The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: SouthMains on August 15, 2012, 03:19:43 pm
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So we have about 30 chickens and I have always carefully measured out the amount of feed for them each day. They get there layers rations first thing and they are totally focused until it is finished (it sound like a machine gun in the Barn s they are all so furiously pecking) they then tend to wander about in about 3 acres of grass land scrounging whatever they can find. then in the evening they get a few scoops of mixed corn to scratch around for. I have a separate area where I have my young cockerels who are being fed growers and being watched til I decide who is going to get lucky and get a girlfriend and who is going to meet Mr Oven. Now in that house I have free access to food all the time, and they don't seem to be that fussed by the food and don't appear to be eating any more than the birds who I am carefully controlling. SO for the last few days I have given all the hens completely free access to thelayers pellets...On day 1 they totally stuffed themselves, and spent the rest of the days sleeping ...not much foraging and they still had very full crops at bedtime so I skipped the corn rations, Day 2 they came out f the night time barn very calmly this morning rather than the normal rugby scrum for food, they were all very y leisurely eating and then went of to forage without finishing all the pellets. Day 3 they seem to be eating about the same amount as they were eating when I carefully controlled it, only they appear to be eating it in small amounts through out the day. Obviously this has only been a few days but so far the egg yield seems to be about the same. I plan to keep this up for about another 10 days . Just wondering what others opinion is on ad lib feeding over controld feeding. My reasons for controlling were that I was told that fat chickens don't lay eggs and die young, so we need to control their access to the feed. However form my very short trial they seem to be pretty good and regulating the amount themselves, and the free access seems to have reduced the competition around the feeding area.
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My chickens get a measured ration and like yours will go back to it through the day. The starlings eat their share and the chickens dont seem to want to fight for the food.
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I feed ad lib on layers pellets. I find they aren't greedy for these and only eat what they need. The only exception to this is in the autumn and winter when I sometimes have to remove the hoppers due to the large number of pheasants ..... they literally empty the hoppers and I don't like to encourage them to feed here due to the worms they carry.
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I think i am going to carry on with the ad lib feeding and have been working up and idea for a feeding station for the hens with a pedal foot to raise the lid, as the only non chicken vistors I get to the feed is mice and small wild birds so I should be able to use the chickens weight to open the feeder. I am lucky pheasants don't tend to vist our site, probably beacuse my labradors are let with the chickend during the day so the probably deter the other birds.
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We keep food available all the time. They'll eat the same amount but will take it when they're hungry.. Feeding a fixed amount that gets finished in a short time could mean some birds not getting their fair share. Our feeders are inside the coops to prevent starlings etc helping themselves.
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We feed all our hens ad lib layers pellets in a small makeshift covered area - keeps the feed dry and none of the larger wild birds seem to have discovered the feeders. Mixed corn :corn: is scattered around morning and evening to keep the hens busy hunting for goodies. They have all learned to use the 'step on' feeder :hungry: :hungry: too - a lucky prize win as they are very expensive!
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I feed at lib layers pellets in the hen houses then on an afternoon they get the treats feed , thats usualy some brewers grains and any scraps we have
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Hi,I always feed mine ad lib pellets but,my dad always fed a measured amount of mash in the morning then scraps in the afternoon.I think he gave them half a cup each,I would ask him but he can't remember very much.
Out of interest just how much feed do you give your birds when feeding a measured amount.
Graham.
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I was giving them 140g layers pellets per bird each morning, then some scraps at around 6 pm then scattering of corn before bed. My birds are mostly larger breeds, and have complete free range of about 3 acres so spend the day scratching around for other bits to eat. With the new feeding regime, I would guess there eating about 200g of pellets, I have cut out the corn as their crops look pretty full at bedtime. Since changing to this method they are starting to go totheir beds earlier and are much calmer in the mornings. they also seem less active during the day and don't appear to be wandering around as much they are staying within the first acre nearest the barn...although the weather has been truly awful so this might just be because it is to wet to go furher afield.
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Our Wyandottes eat as much as they want, which is actually the same as they are supposed to. They are all in pefectly good condition. There is one that would get bullied off the feed otherwise -she eats when the others have finished and gone. All our birds are on ad lib but some breeds are prone to getting fat. We have two Buff Orpingtons that are rather podgy and don't lay well. But they seem to lose it in Winter.
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Hi,very interesting I tested how much my buff orpingtons were eating last year and they were eating 150g give or take each when fed ad lib.They also get feed greens in the afternoon.My birds are kept in runs.
