Chickens have specific nutritional needs that must be fulfilled to achieve optimal performance, and commercial layer feed contains ingredients tailored specifically for laying hens.
Your own homemade chicken feed can be easily made by grinding whole grains together in an effective formula. Here is one: carbs = corn; proteins = oats (groats, steel-cut oats or barley); fats = sunflower seeds; minerals = bone meal and shell grit and vitamins = fish meal
Contents
Carbohydrates
Chickens metabolise their feed quickly and require a combination of carbohydrates for energy and proteins for egg production, in addition to fats, minerals and vitamins in order to stay healthy and produce eggs.
A quality chicken feed mix contains all these components and is easier to store and serve than whole or cracked grains. When making homemade feed from whole or cracked grains, however, it may be difficult to ensure all flock members receive equal levels of nourishment due to aggressive birds or those higher up the pecking order eating more than others.
Basic flock feed includes 8 pounds of corn (for energy and carbohydrate needs); and 8 lbs of field peas (which provide protein).
Protein
An appropriate chicken food provides all of the essential nutrients your flock requires for optimal health. Laying hens require approximately 16-19% protein in their feed; this figure may change depending on season and moulting status.
Protein is an essential nutrient to muscle and feather development, as well as energy production. A great source of protein are black oil sunflower seeds; you can feed either whole or chopped pieces for improved digestibility.
Quinoa, spelt, buckwheat and wild rice can provide additional protein sources for your flock’s diet. Mineral supplements like Poultry Nutri-Balancer and shell grit may also prove invaluable in keeping their flock in tip-top condition.
Fats
To keep your chickens healthy, a complete feed must be provided. While scraps and treats can provide delicious treats in moderation, they should not serve as the main source of nutrition; such nutrient deficiencies could cause other health concerns in your flock.
Chicken feed contains grains, proteins and vitamins necessary for its proper development. Protein sources like soy or corn bran provide essential nourishment to poultry growth; cereals such as wheat sorghum barley rye may also be included as key elements in their diets.
Fat is also an integral component of chicken feed and should come from sources like tallow, lard or poultry fat. Fat provides nine calories per gram – twice the number provided by carbohydrates.
Minerals
Chickens need the appropriate balance of vitamins and minerals in their diet in order to remain healthy flock members. Ideally, these can come from both wild forage as well as well-formulated poultry feed products.
Chickens in the wild consume insects and greens as sources of protein and energy; those kept in coops require poultry feed in order to provide them with essential proteins and vitamins necessary for egg laying.
Chicken feed contains vegetable proteins like soybean meal or corn gluten that contain high concentrations of essential amino acids, with supplements of lysine and methionine often included to prevent deficiencies in poultry. Trace minerals also play an essential role, often found in kelp meal or mineral premix; they play an integral part of bird immunity systems and related functions and should be added in small amounts to their feed.
Vitamins
Chicken feed must provide vitamins essential for growth, cell development and metabolism. Chickens require both fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E as well as water-soluble ones like B1, B2 B6 folic acid thiamin biotin; minerals like calcium, phosphorus magnesium iron copper zinc zinc iodine are also crucial. Choline can aid muscle development as well as egg production while betaine can be a suitable replacement.
Feed labels often list only crude protein percentage, but an equally essential consideration should be amino acid profile. Methionine and lysine are essential proteins for poultry diets yet can be hard to come by in most diets. Other supplements like grit and scratch help digestion while encouraging flocks to engage in natural foraging and pecking activities.
