Poultry Feed Questions

Poultry feed is one of the most important tools in the health of your chickens. Feed should meet the needs and purpose of their life and may need to be varied to meet seasonal changes.


Processed feed comes in the form of mash, crumbles and pellets. The seed and grain ingredients are usually heated reducing nutrient value, but vitamins and minerals are usually added to replace what processing has destroyed.

Chicken scratch generally contains much cracked corn, which is no longer alive. Studies are showing that chickens on a corn/soy based processed diet have shorter and less healthy lives, than chickens with a more natural diet.

Most chickens do OK on packaged processed feed, but this is a diet lacking in “live food”. Live foods contain enzymes that aid digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Examples of live foods are raw and unprocessed: fruits, vegetables, grasses, whole grains, seeds, bugs, and worms. Chickens usually love these foods, if available.

The health of your flock will be a good indication that you are providing the right feed. The more live foods you can offer your chickens, the more you should be rewarded with a hearty and disease free flock. Most layer feed is 16 percent protein, grower feed 18 percent and conditioning feeds often 20 percent. A good feed will provide proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Processed foods, if older, may be vitamin deficient.

Feed that contains “animal fat” can become rancid if old or not stored properly. Rancid fats can cause digestive problems doing more harm than good. A never ending supply of good clean water is a must for good digestion of Poultry feed. If you have a question you would like answered click here.



Chicken Feed Questions

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Feed suppliers


 
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Diet of NO Wheat, Corn or Soy


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Question Diet of NO Wheat, Corn or Soy: I have a market for my eggs to users who request that I DO NOT feed any wheat, corn, or soy to the hens. …


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