Whether you’re making the decision to get chickens or already have them, one thing that should always be on your mind is keeping them healthy. The primary way to do this is with their food.
That’s why it’s important to feed your feathered friends with the best organic chicken feed you can get. This ultimate guide will get you through the essentials of organic chicken feed so that you can always make the best choice possible.
1. Ingredients of Chicken Feed
To get the best chicken feed out there, you need to pick the one with the best ingredients. Organic chicken feed is best when it doesn’t contain GMOs and has a selection of organic carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins.
Examples of this in organic chicken feed look like lentils, corn, split peas, and quinoa. You can also add supplements like grit to your chicken feed to help them “chew” their food since they don’t have teeth.
2. Types of Chicken Feed
Chicken feed comes in many different types. They all may have similar components, but the texture they come in can make a big difference for your chickens.
Scratch is a feed that uses whole grain as a mixture and is easy to eat. Mash is a feed that is a combination of grains, vitamins, and minerals that you can serve dry or mixed with water or other wet food.
Other types include pellets — a dry mash — and crumbles, which are crushed pellets. The type you choose will depend on what your chickens like best, but if you’re feeding baby chicks it’s best to start with mash.
3. Nutrition of Chicken Feed
We know now that the essentials of chicken feed are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins. But there are specific types of those essentials that chickens need.
Chickens need vitamins like A, B12, D, E, and K. Occasionally they’ll need vitamin C, but they can actually make it themselves.
Chickens also need minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, etc. to fill out their diet. They don’t get a lit of minerals from anything else, so it should be an essential element to their food.
4. Other Chicken Feed Options
You can find great organic chicken feed options at places like organicchickenfeed.com, but you can also make chicken feed yourself if you’re up for the challenge.
You need to gather all of the ingredients on your own though, which can prove to be a challenge. Not to mention that chickens stay sustained through a large amount of feed, so you need to be prepared to make large batches.
All You Need to Know About Organic Chicken Feed
Now you have all you need to know about organic chicken feed. And if you forget, you’ve got this handy guide in your back pocket for the next time you’re searching for what to feed chickens.
So what are you waiting for? Raise the healthiest and happiest coop today.
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