Amber Waves Silkies - What to feed Chickens

· Feed Chick Starter around 20% – 24% until they are 8 weeks.
Also have granite gravel and grit for them at all times. They need it to
digest their food. Fresh water daily
.

· When they start laying eggs you should switch them to Layena at about
18 %. If you plan to hatch chicks mix with Game Bird starter or layena to
raise the protein for stronger chicks. Or you can feed them other
protein to boost the percentage, such as cooked egg. Always offer
oyster shell free choice to laying hens.

· Mix diatomaceous earth into the chicken feed before feeding it to the silkie bantams. Add two cups of earth for every 50 pounds of feed. Adding the diatomaceous earth, an organic pesticide, keeps insects out of the feed and parasites out of the chickens. NOTE - IT MUST BE FOOD GRADE DIAMOTACEOUS – NON FOOD GRADE WILL KILL YOUR CHICKENS.

· Feed the silkie bantams once per day. Fill the feeders with the chicken feed mixed with diatomaceous earth.

We blend our own feed for our adult silkies and feed it year-round. Our chicks are fed a commercial medicated chick starter for the first 2 months, supplemented with grated carrots, hard cooked chopped eggs, greens, and an occasional yogurt-grain mixture when they get a little older.

Our feed blend starts with a 20% protein commercial poultry feed. Since Purina is available in our area, we use Purina Gamebird Layena, which does not contain the marigold oil supplement that can affect white feathers.

1 cup crimped oats
1 cup crimped barley
1 cup wheat
1/2 cup safflower seeds
3/4 cup sunflower chips
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 scoop Manna Pro Sho-Glo
1 heaping tablespoon Brewer's Yeast & Garlic Powder

1/2 cup wheat germ oil blend or vegetable oil
1/4 cup Red Cell
Mix together very well to distribute oil and red cell evenly.

The birds also get chopped eggs and grated carrots once a week, greens like kale, collard greens, romaine lettuce as they are available, leftover tomatoes, or any fruit that is starting to go bad. In the summer, they absolutely love watermelon! I cut most of the red part off the rinds and put it in containers for the family, and feed the rinds to the silkies.

Twice a month, we feed a yogurt grain mixture that the birds love and that contains the good gut bacteria necessary for good digestion and health.

Since we have a lot of birds to feed, this is my recipe, but you can adjust it for your number of birds.

1 gallon bucket containing equal amounts of crimped oats, crimped barley and wheat
1/2 quart plain yogurt (with active cultures)
1 quart buttermilk

Mix together, add a little water if necessary, and refrigerate overnight. Feed the next morning, after grain has absorbed buttermilk and yogurt.

This is a list of everything you can feed a chicken. However, everybody's chickens have their own tiny brains full of likes and dislikes, so while one person's chickens may come running for grapes or watermelon, another person's chickens may turn up their pointy little beaks at it. Anything on this list is worth a try.

