Chicken Feed: How to Feed Chickens

Your chickens will need properly formulated chicken feed that is the correct type for their age, for growth, sustenance and to produce eggs if they are hens of egg laying age. There are many old wives tales and alternative views on feeding, some say it’s marketing that has created all of these feeds and hens will survive well on wheat and others will say their grandad never had layers pellets and just fed his hens kitchen scraps! Formulated poultry feeds didn’t exist until recently, primarily created thanks to commercial research on hens diets as we tried to squeeze more and more eggs out of hens.

Chickens were often fed home made grain mixes before the seventies.

In days gone by though when ‘grandad fed scraps’, pure breeds were kept for eggs and they were fed grain mixes or dried mash chicken feed that had meat or fish meal added to increase the protein content. Hens would free range over a large area and could also supplement their diet with what they could forage. Bugs, insects and worms are all valuable sources of protein, not forgetting a good selection of greens providing vitamins and minerals.

“Grandad’s chickens didn’t get chicken feed and survived on kitchen scraps but they could free range to top up their diet on protein, vitamins, minerals and calcium from the fields or orchards they grazed. They didn’t produce anything like the number of eggs modern hybrid hens or some pure breeds produce.”

So in short, if you don’t feed a proper formulated layers feed to your hens, they won’t be able to keep up the demands that egg-laying puts on their bodies.

Layers Feeds and Protein

Layers PelletsChickens require protein to produce feathers  and eggs as well as to grow. The amount of protein in their diet is important and you will see on the ingredients on the back of bags of commercial feeds the percentage of protein that they contain. It is higher in ‘Growers Pellets’ for example to enable chickens to grow and produce feathers.  You will find that chickens stop laying eggs when they moult (lose their feathers and regrow new) as they are diverting protein from egg production to feather production. During the moult, you can scatter a handful of cat kibble in the run which helps them to top up with protein. Do not use dog food as most of the protein is derived from cereals.

Topping up a feed container

Commercial feeds contain the right balance of nutrients & can be fed ad-lib in hoppers if kept dry. This one has a rain hat.

Commercial chicken feeds have been well researched and contain the correct balance of minerals and nutriets required by chickens as well as sufficient protein and calcium which is essential for egg shell production. Layers pellets for example are around 16% protein. Wheat is about 10% protein and lacks essential vitamins that are required by chickens.

Formulated feeds come as pellets or mash and should be fed ad-lib so hens can take what they want as they need it. This type of feed must be kept dry or it will soon spoil. The feeder and rain hat shown above is the only sort I have found that really does keep the feed dry. Most have a hole in the top of the hat for a handle or for hanging and this lets water in. A feeder and rain hat similar to this one can be bought from Omlet.

Eggs are made up of around 80% protein so if there’s a shortage of protein in their diet, egg laying will be the first thing they your girls cut back on!

There is more information on the poultykeeper.com site which has a very good page of feeding chickens and chicken feed.

Mixed corn

mixed corn for chickensMixed corn is usually 80 to 90% wheat and 10 to 20% maize. It is useful as a scratch feed, it keeps hens active, scratching around looking for it but should only be considered a treat. A handful per hen thrown late afternoon helps them to have a full crop overnight.

The maize (yellow in colour) is very fattening but can be useful during very cold weather to help your hens keep warm – I increase my girls’ ration of corn when it is cold over the winter, after they have finished moulting (they need lots of protein during the moult) since they are not laying eggs and need a little extra fat to burn in order to keep warm.

If you feed too much corn, your hens will get fat and fat hens don’t lay eggs!

Household scraps

Feeding household scraps is no longer allowed according toi DEFRA and can be a bit hit and miss anyway. You don’t really know what a hen is getting and the diet is very unbalanced. It is for this reason that scraps used to be mixed into a mash by using layers mash and water (which can be warm in winter). The mixture should be a sort of crumbly mix, not too wet but not too dry. Feeding scraps should be limited to at most 25% of a hens diet so as not to tip the balance too far one way or another.

