In the old days a farmer may have kept a cockerel and a few hens, who would have all free ranged. They would eat spilt grain from the cows and horses, hay and grass and any worms etc they could find – hence the term being “paid chicken feed” – not a lot. In the winter, their diet would be poorer, so they stop laying (combined with less light – 14hrs is the magic number)
There is a limit to how many chickens can free range feed in a given small area.
Nowadays feeds are manufactured to give the best diet for the various stages. There are three stages of main feed for your chickens depending on their age
| What | When |
| Chick Crumbs | 0-8 weeks |
| Growers | 8-18 weeks |
| Layers | 18 weeks on |
Growers is also used to fatten birds for the table.
| Minimum requirements | Protein % |
Calcium % |
Phosphorus % |
| Pullets | |||
| Chick (0-8 weeks) | 20 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| Grower (8 to 18 weeks) | 14 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Layer (18 weeks on) | 16 | 3.0 | 0.5 |
Growers and Layers come in mash or pellets. Pellets are basically mash in pellet form!
Make sure they have pellets or mash first thing (around 130g per bird)
It’s apparently now illegal in the EU to feed animals kitchen scraps so don’t do this!
If you give treats or vegetable clippings (except potato peel) give it later, so they will have had their balanced diet first. Hens love all the plate scrapings,except meat and veg peelings and they love pasta especially!
I’m going to check the regulations in detail and update this post soon – the EU regs are a bit obscure!
Most of us also give mixed grain as a treat – Chickens are food-tame – they will come to you because you have a treat in your hand and will eat grain out of your hand.
Don’t give them too much bread, which gives them the runs!
Oyster Shell Grit
Layers Pellets
Mixed Grain
Chickens don’t have teeth. They use grit in their gizzards to grind up food. There are two types of grit
Hard – for digestion
Calcium – which dissolves in the stomach and provides calcium for egg production – crushed oystershell is the most common.
Chickens love and need greenery like grass – scientific studies have shown they prodce better eggs with less cholestrol and more Omega-3 fatty acids (currently good for you!)
Checklist
- Mash or Layers – appropriate to age
- Grit
- Crushed Oystershell for laying birds
- Mixed Corn
- Vegetable choppings!
