Chook Feed - What to feed as staple diet

[Veggie Boy]

I have 10 laying hens which I currently feed laying pellets - as well as the usual scraps. Someone at the feed shop mentionned that a grain diet has more protein etc etc and tried to convert me to this. What do people with chooks think.

Also, I am a bit concerned over what might be in the pellets - there are stange warnings on the sacks. I assume these standard pellets would not be organic???

[Chook Nut]

Hi Veggie,

I don't use laying pellets b/c they dont have the 16% protein level that chooks require. Unless you know how much protein your scraps contain, laying mash will be the best thing for them as a supplement. No, it wont be organic unless you can source organic feed grain. I will look at buying a 100kilos plus soon from an organic grower in Qld soon to see if its feasible to buy organic seed for them. I feed mine a mix of scraps and grain as its important to keep the chooks healthy than skimping on their dietry requirements!

If you are able to; try growing vegies and fruits that are easy and high in protein as well as grains like Amaranth which are dead easy to grow and self seed. I imagine the person at the feed shop should be able to sell you seed that you can sow yourself(thats what i did), things like grains and grasses that are high in protein etc. You can grow things all round and will give you mulch as well as organic matter to dig into your garden beds at the end of it. A bit of research will go a long way in getting it right. Perennials like Pintos Peanut can be established and used as a free range pen from time to time also.

I grew my own wheat and amaranth at my last place and found it quite easy. I did it to see how hard it would be without taking up a lot of effort on my part. I cant tell you how excited the chooks were when they were released into that area once it was ready :p

Oh well.... rambling now.... but it was a chooky Q

Cheers Dave

[Veggie Boy]

Thanks Dave - what vegies and fruits would you suggest that are high in protein.

[Veggie Boy]

Also where did you get your amaranth seed. You lived in Brisbane before getting your place at Boonah didn't you? I live on the northside of Brisbane and have small acerage (just 1 acre) so have some spots that I reckon I could grow some amaranth.

Thanks.

[Chook Nut]

Hi Veggie,

I havent gone into looking into what veggies are high in protein. They don't get many scraps at all as i put virtually of of mine into my worm farm, so they get mostly grain and some fruit.

A good thing to do is to observe what they eat if you let them free range from time to time. It may not be a bad idea to see what they eat out of a veggie patch that is almost finished. It will usually be a good indication of what they like or that there may be something in it that they need. Mine will eat grass and some weeds(plus whatever bugs they can find )

As for the Amaranth, you can source it at Northey St. City Farm or places like Bunnings etc should have seed for sale. It's becoming a popular plant again! It's also dead easy to save seed if you need to and it also self seeds quite well.

Good luck

Dave