Chickens require an immense amount of energy in order to function and grow properly, from walking, eating, breathing and maintaining an ideal temperature to walking, breathing and keeping their temperature constant. Protein, carbohydrates and fat all offer metabolic energy sources which the chickens need in order to function.
Natural chicken feed is composed of ingredients untreated with pesticides, including wheat, barley and kamut (commonly referred to as Khorasan Wheat) that have not been combined with other grains to form a balanced diet for your bird.
Contents
Comfrey
Comfrey is an annual herb that serves as a good source of protein, minerals and vitamins for chickens. Its high B12 levels prevent anemia while improving fertility and encouraging the healthy skin and feather growth of its consumers. Furthermore, allantoin encourages cell division quickly while healing wounds quickly.
Hens can eat fresh or dried comfrey. While they may initially resist its taste, you can tempt them by offering it wilted into their food source.
Comfrey contains high concentrations of potassium, phosphorus, and calcium that contribute to bone health and muscle function. Furthermore, its vitamin A content helps prevent illness in chickens, making this plant ideal for healing broken bones, sprains, soft tissue injuries or adding it to feed to increase egg production and quality.
Stinging Nettles
Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) provide chickens with essential vitamins and minerals, and are delicious! However, before feeding the delicious greens to your birds you need to ensure that they’re safe for consumption – the easiest way is blanching in water to deactivate formic acid production and make the nettles edible.
Scientific studies have revealed that stinging nettles contain high concentrations of vitamins A, C, D, E, F, K and the B-complexes as well as minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and zinc. Furthermore, stinging nettles serve as dynamic accumulators, meaning they take in nutrients from their surroundings and store them within their leaves for later use.
Nettles are known to possess antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, hypoglycemic, antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties which make them ideal for treating joint pain, hay fever and urinary tract infections.
Alfalfa Hay
Alfalfa hay is packed with protein, calcium and other vital nutrients. Additionally, it contains many beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species that help balance microorganisms in your digestive tract in order to inhibit pathogenic organisms like Salmonella from growing.
Alfalfalfa hay is often included as part of egg layers’ molting diets to lower Salmonella excretion rates in their feces and improve digestion. Furthermore, this source of fiber promotes good digestive health.
As with other supplemental foods, alfalfa should only be fed in small doses to your rabbit and other monogastric animals. Overfeeding will only lead to digestive issues; too much alfalfa could also clog their bladders with waste products and cause infections. For adult goats or sheep it could contribute to bladder sludge build-up.
Meat
Add meat to your chicken feed as an effective way to supply essential proteins for muscle, skin and feather development, while providing fat that helps them retain moisture during hot weather.
Organic chicken feed typically includes organic grains, legumes and vegetables in addition to various supplements – like limestone or granite grit for aiding with grinding food for digestibility purposes and probiotics – that aid the bird’s gizzard in grinding its meals properly.
Organic chicken feed often includes vitamins such as fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and water-soluble vitamins (C and all B’s) to ensure the chickens receive proper health and nutrition. Furthermore, organic chicken food may contain minerals such as copper sulfate or manganese oxide as well as being packed full of proteins for maximum efficiency.
Scraps
Chickens require fats (from meat, butter and oils), protein (for egg production) and carbohydrates – with corn and oats being the most popular sources in commercial feed, though other grains such as rye or millet may also be used as sources.
Natural chicken feed can be created from almost any kitchen food scrap. This approach saves money in multiple ways: first, it decreases how much store-bought feed your hens consume; secondly, this approach supplies them with essential worms and bugs that add nutritional value.
Allowing chickens to roam free-range and forage through compost piles produces richer, healthier eggs while simultaneously helping prevent them from eating grass and insects that carry parasites.
