Ok so I have the organic garden with beets and tomatoes and chard and kale etc.. I have been paleo for 2 weeks and my wife always wanted me to set up part of the yard for chickens. Any thoughts on the best way to feed those feathered friends for optimal egg production without the formulated feed.is there any difference between chickens on raising for eggs or raising for slaughter? Wow that word is harsh! Thanks
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my sister has chickens and she goes to the produce department at the local super market and gets huge bags of all the veggie scraps. the chickens LOVE them and it's totally free. she also gives them ground oyster shells which adds calcium to build stronger egg shells and in the summer months they get prawn heads/shell scraps(which have been boiled and cooled first) which are a good source of protein and calcium and they turn the yolks bright orange! provided the chickens are able to roam free and scavenge for bugs, i'm not sure if their diet would even need to be supplemented with any kind of feed...but if they don't get to roam around that much I would imagine they would probably need another protein source. good luck with the chickens! I hope to one day have some of my own as well! |
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Veggie food scraps, scratch corn, and crushed oyster shells. The shells are important because it keeps the shells strong and reduces the amount that your hens will peck each other. Bugs are another important part, although not a staple. The more bugs they eat, the darker their eggs' yokes and also the more flavorful. Diet is pretty much the same for laying birds and table birds. The difference there is what variety you raise. Layers do not get broody (try to hatch their eggs) as quickly, table birds have more meat on their legs and breasts. Table birds also tend to grow large faster. I raised chickens through my entire childhood and will be putting a coop in this spring. It's lots of fun and very rewarding. Good luck. |
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flaxseed.. those fancy expensive omega 3 eggs you can buy, are fed flaxseed.. :) not sure what else tho. i would love to have some chickens.. |
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In the wild they eat bugs, vegetables, grass and even fruit. Can you just let them free for a day in some meadow and then somehow fence them in? Or plant grass where they are going to live - they love to dig dirt with their feet for earthworms. |
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Believe it or not, they will also hunt, kill, and eat mice. |
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The farmer that I buy true free range chicken eggs from is growing alfalfa and timothy for the winter months. This was in part due to my pointing out that commercial feed, no matter how "organic", contains soy. |
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