Great information as always! Our chickens got more corn in the winter in Alaska mixed in with their other feeds. But we also had a friend that worked for Waste Management who picked up the compost from the local markets. He would fill a 5 gallon bucket of the fruits and veggies the grocery store deemed not worthy for sale and bring it for our chickens. It was daily pickups for those things, so our chickens diet consisted of fruits and vegs, crickets and meal worms (when available at our local hunting and fishing store), and scratch grains.
I feed hen scratch millo, wheat, cracked corn, and whole corn, sunflower seeds, meat scraps, and saved grass clippings. Chick starter for bed time treat.
I don't feed mine dried corn (they don't like it, anyway), but I do give them fresh corn on the cob, and canned corn mixed with another fresh veggie, like broccoli or bell peppers. I only have half dozen girls, and they're pets as well as layers, so I'm sure they're spoiled, comparatively speaking.. 😁
I should add, there is a debate about protein vrs carbohydrates on social media. No doubt protein is important and more than that, providing the right amino acids is critical. But energy or carbs are important too. I am retired now, but for most of my life, I trained race horses. Diet was so important. A diet high in protein and low in carbs was not ideal. Protein is harder to digest metabolically, further if an animal lacks energy, they will process that protein into energy. Energy is always first in metabolic processes. So think of carbs as protein sparing, carbs allow the protein portion of the diet to do the work that proteins need to do, like body growth and maintenance, and feather growth. How does this play out in the real chicken world? I have a large heritage breed of chicken, and they need a 20% protein (I use turkey grower in a hopper that is never empty) diet to grow and feather out to be ready for the shows. But I like to give them a bit of scratch too for energy, especially in our cold Canadian climate. What I do is feed them an amount of scratch (including cracked corn and black oil sunflower seed and other grains) that they clean up in about a half hour once per day. They are keen to get it. By the way, don't forget grit, they need grit to grind up their food!
Very interesting video !!! It got me thinking about the different types of commercial feed for chickens. Are all the different brands the same ??? Regular Chicken feed or layers pellets or both ??? How much layer pellets how much regular feed ??? Is there other pure grains you should add to their diet ??? Maybe you could show some more light on this subject in a future video ??? Thanks !!!
Like your new shirts, especially Brian's. Last fall I bought a bag of corn at the feed store for a winter snack, the girls wouldn't eat it. I gave it to a farmer for his ducks. ISA brown seem to have different tastes towards some things that most chickens love. Split a pumpkin and they ignore it. I even grew spaghetti squash for them, wouldn't touch it. Perhaps this is typical for ISA???
Different flocks have different preferences. I think when birds are young, if they see the older birds enthused about a particular food and avoid others they tend to follow suit.
Thanks @HobbyFarmGuys! I was wondering if you could do a video or even a series? offering potential complete chicken nutrition mixed sets/seed blends of different high Omega 3 PASTURE grasses/legumes/forbs/etc seeds for different climates (like my hot/dry summer/Cool winter NorCal Zone 9B. Many of us are trying to free range for healthy birds/eggs, and keeping greens growing is a challenge, so perhaps simple paddocking ideas would be great too. (I always look forward to your informative videos❤) I liked your recent Zebu vid. Would adding a milkgoat/cow/sheep be a good idea for small-scale regenerative pasturing? I raised 4H dairy goats in the late 70's, but wonder how hard milking a ewe would be, since like many goat raisers who adored their goats, I now hate the taste of goat's milk!
I like your idea & I'll pass run it by the crew! As for adding dairy animals, it really depends on lots of other things. There is no one size fits all answer, but generally speaking it would be good.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Another awesome and informative video. Your team is amazing at providing important information in a relaxed and entertaining manner. Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing both eye-catching T-shirts and information.
Great information as always! Our chickens got more corn in the winter in Alaska mixed in with their other feeds. But we also had a friend that worked for Waste Management who picked up the compost from the local markets. He would fill a 5 gallon bucket of the fruits and veggies the grocery store deemed not worthy for sale and bring it for our chickens. It was daily pickups for those things, so our chickens diet consisted of fruits and vegs, crickets and meal worms (when available at our local hunting and fishing store), and scratch grains.