Greens

chickens and fresh greensAmple green stuff should be provided for your hens. Grass cuttings, weeds and off-cuts from cabbages, cauliflowers and other greens can be provided at minimal cost. Lettuce should be fed in moderation because it has very little nutritional value (very little Protein and Energy / Calories) and avocado pear is poisonous to hens but most other greens that come from the kitchen will be appreciated by your girls. Try hanging greens in their run, just a little higher than they can reach. As they eat them, they will need to jump to get the last bits so will be getting exercise at the same time as their greens! Win-win!

If you have an area in which you can grow cabbages in your garden, it may be worthwhile thinking about growing a row for the winter. Cabbages will sit there in the cold, perfectly preserved until picked. You will need to keep them covered with fleece when there are cabbage white butterflies around but don’t worry if they are a little eaten, the chooks won’t mind!

Mealworm treats

Many chicken keepers like to buy mealworms or chicken treats containing these. Chickens love these and are easily tamed by using such tasty treats, however you should keep in mind that animal by-product regulations mean that mealworms are not really allowed to be fed to poultry.

427 Comments

  1. Thinking ahead – do you have any tips for keeping the chickens water from icing over in the winter (aside from constant replenishment)?

    • Yes, you can keep the water container indoors, or empty it, taking it out first thing in the morning, or put it in the coop off the floor where it will hold out for a few degrees below freezing outside, or if it gets really cold, you can add a heat pad under the container outdoors (costly though).

      The final solution is to add a couple of drops of Glycerin to the water which will lower the freezing point. This is found in the home baking section of supermarkets. I have searched for years to find out whether it is harmful to chickens but never found the answer…. the fact that I know breeders using this method with hundreds of chickens and they have no problems with their birds after years of use is a good indicator though!

      I only use this if it’s -5 or below when the water freezes during the day quickly and birds can’t drink…. which is more of a problem than the Glycerin I’d say.

  2. I used to give my girls [6] a handful of scratch each evening and was told this was wrong, I’ve only had them 7 months so am a complete novice. They get spoilt as I keep them at my allotment and they get as much greens as they need and have plenty space [100feet by 30feet] to rummage around in when I’m there, and when I’m not there they have a secured area of 16 feet by 13 feet to mess around in and eat layers pellets adlib. but my questions are: Is maize also called corn? and how much glycerin do you add to water? Sorry for the long winded explanation but i was trying to give as much detail as possible

    • OK there are two schools of thought. Old timers would say to feed scratch (or mixed corn as we tend to call it in the UK), fed before bed as it keeps the birds fuller for longer overnight and also provides extra warmth for the bird by giving it some extra energy from the maize. Others don’t believe in feeding this at all or at other times of the day. I tend to support the old-timers on this as corn does take longer to digest.

      Mixed Corn is the product that is usually made up of Wheat and about 10% Maize (dried sweetcorn!) which is crushed (or sometimes called split) and is the yellow you see in the mix. This provides lots of energy which is useful in cold Winters to produce heat – but too much can also cause the bird to put on weight which is why it should be seen as a treat and not fed ad lib. The protein level in Wheat is not sufficient for egg producing birds either so taking short cuts of feeding wheat to reduce cost is false economy and often means less eggs.

      Glycerin should be by experiment! A couple of drops into a typical container of 4 to 6 litres will work just below freezing but you’ll need more as the volume of water goes up or the temperature drops more.

    • I haven’t heard that one before – but it’s another way of providing vitamins that chickens need (which you’ll get from other green leaves and grass).

  3. Is it true that hens won’t lay as many eggs unless they get their feed very early in the morning 6.30am? Which is what we have been told. We have just taken on around 50 very free range hens. Thanks.

  4. I just bought some Black Ameraucanas, Barred Rock, & Silkie chicks a week ago… Some of them have become sick. Trouble breathing, matted eyes & a few of them have died. I have had my other hens for 2 years & never had this problem. I started giving antibiotics in the chicks water 3 das ago, but don’t see any improvment. Any idea what might be wrong & what I should do????

    • No, sorry. They have a disease but the symptoms you describe are too general. A poultry vet would be my first port of call.

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