Graham.
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South main - I thought they were supposed to go to bed with their crops full ?? I'm interested in the quantity debate.... Ive recently taken mine off pellets and am just feeding corn mix twice a day, but no idea how much they need. Doing about half a litre between 21 birds, twice a day. They free range all day.
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Hi,I tried feeding my bird a mix wheat,corn and barley and cod live oil.My birds lost condition,eggs got smaller and the then they started feather pecking and eating eggs.I switched back to pellets and the problems ceased.
The broilers I tried on the same mix put on less meat and when I gutted them they had put on a thick layer of fat in the body cavity and around the heart.
My dad alway said don't feed them grain all the do is put on fat,and he was right.
Graham.
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Mine free range all day and have a mix of grain and layers pellets. I don't control what they are having as they just help themselves from the feeder. The also know that the grain is kept in the stables so will always go there for an extra handout which they get morning and evening.
Sometimes I give them some bread and maybe some cooked rice, pasta or potato but that isn't an everyday occurrance.
I haven't kept chickens before but to my novice eyes they look in good condition and the eggs are a good size.
Sally
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Mine had adlib layers pellets, they free range, then they have a handful of mixed corn/shell afternoon, and some veggies/pasta/rice to fill their crops at bedtime. Oh and goats milk in the morning!
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FiB - Yes , they should go to bed with a full crop, particularly important during cold weather. They say grain is good for an afternoon feed since it is digested more slowly than pellets and so keeps the crop full for the night. Think they say a little maize is good for keeping them warm at night in winter .... not too much as it can make them fat!
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Our chickens always had ad lib feed regardless of what it was.
We figured out though that if you want to feed them a home-made diet you have to look at the label of the pellet sack and try to reproduce that. The stuff you buy is complete and balanced (unless it says otherwise), they shouldn't need anything else but I know how nice is to treat them! :) :chook:
We devised a home-made recipe with wheat (whole grains), rolled oats, wheat bran, broken maize and a soya protein mix, plus vitamins and minerals (they come ready to add, a scoop or so).
So we actually had two groups of same age pullets (to become layers) and fed them ad lib pellet or home-made. At the end we found that the pellet is better for their health and egg production, because they can't choose the bits they prefer, whereas with grains mix they used to leave some stuff behind. Unfortunately the stuff they left was the protein/vitamin/mineral powder, so they were getting less than they should. Also the home-made mix tended to go off quicker (not sure why as everything was dried).
Eventually we just left them all together with ad lib layer pellets, they were happy and went foraging around but not crazy for food in the morning. If it was very wet/cold or too hot (Italian summer is HOT :sunshine:), we'd prepare bran mash with either hot (if winter) or fresh (if summer) water and they loved it. Before bed, they'd go to sleep with a full crop and they seemed very happy to eat it. Sometimes we'd even put garlic in it, as the old wives tales say it helps fighting worms!! (not 100% true though, still always had plenty in them).
:wave:
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Our are confined to a large run so I was worried after reading they can get fat.
Have fed ad lib and monitored. They eat the layer pellets on a morning then forage most of the day returning for a few crops of pellet later in the afternoon.
I follow this up with mixed corn at teatime to fill them for overnight as all feed is locked away for rodent control.
They are always happy to have breakfast in a morning but not in a frenzied way, just happy to be out, mooch around and fill their crops. They have stayed in nice body condition, not too fat thankfully. Possibly due to foraging most of the day.
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Need to be careful what you feed them content wise as Graham-j found out. His grain diet had far too little protein in it (10% should be at least 15%) so the hens sought extra from each others feathers. Grain is fine if you can be sure that the free ranging area contains sufficient insects to provide the extra protein. No good at all if the hens are confined to runs all or most of the day -you need to give them pellets.
Just found a great book in a Charity Shop. Complete Poultry Keeper and Farmer 1938 , reprinted 1947. It has a list of grains and their average component percentages -carbohydrates, starch, proteins and others. It also has picures of many Poulty Houses including a Suffolk Ark, plus the surgical detailed procedure for caponising -barbaric, but interesting.
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plus the surgical detailed procedure for caponising -barbaric, but interesting.
In Italy certain people are paid s***loads of money to go and castrate cockerels on farms. They charge a lot per hour and the best ones can castrate 3 animals/minute :o. Never mind that sometimes they forget a piece inside... ::)
I have to say that it might be barbaric so, but it is not at all different from castrating tup lambs or bull calves. Capons meat is really lovely, especially in a casserole.
