat grasses and weeds. You can also feed them the peels from the vegetables you prepare for your meals. Garden clippings are good for food if you keep the chickens in a pen and they are not free to roam in a garden.
- Protein. Although chickens do get protein from the bugs they eat, you also need to ensure you provide them with these nutrients in their food by giving them this food in the morning. Many farmers use boiled soybeans, mixed with oats, sunflower seeds and milk, and warm it slightly. Fish flakes or scraps of fish are also a good source of protein.
- Crushed Oyster Shells. You should have crushed oyster shell in the chicken coop. You can buy this commercially in 50 pound bags and is not expensive.
- Minerals. The leafy parts of dried kelp are a good source of minerals.
- Grit. All chickens need grit to help them digest their food. This is tiny rocks or pieces of granite that serve as the chicken’s teeth, since they don’t have any.
You don’t have to feed the chickens all these components separately. Simply mixing them in with the feed will do the trick. When feeding them grain, always inspect it to make sure it is not damp or moldy. If it is, it could kill your chickens.