Scratch grain is an economical and tasty way to offer your flock. Made of grains and seeds combined together, scratch grain comes packaged in feed bags.
Although chickens enjoy eating scratch grain, it shouldn’t be used as the sole source of nutrition as it lacks essential proteins, calcium and vitamins found in commercial feed.
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It’s a treat
Scratch grains provide chickens with an enjoyable treat while providing an inexpensive means of supplementing their diets.
Cracked corn, oats, wheat and sunflower seeds are often included as ingredients in poultry feed mixes sold in premixed feed bags and can provide an easy alternative for busy owners or those managing smaller flocks.
While scratch can provide nutritious treats for your chickens, it should not replace their primary food sources and become an everyday part of their diet. Too much scratch may lead to nutritional imbalances and health complications for your flock.
Scratch grains do not provide your chickens with the proteins, calcium and vitamins found in standard chicken feed, leading them to quickly convert carbs to fat – not healthy for their wellbeing or leading to behaviors like selective eating.
It’s a source of energy
Chicken scratch grain is a form of chicken feed that closely resembles bird seed, often featuring grains such as oats, barley, corn, wheat milo millet and sunflower seeds as ingredients. Premixed bags or custom blends may also be available to suit the flock you feed them to.
Scratch grains provide poultry with energy sources to stay active during cold winter months.
Scattering some scratch grains around your yard or coop floor can encourage poultry to get up and move around to generate body heat, providing an ideal way to break the monotony during times of pecking stress or when their flock has become immobilized due to snowfall. It also serves as a great distraction during periods of heavy snowfall preventing their departure from their roosts.
Scratch grains should only form part of your hen’s diet; they shouldn’t serve as their sole source of nutrition. It is vitally important that they also receive balanced nutrition from regular chicken feeds and supplements.
It’s a source of protein
Chicken scratch is a tasty mix of grains and corn that should not replace a balanced feed regimen for their poultry. While treats such as this are great ways to reward birds, chicken scratch should never replace balanced meals.
Cracked or rolled corn, barley, oats, wheat, sunflower seeds, milo and millet are among the most frequently seen scratch grain blends sold as bags or as powder to mix yourself.
Scratch grains have become popular with chicken keepers as an economical alternative to commercial layer feed. Farmers also turn to them in order to save costs when feeding layers.
Chickens require various nutrients in their diet in order to thrive, including proteins and calcium. A chicken that primarily eats scratch grains could be lacking this essential nutrition and suffer from selective eating behaviors, protein deficits, decreased egg production rates and vitamin and mineral deficiency issues.
It’s a source of calcium
Chicken scratch is an economical alternative to full feed for chickens, and can even serve as a treat! It contains cracked corn and other grains to provide nutrients while providing your bird with some variety.
Scratch should only ever be fed as an add-on to a complete feed; such products provide your chickens with all the protein, calcium, and other essential nutrients for healthy living.
Chicken feed should provide ample amounts of essential trace minerals and vitamins. If they only eat scraps, however, your birds won’t receive a balanced diet and could develop problems such as selective eating, protein deficits, decreased egg production and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Many farmers supplement the diets of their chickens with oyster shells, which provide calcium-rich shell grit and calcium-rich greens supplements; these should only be given to chickens once their primary food sources have been completed.
