WHAT DO CHICKENS EAT TO GROW BIG?
What do chickens eat to grow Big?
When you see a new farmer planning his new business, he will often ask a common question: “What do chickens eat?”
I can tell that the same question is going through your mind. What should I feed my chicken?
Are chicken selective eaters?
When it comes to food, chickens do it all. They will eat or try to eat anything they see as long as their mouths stay on it.
Chickens like Australorps, Isa Browns and Rhode Island Reds are good free rangers. As they move through the yard, they will find a cornucopia of foods rich in protein and vitamins.
This will include insects, larvae, weeds and seeds. Sometimes they can take down skins, toads or small snakes.
They will eat anything. Therefore, it will not be impossible to say that chickens are not eaters.
However, free range food is not enough to ensure that pets chicken benefit from a healthy and balanced diet.
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Why is it important to feed chickens with the right feed?
Like humans, food is essential for chickens to survive. In this case, it is very important to think about the type of food you will feed your chicken.
Although chickens are not selective eaters, feeding them “any food” may not be a good idea if your goal is to get more eggs, stronger birds, and greater productivity.
Knowing what type of feed to feed your flock is good for farmers looking to get the best out of their flock.
Do it right and you will have healthy, live chickens. But if it is different, it can lead to reduced egg production, defective eggs, feathering, and other unwanted behaviors.
It is also important to know how you can influence the number of eggs a hen will lay in a week. (If you need more eggs)
In addition, laying hens do not eat anything.
Now that you know, what do you feed your chickens?
What should I feed the chicken?
But to get the best out of our flock, here are some of the best foods to feed them.
1. Formulated chicken pellets:
Pellets are one of the most nutritious chicken feeds.
According to one study, any good chicken feed depends on high-quality poultry pellets. Typically, pellets contain wheat, salt, corn, sunflower seeds and corn.
A rich diet of pellets is a good source of vitamins, nutrients and minerals that are important for keeping birds healthy. Pellets are recommended for chickens.
Layer pellets provide hens with good protein and minerals to lay their eggs.
2. Grains:
Chickens eat corn? Yes, they do.
Of course, they love him. In addition to their solid food of pellets, grain is a healthy food.
Corn, beans or wheat are grains that you can feed your livestock. Giving them variety would be a good idea because, as they say, variety is the spice of life.
Remember that they need a whole grain diet that is low in salt and sugar.
3. Fruits and Vegetables:
The next time you wonder what to feed your chickens, keep in mind that fruits and vegetables are good for them.
And for the record, chickens eat bananas, apple cores, carrots, vegetables, broccoli and vegetable peels.
Avoid the green peels. Including; green potato peel, citric fruits like oranges and lemons.
4. Kitchen leftovers:
Kitchen scraps are a great addition to chicken food . Table scraps are simple, cheap and easy to find.
This is a great way to increase the quality of your pet’s food and reduce food waste.
5. Commercial Feeds
Commercial chicken feed. Getting larvae, kitchen waste, fruits and vegetables may not be easy.
This is why many farmers prefer commercial foods. Commercial feed also provides many vitamins and minerals essential for chicken health.
6. Other foods that chickens eat include:
- Berries
- Mealworms
- Cooked oatmeal
- Bread
- Scratch feed
- Yogurt
- Apple
- Pumpkin
- leafy Greens
- Watermelon
- Cottage cheese
- Tomatoes
- Grapes
- Herbs
- Cooked Spaghetti
- Eggs
Proper feeding will help the hens to start laying eggs regularly.
health benefits of fermented chicken feed.
How to feed your chickens
1. Provide chicken feed with high protein content:
During hot or cold weather, the chicken primary food should be layer feed. Chickens will eat them in the form of pellets or crumble. As mentioned earlier, pellets should have the necessary nutrients to keep the hen healthy and produce well-laid eggs.
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2. Supplement their diet:
Whether it’s kitchen scraps or store-bought food, it’s not enough for chickens. So it is good to supplement their diet.
How do you do that?
Choose fruits, vegetables and grains and add them to the chicken feed. Other options include green leafy vegetables, cook beans, corn, sweet corn, tomatoes, apples, etc.
This will help ensure they get enough nutritional diet.
3. Avoid the following foods:
Although chickens can eat anything, you should not give them anything. If you want your chickens to grow well and be more productive, avoid these foods;
- Onion
- Garlic
- Rhubarb
- Avocado
- Foods are high in fat
- Salty snacks
- High sugar treats
- uncooked beans
- Green potato peels
- Chicken scraps (may spread disease through cannibalism)
- Chocolate (can make them more aggressive)
- Coffee or ground coffee
- Processed food
- Salt (pure)
- A soft drink
These foods are unhealthy and can sometimes poison the chickens.
In addition, the strong flavours from garlic can affect the taste of eggs. Trust me, you won’t want to taste this!!
On the other hand, chickens do not eat a lot of pellets. And also, don’t leave pellets for dinner
This will attract insects like mice.
If the chicken feed is not good, this is what it can cause:
1. Reduced egg production:
When the chicken feed is not good, the eggs will not hatch immediately. Remember: trash, clean up.
2. General unrest and feather picking:
If you find evidence of cannibalism in chickens, it may mean that their diet is not correct. And continuing to pluck feathers on the farm can lead to death.
Aggressive chickens like the Rhode Island Red will use this time to comfort less aggressive birds like Cochins and Australorps.
3. Release of bad chicken eggs:
As soon as you notice that the eggs are small (Serama chickens lay small eggs) or always have two yolks, this will indicate that their diet is not good.