I give my girls cracked corn as a treat during the cold winter months. 😊
I feed hen scratch millo, wheat, cracked corn, and whole corn, sunflower seeds, meat scraps, and saved grass clippings. Chick starter for bed time treat.
I like y’all’s T-shirts
Great information I say not corn alone but they love it so it's hard to say no 😂
Moderation for corn and sunflower seeds. As far as protein, its the amino acids that's most important. Fish meal in moderation is good, too.
Good video guys!
I don't feed mine dried corn (they don't like it, anyway), but I do give them fresh corn on the cob, and canned corn mixed with another fresh veggie, like broccoli or bell peppers. I only have half dozen girls, and they're pets as well as layers, so I'm sure they're spoiled, comparatively speaking.. 😁
I should add, there is a debate about protein vrs carbohydrates on social media. No doubt protein is important and more than that, providing the right amino acids is critical. But energy or carbs are important too. I am retired now, but for most of my life, I trained race horses. Diet was so important. A diet high in protein and low in carbs was not ideal. Protein is harder to digest metabolically, further if an animal lacks energy, they will process that protein into energy. Energy is always first in metabolic processes. So think of carbs as protein sparing, carbs allow the protein portion of the diet to do the work that proteins need to do, like body growth and maintenance, and feather growth. How does this play out in the real chicken world? I have a large heritage breed of chicken, and they need a 20% protein (I use turkey grower in a hopper that is never empty) diet to grow and feather out to be ready for the shows. But I like to give them a bit of scratch too for energy, especially in our cold Canadian climate. What I do is feed them an amount of scratch (including cracked corn and black oil sunflower seed and other grains) that they clean up in about a half hour once per day. They are keen to get it. By the way, don't forget grit, they need grit to grind up their food!
Very well said!
Always have gravel and grit for your chickens to break down those hard seeds to digest.
Great info
Glad you think so!
Very interesting video !!! It got me thinking about the different types of commercial feed for chickens. Are all the different brands the same ??? Regular Chicken feed or layers pellets or both ??? How much layer pellets how much regular feed ??? Is there other pure grains you should add to their diet ??? Maybe you could show some more light on this subject in a future video ??? Thanks !!!
We will definitely have more videos on poultry nutrition in the near future! Thanks for the suggestions and for watching!
Feeding chicken on corn is like only eating dessert for a meal.
Like your new shirts, especially Brian's.
Last fall I bought a bag of corn at the feed store for a winter snack, the girls wouldn't eat it. I gave it to a farmer for his ducks. ISA brown seem to have different tastes towards some things that most chickens love. Split a pumpkin and they ignore it. I even grew spaghetti squash for them, wouldn't touch it. Perhaps this is typical for ISA???
Different flocks have different preferences. I think when birds are young, if they see the older birds enthused about a particular food and avoid others they tend to follow suit.
Thanks @HobbyFarmGuys! I was wondering if you could do a video or even a series? offering potential complete chicken nutrition mixed sets/seed blends of different high Omega 3 PASTURE grasses/legumes/forbs/etc seeds for different climates (like my hot/dry summer/Cool winter NorCal Zone 9B. Many of us are trying to free range for healthy birds/eggs, and keeping greens growing is a challenge, so perhaps simple paddocking ideas would be great too. (I always look forward to your informative videos❤) I liked your recent Zebu vid. Would adding a milkgoat/cow/sheep be a good idea for small-scale regenerative pasturing? I raised 4H dairy goats in the late 70's, but wonder how hard milking a ewe would be, since like many goat raisers who adored their goats, I now hate the taste of goat's milk!
I like your idea & I'll pass run it by the crew! As for adding dairy animals, it really depends on lots of other things. There is no one size fits all answer, but generally speaking it would be good.
My chickens love string cheese.
Beef is the best health food for humans.
Hell no to GMO! Had chickens in Costa Rica for years and never fed them anything but leftovers.