a healthy natural feed

Unless you have a piece of jungle where they can free range you will not be able to provide a natural environment.
But seriously modern hens have been bred to provide eggs and meat and you cannot just switch off years of selective breeding and make them into wild hens.
Their rate of their metabolism will be much different to wild birds and they will suffer if their modern food requirements are not met.
You will find breeds with ancient needs and habits but the average domestic hen will not be able to change back to  wild .

Hi Craige, i have bantams and feed them on a mix if grain as like you i wanted a natural as posible diet, (ie not processed). I found the Recipe!! on another site. I feed ratio's of 4 scoops wheat, 2 barley and one corn,with a small amount of cod liver oil added, My birds free rang the garden all morming and are in very large run afternoons unless i am home. They also get greens every day, either spring greens, lettuce etc. and mealy worms a couple of times a week. I also have a bowl of grit and oister shell available to them.
But!! i do think hybrid hens bread for laying will do better on layers pellets. My little girls lay very well are happy and healthy. The more info available to you will help you make an informed choice, as we all want the best for our pets.
All the best and happy info hunting!!

thanks for the replys folks . The point of me doing this to answer the first question is quite simply to be as close to nature as possible but in no way effect the girls health negatively . will have a good read of that site joyfull when i can keep my eyes open to do so as im sooooooooo sleepy .


once again many thanks

I have no idea how good this method of feeding is as mine are fed on organic layers pellets and organic mixed corn, however they do free range all the time from hatching, several roost in trees and some were hatched in the hedgrows (next lot of eggs are somewhere down the bank to the nearby beck - only discovered them by following the broody - hopefully she is on hens eggs and not ducks or crakes  ), but this is as close to a natural way of life I want them to be.

Sounds like bliss joy, would love to have a bit of land. But like graig my garden doesnt come under the heading of acreage!!! never mind. Dont think my girls would last long with charlie fox and local cats. maybe i should get a nice big orpington to stand guard? Have been looking at all the different ways people feed chickens, facinating subject. I also rang my vet who is sending me some info on grain fed chickens, so will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Haha sounds like my friend who's husband 'collects' old massy fergason tractors to 'renovate', her chickens love them she even had one of her pekins hatch 5 eggs in one of the cabs last year. But it must be lovely to look out on open fields of a morning, I bet it was quite a picture to watch them follow the tractor.

OOOOH NOOOOO, cant have baled chickens