Whether you are making your own or buying commercial chicken feed, there are still some things you can add to your feed so that you can improve your chicken’s diet.
This can be helpful if you are not keen on spending money on the more expensive chicken feeds out there, but you are buying the cheaper ones which unfortunately don’t have all of the ingredients that a chicken’s diet requires.
This is why we at the typesofchicken.com team will give a suggestion of 5 things you can add to your chicken feed.
- Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
- Baked Crushed Eggshells
- Dried Fruits And Vegetables
- Salt
- Sesame Seeds
1. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
There is not much difference between the black oil sunflower seeds and the striped ones, both are easy to “chew” for the chickens and are filled with Vitamin E. However I find that the black oil sunflower seeds are a bit more widely available and cheaper, and it adds to the variety of colors that my feed contains which makes it more attractive for the chickens because as you already know they see in color.
2. Baked Crushed Eggshells
Eggshells are full of calcium and every chicken needs calcium. Eggshells are a very good replacement for chicken grit because they also help the chickens “chew” their food better.
There are many uses for eggshells in and around your home so make sure that you don’t throw them away anymore.
3. Dried Fruits And Vegetables
Dried fruits and vegetables may not contain the nutritious materials as their fresh counterparts but they can sure make the feed tastier for your chickens.
It would be a smart idea to add the dried and crushed fruits and vegetables just before giving the feed to your chickens because if kept together with the feed they may lose their taste.
If you provide tastier food for your chickens you will reduce the chances of them running away.
Some of the food you can give to your chickens are grapes, cherries, green collards, etc.
4. Salt
Too much salt can be bad for your chickens, but a little sprinkle in your own feed can help growth in your chickens.
Before putting salt in your chicken feed, make sure that you read the ingredients if there is already an amount of sodium in the feed.
It is important that you don’t give salt to young chicks because it can damage their growing organs.
5. Sesame Seeds
Adding sesame seeds to your chicken feed can help the chickens feel full out of less feed.
Because they are grown for human consumption they can be a very good side meal for your chickens.
It works on a similar principle that bread works for humans, it does not improve the taste much but you will eat less of the other parts of your food if you have bread on the side. Adding sesame seeds to your chicken feed can save you the trouble of constantly buying chicken feed and therefore save you some money.
Looking for some ideas to feed chickens? You can give them occasionally ~ grapes, carrots, sweet feed, zucchini, etc.
Do you agree with our list? Make sure that you share your opinion in the comments section.
Thank you for this wonderful article. It is very informative and helpful for my poultry farm.