Chickens are natural foragers, but supplementing their feed can ensure they get adequate vitamins and minerals. Fruits, vegetables, grains and low-sugar dairy products are all safe snacks for the flock; especially hydrating options like watermelons, apples or pears such as berries.
Feed them regularly with clean water and grit to help their digestion of their feed. Feed your chickens responsibly!
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Soaking
Brine is a combination of water and salt, typically enhanced with aromatic ingredients like garlic cloves or thyme sprigs, used to infuse meat with flavor and tenderness prior to cooking.
To ferment chicken feed, mix one day’s worth of feed per flock into a bucket or large bowl and cover with water, leaving to soak for four days before transferring to either a livestock bowl or open chicken feeder (it should not rotate or drop food, as that encourages mold growth). You may wish to combine your fermented feed with apple cider vinegar as a kick start in order to speed up fermentation process.
Fermentation
Fermenting chicken feed is an easy and natural way to increase its nutritional value for your flock. By soaking and fermenting their feed, probiotics are released that aid them in digesting their meals more easily.
This process also maximizes the absorption of essential nutrients into a chicken’s body while decreasing feed needs and thus saving you money!
Filter dechlorinated water into a clean bucket half full, stirring well as needed to keep the feed under the liquid surface. Add as needed more as necessary until all feed has been submerged under water.
Crumble
Pellets and crumble feed contain ingredients formulated in identical fashion; however, their manufacturing processes differ dramatically. Pellets tend to be harder and more uniformly-shaped, which makes it easier for chickens to eat with less mess involved and longer shelf-life without spoilage.
Crumble feed tends to be softer and has more of an irregular size distribution, which may make it more appealing for some chickens. Pay attention to your flock to see which form they prefer before offering both forms; quality should ultimately matter more than presentation – most poultry species, including ducks, geese and waterfowl, can accept either layers pellets or crumbles for food consumption.
Shell Grit
Grit is an invaluable supplement for chickens that help them break down food without using their teeth, and should be readily available if they are eating other items such as kitchen scraps, seeds, grass or weeds.
Shell grit is an ideal calcium source for your flock, helping strengthen egg shells while at the same time strengthening digestive health. When combined with soluble grit, however, too much calcium may be consumed and lead to digestive discomfort for their health.
Grit can be found at most feed stores and should be fed freely to your chickens as an affordable and long-lasting addition to their diet. It should be placed in its own feeder. It provides them with something they can snack on at their leisure! Grit offers long-term savings!
Pellets
Pellets are a convenient, nutritionally complete feed option that chickens find easy to consume. Made by grinding up and compressing feed ingredients into small, compact cylinders, pellets provide full nutrition in one convenient package for chickens.
Pellet feed can also be easier to scoop, clean and store than mash feed, leading to less food waste than its counterpart.
Some customers experience difficulty getting their flock to consume pellets. This issue usually stems from too many unhealthy treats that do not belong in a balanced feed regimen; though occasionally offering these food sources can be beneficial, too much exposure could result in decreased egg production or other health problems for your flock.
Whole Grain
Chickens that feed on whole grains use their crop and gizzard to grind the grains up into small pebbles, helping reduce pathogenic bacteria that could enter their intestinal tracts.
Digestion helps ensure a chicken can more readily absorb all the essential vitamins and nutrients contained in its grain, increasing resistance against coccidiosis in your flock.
But if you feed your chickens only whole wheat or use it instead of their traditional feed mixture such as layer pellets, chick starter feed or mash, they could be missing out on essential vitamins and minerals for good health. Luckily, all these items can be fermented!
