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Chickens are just birds, right? And all birds need are cereals, right? Wrong.
There is this myth that chickens only eat corn, wheat or sunflower seeds. We’ve been lead to believe this, because it is much easier with the feeding. Most people buy factory-produced chicken feed from their local farm shop and think that it’s enough. to really prosper. It may seem funny, but chickens are just tiny dinosaur descendants. It’s no wonder then, that they also eat meat. In fact, they will always choose animal protein over cereal.
Just think about free-range chickens. What do they do all day? They rummage through everything, in order to find worms, insects, lizards, small snakes, even mice. They are fierce hunters and actually very fast runners. Their beaks and claws are extremely powerful for their size and very sharp, so that they can devour their prey quickly. But what do you do when you cannot afford to let them range freely? Here’s our solution:
- we feed our chickens two cereal meals a day (45% corn, 45% wheat, 10% sunflower seeds)
- just an hour before bedtime, we set them free to rummage through our garden and find all kinds of treats (insects, worms etc.)
- occasionally they receive delicious treats, like:
- raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds (helps with de-worming)
- tomatoes, grated pumpkin, carrots and other fresh vegetables
- unsalted mealworms (Attention! This treat is like cocaine for chickens.)
Tips
- Be wary when buying chicken food. It’s best to buy corn, wheat and sunflower seeds and mix them yourself. This way, you can control the ratio and better see the quality of the cereal.
- Avoid giving them cooked food. While chickens will eat anything you feed them, it’s not always the best thing. What’s meant for humans might not always be meant for chickens and might do them harm.
- Avoid salt (especially in summer). Another reason to not feed your chickens cooked food is this. On a hot summer day, chickens can dehydrate so quickly after eating something salty, that they might die.
- Do pour a few drops of apple vinegar into their water from time to time. It helps with their digestive enzymes.
- Observe the flock to see if they digest their food. If a chicken has a full crop in the morning, it might be clogged (impacted). Here‘s what to do in this situation.
I will leave you all with a personal video of my hangry chickens. Enjoy and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.
