Owning a mixed flock can be tricky. Once your birds reach laying age, their roosters require less protein and more calcium for strong egg shells.
At this stage, many flock owners opt to switch their hens over to layer feed, designed specifically to meet the nutritional requirements for egg production. Unfortunately, feeding your entire flock remains challenging as birds must still be fed according to pecking order and different flocks prefer different textures of feed.
Contents
Value
Chicken feed should provide key essential nutrients essential for healthy flocks – water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and vitamins are the foundations of an effective chicken diet. The name brand or fancy packaging design may not matter as much as providing everything your flock needs for optimal growth and wellbeing.
Choose a feed designed specifically for each of the poultry species you have in your flock to ensure its formulation takes into account each bird’s individual nutrient requirements, making life easier and saving money at once! Doing this also removes the need for separate feeders for each of these different species, saving time and money by doing away with multiple separate feeders altogether.
Non-GMO
Chicken math can sometimes take us by surprise: Chicks quickly turn into pullets, then roosters start crowing; managing such a mixed flock requires diligence to ensure all age groups receive sufficient nutrition.
Young pullets may not need all the calcium contained in layer feed; too much may cause their systems to draw from their bones instead of egg shells for nutrition. But young birds still require enough to ensure a strong, healthy shell.
Provide free-choice calcium sources (such as oyster shells or crushed egg shells ) so hens can quickly access their required amount. Also limit treats like fruits, vegetables, scratch, mealworms corn and table scraps so as to preserve a well-balanced commercial ration’s nutritional profile.
Organic
Organic feed offers many flock owners peace of mind. Certified organic products do not use antibiotics and hormones in production and do not include ingredients grown using pesticides or fertilizers.
As your chicks evolve into pullets and roosters, their nutritional needs change as their development occurs. Juvenile chicks require high-protein feed for healthy development while adult birds transition into laying hens’ more calcium-rich diet which assists in building strong eggshells.
Adult non-producing poultry such as turkeys, roosters, gamebirds and retired hens are in a maintenance state, meaning their nutrition requires minimal waste products such as Kalmbach 16% Flock Maintainer for optimal care and nutrition.
Texture
Starting out with backyard poultry can be daunting for novice owners. Therefore, it is wise to establish a plan when outlining their dietary needs from day one.
Chicks and broilers require higher protein and calcium content than young pullets or laying hens, so when feeding chicks/broilers start-up feed should eventually switch over to layer feed when their eggs begin laying.
Many flock owners opt to feed their chickens a mash feed, which includes all the ingredients of a typical chicken feed recipe mixed together into a crumbly texture. Chickens love it because it closely resembles their natural diet while it may lead to food waste as birds often pick out ingredients they like more and leave other components behind.
Gut Health
Gut microbiomes are powerful indicators of flock health and performance. At hatching time, each chick receives hundreds of species from its mother’s eggshell and the environment around it that help form their gut flora, providing essential functions like defence, digestion, and feed uptake.
As birds progress through their rearing cycle, their gut grows more complex with villi extending from the small intestine lining, providing increased surface area for digestion and absorption of nutrients. A healthy gut can allow a bird to optimize development and laying capabilities as it ensures maximum benefit from its diet.
Humphrey Feeds & Pullets poultry experts can recommend the ideal feed formulations to meet the needs of mixed flocks.
