Chicken and Food

What do chickens eat? Chickens are like goats if it is not fenced off, barred up, caged up they might try to sample it… ask my dogs. They love to scratch around looking for pebbles to aide their digestion which does put your garden at risk of being terrorized. However you can use that to your advantage when the growing season is over because they are excellent cleanup specialists. In a couple of weeks they will have completely cleaned and cleared the garden if you allow it.

Well here is some information for people like myself that are not Vets and are 1 year or less in the chickens. If you want to stop your chickens from laying eggs start feeding them the wrong things. Also lighting is a major factor in egg production as well.

I recently have learned that fruit will stop the chickens from laying on the normal schedule. Citrus is especially bad for egg production. After a long conversation with the Meyer Hatchery in Polk Ohio I found out fruit is not a good thing even as a treat. If you are getting fresh vegetable for treats make sure that you cook them thoroughly it aides in their digestion as well make it less likely to spread disease.

A chicken needs 14-20 hours of light per day or their production will dwindle. With the winter coming on that is not possible to get natural light so you need to introduce another light source. A 40 wt light bulb is all you need to extend the light in the morning but if you use it in the coop you can help to warm thing up a little bit for them.

One other thing you must do is supplement their diet with the proper nutrition. Here is a list of vitamins in a good feed or can be added in other ways. Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats and oils, Vitamin A, Vitamin B complex, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Calcium and Phosphorus, Zinc, Manganese, and Iodine. These are the primary thing for your bird’s health. So check out the feed bag and make sure there is a sufficient amount of these healthy elements in it. Remember you get what you pay for.