Farm Supply Lady says Free-Ranging isn't Enough - that I need to buy their Feed

[gunDriller]

I made a comment to one of the women that works at the local farm supply, that my chickens were molting and had stopped laying.

She said I should buy some Chicken Food X - that they sell.

I said, "well, they're free-ranging. They eat worms, and raw beef, and Sunflower seeds every day."

Of course when they're free-ranging, that's when they get the worms. Also they eat grass and other sprouted plants.

I also give them bread soaked in yogurt almost every day.

She insisted that my chickens needed their chicken feed to properly recover from molting.


So I have basically lost all respect for her. As far as I can tell, her advice is tainted by whom she works for. I had looked to her for advice when I first got the chickens.

She actually made a face when I said the chickens eat worms.

She must have a lost of "hobby farmers", people that don't mind paying 75 cents per egg - because that's how much it costs when I buy all the stuff they recommend.


And - one of my chickens laid their first post-molt egg today.


But, I thought I would check with you guys.

If you give chickens a diverse diet - basically giving them an "all you can eat" situation, though admittedly they have to scratch for some of it - isn't that enough ?

[Neuro]

Doesn't hens stop laying eggs in the winter naturally, unless you provide artificial light?

[gunDriller]

Doesn't hens stop laying eggs in the winter naturally, unless you provide artificial light?

it seems like it's tied to whether or not they molt.

last year they didn't molt, and they kept laying all through winter.

this year they molted right when the cold weather came on.

that seems a little contrary to me - why don't they molt in the summer when it's hot ?


anyway, i think it was another G-S.us'er suggested adding a light to the coop. so, Yes.


but i really don't mind the natural cycles & them stopping laying for a month or 2. i'm not a professional chicken farmer, they're more like pets than live-stock.

although i do try to minimize my pet feed costs, like a bottom-line-oriented farmer would.

[ImaCannin]

We have to feed our chicken store feed. The ground is frozen with snow and they (the girls) wont go out of their coup! hens don't molt the first year. But will molt the second year. To bring them out of a molt, you can give them a few more hours of light both morning and night. Apple Cider Vinegar in their water makes them happy birds!

[Neuro]

it seems like it's tied to whether or not they molt.

last year they didn't molt, and they kept laying all through winter.

this year they molted right when the cold weather came on.

that seems a little contrary to me - why don't they molt in the summer when it's hot ?


anyway, i think it was another G-S.us'er suggested adding a light to the coop. so, Yes.


but i really don't mind the natural cycles & them stopping laying for a month or 2. i'm not a professional chicken farmer, they're more like pets than live-stock.

although i do try to minimize my pet feed costs, like a bottom-line-oriented farmer would.
It is probably good for them to stop laying eggs a few months a year, to let them restore minerals, rest and recover... In olden days hens used to start laying eggs again around the ides of March, so you could collect eggs for easter....

[gunDriller]

We have to feed our chicken store feed. The ground is frozen with snow and they (the girls) wont go out of their coup! hens don't molt the first year. But will molt the second year. To bring them out of a molt, you can give them a few more hours of light both morning and night. Apple Cider Vinegar in their water makes them happy birds!

i never knew that about the Apple Cider Vinegar ! i'll have to go do that. i use 4 gallon containers with the Avian Aqua Miser upside down drip waterer. so i mix it up about 6 months at a time, they don't drink it that fast.

would 1 pint AC Vinegar to 4 gallons water be a good proportion to mix it in ?


Bonus Question - has anybody ever heard a chicken burp ?

i figure it's possible, but i haven't heard it yet.

[Dogman]

[QUOTE=gunDriller;601191
Bonus Question - has anybody ever heard a chicken burp?

i figure it's possible, but i haven't heard it yet.[/QUOTE]
The devil made me do this!

It has to be true, because I found it on the internet! ;D



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnV2S24E4mg

[hoarder]

I bought some ranchland from a big turkey farm years ago and one of their managers told me they added colloidal silver to the tukey's drinking water and that prevented just about all diseases. That was the first time I heard of CS. I don't know if CS and vinegar would mix well, though.

[ImaCannin]

i never knew that about the Apple Cider Vinegar ! i'll have to go do that. i use 4 gallon containers with the Avian Aqua Miser upside down drip waterer. so i mix it up about 6 months at a time, they don't drink it that fast.

would 1 pint AC Vinegar to 4 gallons water be a good proportion to mix it in ?


Bonus Question - has anybody ever heard a chicken burp ?

i figure it's possible, but i haven't heard it yet.

I use about 1/4 cup to 2 gallons of water. They go crazy over it. Some of my girls had runny poop and the addition of ACV has firmed it up.

After Dog posted that Fine video of the rooster... I can now say I have heard a chicken burp... Thanks Dog... my life will never be the same.