Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
your flock. Avocado skin and pits also are not recommended for poultry, as they contain low
levels of toxicity and can be harmful.
Chickens are easy to care for, and they can eat almost anything. Keep in mind, though, that if
you are raising your birds for meat or eggs, you or your family and friends eventually may in-
gest the food you give to your birds. Be selective to keep your bird's health at an optimum.
They will appreciate it, and they can be trained using food. Give them treats, but be aware of
the foods you give your flock.
Before your chickens arrive, be sure to have everything you need, because good planning will
help your chickens make a smooth transition. When you are planning for supplies, do not for-
get chicken feed. You have an array of feeds to choose from, or you may decide to make your
own. Remember not to purchase too much feed at once because you should not store it over
long periods; it can attract rodents, and if it gets damp, it can become moldy.
You can find chicken feed at local feed mills, supply stores, co-ops, and even some grocery
stores, depending on where you live. Chickens are natural scavengers, and they will peck and
hunt daily for food. But even free-range chickens will need you to supplement their diet with
feed unless you have an abundance of land for them to forage. It is estimated that an acre of
land can sustain 50 to 400 chickens, but that is probably not accurate in the winter months
when greenery is hard to find.
You may be tempted to buy a cheaper feed for your chickens, but be aware that the product is
mostly bulked up with fillers such as wheat-milling byproducts. This will fatten your birds up
but has little or no nutritional value. It is like junk food for poultry and will affect its flavor. A
fat chicken will lay fewer eggs than a healthy chicken.
Chicken feed comes in three forms:
Mash is a mealy or powdered form of chicken feed, usually made of grains.
Pellet is a harder form of chicken food.
Crumble is a mixture of mash and pellet.
Chickens tend to waste more mash because it spills to the ground and dissolves into the dirt.
Chicken scratch was a popular feed before people realized how important nutrients were to
the quality of the chicken and the eggs it produced. The scratch was made up of whole grains
and cracked corn. If you use chicken scratch, it should not be their only feed because it does
not provide enough nutrients, such as oyster shell, to harden the chickens' eggs.
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