Feeding whole grains. Article of the day

[Farrier1987]

I feed a mixture of whole corn and whole wheat. Easier and cleaner, and (I think) cheaper. And the other thing is, when you feed, no matter what, some gets on the ground of coop floor. In the coop, they probably find it, and out on the ground, if they don't find it, it has a chance of germinating, not just rotting. I never feed medicated stuff, though I might to control an outbreak of something if a vet told me to.

I would definitely consider a chick starter if I got hatchery stock, but as I have broody hens raise the chicks, and usually in spring or summer, I trust the moms to show them how to scratch and peck and find bugs and weed seeds and worms and other such delicacies, and they do pretty well.

I tried to do a little research into this, and information is not that plentiful. I did find that it has several benefits, larger crop, stronger gizzard and better gut flora. It also helps coccidia numbers in control. (Not eliminate, but allow the bird to manage it itself often times. Also keeps down the levels of campylobacter jejune in the chicken's GI track. CJ causes mild food poisoning and bad diarrhea in people, and can be spread when processing. (Similar to E Coli, but not usually with as severe effects on people.)

One other paper said that mixing 30% whole grain into a growing ration increased feed conversion by about 8%, most likely from a more active gizzard and lower pH levels in the gut.

I did look for adverse effects, and I am sure Purina or Shurgain or others of their ilk would be able to tell me how wrong I am and how their product would be so much better, but I could find no documentation or science to back this up.

So, in summary, I was able to mostly back up my preconceived prejudices (like the politicians) and will continue the feed regimen as established.

PS, Where I buy feed right now, whole corn is $10 and whole wheat is $11 for a 50 lb/22 kg bag. How does that compare to pelletized grower/layer etc? and of course, my flock get recommended dietary supplements of rotting squash, table scraps, stuff in the fridge that is growing hair, goat with undigested grain in it and other essentials.

[lolotsung]

My chickens prefer finding their own food. I've had Orpingtons, unknown mixed, cochins, silkies, Belgium D'Uccles, australorps, RIRs, Speckled Sussex and all were the same. They wander around the property scratching around looking for food all day. I've never seen them in the coop except to lay an egg or sleep. In the winter they have no choice but to eat chicken food. Is this normal? My friend who was a farmer in Argentina said they grew a field of barley and let their chickens find their own food and roost in trees. He also said the main problem wrt predators were bats sucking blood from the chickens at night.

[Farrier1987]

Mine find their own food too, but I also have a feeder in the coop that I put the corn and wheat mix in.

Different climate here than in Argentina. I was in Buenos Aires one time and the elevator operator said they had had a very tough winter. I asked him how much snow they got, and he was shocked. "Oh, no snow! But a very cold winter." Further south, in Patagonia, they do get what we would call winter, big winds and blowing snow. Reminded me of our Canadian prairie a lot. And their winter there is pretty much continuous wind.