Treat	Type	General Opinions
Apples	Raw and applesauce	Apple seeds contain cyanide, but not in sufficient quantities to kill.
Asparagus	Raw or cooked	Okay to feed, but not a favorite.
Bananas	Without the peel	High in potassium, a good treat.
Beans	Well-cooked only, never dry	Also, greenbeans.
Beets	Greens also.	.
Berries	All kinds	A treat, especially strawberries.
Breads	All kinds - good use for stale bread or rolls	Feed starches in moderation.
Broccoli & Cauliflower	.	Tuck into a suet cage and they will pick at it all day.
Cabbage & Brussels Sprouts	Whole head -	Hang a whole cabbage from their coop ceiling in winter so they have something to play with and greens to eat.
Carrots	Raw and cooked	They like carrot foliage too.
Catfood * (see bottom of page)	Wet and dry	Feed in strict moderation, perhaps only during moulting * (see bottom of page)
Cereal	Cheerios, etc.	Avoid highly sugared cereal such as Cocopuffs, etc.
Cheese	Including cottage cheese	Feed in moderation, fatty but a good source of protein and calcium
Cooked Chicken	.	They may like it and it won’t kill them, but it just seems so….. ummm………… wrong.
Corn	On cob and canned, raw and cooked	.
Crickets (alive)	Can be bought at bait or pet-supply stores.	Great treat – provides protein and it’s fun to watch the chickens catch them.
Cucumbers		Let mature for yummy seeds and flesh.
Eggs	Hardcooked and scrambled are a good source of protein, and a favorite treat.	Feed cooked eggs only because you don’t want your chickens to start eating their own raw eggs.
Eggplant	.	.
Fish / Seafood	Cooked only.
Flowers	Make sure they haven't been treated with pesticides, such as florist flowers might be.	Marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies, etc.
Fruit	Pears, peaches, cherries, apples
Grains	Bulgar, flax, niger, wheatberries,etc.	.
Grapes	Seedless only. For chicks, cutting them in half makes it easier for them to swallow.	Great fun - the cause of many entertaining "chicken keepaway" games.
Grits	Cooked
"Leftovers"	Only feed your chickens that which is still considered edible by humans, don't feed anything spoiled, moldy, oily, salty or unidentifiable.
Lettuce / Kale	Any leafy greens, spinach collards, chickweed included.	A big treat, depending on how much other greenery they have access to.
Mealworms (see photo after the chart)	Available at pet supply stores or on the internet, although shipping is expensive!	A huge(!) favorite treat, probably the most foolproof treat on the books.
Meat scraps of any kind.	Not too fatty.	In moderation, a good source of protein
Melon	Cantelope, etc.	Both seeds and flesh are good chicken treats.
Oatmeal	Raw or cooked	Cooked is nutritionally better.
Pasta / Macaroni	Cooked spaghetti, etc.	A favorite treat, fun to watch them eat it, but not much nutrition.
Peas	Peas and pea tendrils and flowers (thanks to YayChick for the advice)	.
Peppers (bell)	.	.
Pomegranates	Raw	Seeds are a big treat.
Popcorn	Popped, no butter, no salt.
Potatos / Sweet Potatos/Yams	Cooked only - avoid green parts of peels!	Starchy, not much nutrition
Pumpkins / Winter Squash	Raw or cooked	Both seeds and flesh are a nutritious treat.
Raisins	.
Rice	Cooked only	Pilaf mixes are okay too, plain white rice has little nutrition.
Scratch	Scratch is cracked corn with grains (such as wheat, oats and rye) mixed in.	Scratch is a treat for cold weather, not a complete feed. Toss it on the ground and let them scratch for it for something to do. Never feed scratch during hot weather because it raises the chickens’ body temperature.
Sprouts	Wheat and oat sprouts are great!	Good for greens in mid-winter.
Summer Squash	Yellow squash and zucchini	Yellow squash not a huge favorite, but okay to feed.
Sunflower Seeds	Sunflower seeds with the shell still on is fine to feed, as well as with the shell off.	A good treat, helps hens lay eggs and grow healthy feathers.
Tomatos	Raw and cooked.
Turnips	Cooked.	Not a huge favorite
Watermelon	Served cold, it can keep chickens cool and hydrated during hot summers.	Seeds and flesh are both okay to feed.
Yogurt	Plain or flavored	A big favorite and good for their digestive systems. Plain is better.

The most favorite chicken treat of all - mealworms! Note the lightning speed of the chicken lunging for them.

(I'm sure people have experienced exceptions to this list, but if we want to raise our birds the best way possible, "better safe than sorry".)

Regarding toxicity, the following is copied from a post by DLhunicorn on May 14, 2007 in a thread titled "Potato Peels". (Thank you DLhunicorn for your tremendously helpful and knowledgeable contributions to BYC!)

"Do not count on your chickens "knowing" what is bad for them...also do not count on these "toxic" plants immediately being identifiable by finding a dead bird the next morning...usually it is a slow process damaging organs , inhibiting the ability of your bird to utilize the nutrients in their feed, etc.

What do I feed my new silkie?