How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?

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nuzuki

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Hello,

I am interested in making a temporary feed from produce found on supermarket shelves. So my first thought was porridge, sweetcorn, rice?, bird seed, dried bread or breadcrumbs, etc. I dont want to spoil the chickens but just needed a backup plan for when the feed supplier has run out or the car has broken down etc etc. It would be interesting if anyone has a bag of chicken feed and could tell me the ingredients and percentages used so I can get a rough idea.

Also I am looking for ideas on chick crumb made from supermarket produce.

Thanks so much for any advice :)

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hen-night

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2012, 17:30 »
Hi, the best back up plan is be a couple of months ahead with layers pellets and mixed corn. We all fall into the trap of giving them food they dont need, myself included.
A treat now and again is ok, but layers pellets and mixed corn has everthing for healthy hens..

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ANHBUC

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2012, 18:00 »
Probably best not to even try to recreate layers pellet contents and especially not chick crumb.  They are a balanced diet specifically for poultry without all the additives you might get in supermarket products.  Don't think it would be cost effective, I get 25 kg of layers pellets locally for £7.  It would cost me loads more to feed them from the supermarket.
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Tony H

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2012, 18:11 »
hi as said human procesed food contains lots of E-numbers and preservatives that may not be anygood for chucks  :( if you do get stuck with running out of your chuck food you can feed a wild bird mix that you can get from any supermaret but should only be given as a treat or in emergancy's. its ok to give chucks the odd veg but to much and you could cause chucs to have sour crop, I now where your comming from though, we had a box of cornflaes that had gone soft i thought about giving it to the chucks but it has sugar and salt added so decided to bin it instead  ::)
Chicken crazy

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Casey76

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2012, 08:33 »
Compound chicken feed is scientifically formulated to have the best nutritional profile for each stage of growth.

As chicken feed will keep quite happily for up to 6 months in a dark dry place (depending on manufacturer), I would have thought that it would be difficult to run out, if you by a 20kg sack (depending on the amount of chickens you have)


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nuzuki

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2012, 19:43 »
Thanks for the replies. I'll just over stock I guess and put them at different heights incase of a mouse invasion  :D Someone my friend knows says she feeds her chickens porridge in the winter. She raises chickens for meat so im not sure if this is different kettle of fish.

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ANHBUC

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2012, 22:37 »
Some people say porridge but they mean layers pellets soaked in boiling water, then left to cool enough to feed to chickens warm in winter. 

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joyfull

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2012, 10:34 »
if you use porridge oats then make it with water, never milk and only a small amount but please do not go down the route of supermarket food.
I store my feed in old metal dustbins, no rats/mice can get in them unlike plastic bins.

if you want to go down the route of making your own feed here is a post with a recipe in it but it isn't something you can do with stuff from a supermarket:-

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=31884.msg381613#msg381613
Staffies are softer than you think.

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Flossiej

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2012, 11:59 »
We had a problem with mice in our garage prior to us getting the chickens so I have never attempted to store their pellets/ treats in there even though we are now mice free. Instead we had a redundant green wheelie bin which we had purchased from the council before they decided to give every household two for free and we keep all our feed in there on the patio. It easily holds two sacks of pellets and a bag or corn and also makes for a dry storage for the feeder overnight.

Maybe you could see if there is a freecycle forum in your area and ask if anyone has one going spare that they can let you have.
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Beano

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2012, 12:15 »
We keep our pellets in a redundant dustbin, just like Flossiej does and the corn in a large plastic container with a lid. There are mice in our garage and we have to keep the wild bird feed in bags hanging from the rafters.
El.

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joyfull

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2012, 20:19 »
tomorrow morning I will take a photo of the plastic bin lids that rats chewed through one night to get at the chickens feed which is why I use metal dustbins (obtained off freecycle) with metal lids.

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nuzuki

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2012, 12:52 »
Does this mean you cannot give chickens scraps from the kitchen? Is there certain things I should avoid giving them?

I did read in a book last night about a tip for if you run out of grit. You can bake some egg shells, grind them up and mix them with the feed.

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hen-night

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2012, 13:15 »
Feeding farm animals kitchen scraps is illegal. And as chickens come under farm animals, yes it is illegal.  As for feeding crushed egg shell... I do. I grind them up in a pestle and mortar and mix with their feed..

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nuzuki

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2012, 13:05 »
I thought that law was for goats, pigs, sheep etc. Basically any animal that requires you have a CPH number

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Tony H

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Re: How to make temporary chicken feed from supermarket foods?
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2012, 15:17 »
unfortuantly the does apply to chucks aswell, DEFRA class chucks as farm animals (live stock) if your flock is over 50 birds you would need to rejister them  :(



 

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