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mine have their layers ad-lib
the ross/cobb that escaped the pot and are now laying get measured as they will eat constantly ::)
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The problem I have with caponising is that it is done at 12 weeks old for best survival rate (75%)and is without anaesthetic. They recommend in this book that the insision wounds are not stitched, just left. It is major surgery far beyond lambs or calves as the testicles are inside the abdominal cavity near the lungs, that's right up at the top behind the shoulders! To keep the bird immobile heavy weights are hung from its legs and wings when it is spread over a table! Which is why I consider it barbaric.
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That sounds horrific :o . I'm guessing :fc: it's illegal in this country ?
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I read that caponising can be succesful in stoping a cockerel crowing. Interesting you could keep a cockerel as a pet that way if you lived in a residential area.
Sounds a it pointless keeping an unproductive bird.
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The problem I have with caponising is that it is done at 12 weeks old for best survival rate (75%)and is without anaesthetic. They recommend in this book that the insision wounds are not stitched, just left. It is major surgery far beyond lambs or calves as the testicles are inside the abdominal cavity near the lungs, that's right up at the top behind the shoulders! To keep the bird immobile heavy weights are hung from its legs and wings when it is spread over a table! Which is why I consider it barbaric.
not quite as bad these days - remember your book is quite old! :-J
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okay so here is the lastet update, I had thought that the ad lib feeding was working but am not so sure now. On saturady they managed to eat everything I had put out for them which would have worked outa t about 250g each!!, they did the same on Sunday, they also eat it all in one go so there was no feed left within a hour of putting the feed out so they were not doing what i had hoped which is to eat small amount often. They basically stuffed themselves full then sat under the tree and slept for the rest of the day. i am not sure whether to keep going wit the ad lib feeding as this has now doubled my feed bill, and I am not actually achieveing ad lib as they are eating eveything.
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Appologies if the answer to this is in the thread (have re read but cant find) - how much is the controled amount/bird. I have now moved away from layers pellets and gone onto a mixed grain recipe (thank you CastleFarm) morning and night - but I am begining to think I'm not giving enough as they seem ravenous!!!! They fully free range, but I dont want them to lose condition, and now I have more birds - I think I ought to weigh some rations as an exercise to see.
Sooo.....grams per bird please?
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That sounds horrific :o . I'm guessing :fc: it's illegal in this country ?
Yes - I read it somewhere quite recently - definitely not allowed in the UK, but knowing the EU probably carried on quite blithely everywhere else
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Usually I leave my hoppers out all day and they are kept full so food is if you like ad-lib. They free range over a couple of acres all day. Food is - layers pellets. I also throw out mixed corn. At this time of year I have to remove hoppers after a couple of hours due to the number of pheasants that the food encourages. ::) I would however be concerned if I was taking in empty hoppers ie all food eaten because in my opinion it may mean that birds lower down the pecking order may not have eaten. They will be last to feed on most occasions.
I think the amount of grain etc they need may also vary depending upon the time of year eg. less insect life in autumn/winter and colder/wetter so will need more calories. Mine appear ravenous if I feed grain even though their pellets are sat there waiting for them ::) . My neighbour only feeds grain but her hens do leave it when they have had their fill and don't empty the hopper.
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Appologies if the answer to this is in the thread (have re read but cant find) - how much is the controled amount/bird. I have now moved away from layers pellets and gone onto a mixed grain recipe (thank you CastleFarm) morning and night - but I am begining to think I'm not giving enough as they seem ravenous!!!! They fully free range, but I dont want them to lose condition, and now I have more birds - I think I ought to weigh some rations as an exercise to see.
Sooo.....grams per bird please?
My book says 110 to 150 gms per bird depending on variety. I give mine 120gms each, half in the morning, half in the afternoon, (shared between two feeders - 6 birds) with scraps an hour before bedtime, but mine only free range for a short time each day, due to fox problems and my own dogs.
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Mmmm - I am trying to get away from hoppers as we have both squirels and pheasants who are in there as soon as I am out of sight (and yes I do get quite a few for the pot!) so ideally would scatter roughly the right amount of corn mix in the grass near their coop - at the moment Im scattering a litre jug morning and night between 14 birds. They eat it all, but I'm concious I havnt got a clue whether its too much or too little so will weigh tomorrow - thanks both. :bouquet: :bouquet: