Posted in Homestead Barnyard

Like many homesteaders, we try hard to provide good nutrition for our animals while avoiding many of the objectionable additives in modern feeds. These include antibiotics, industrial agriculture by-products, and genetically modified organisms. This can be nearly impossible, however, depending on where you live and your budget. Rather than drive ourselves crazy, we do the best we can.

We ordered a new batch of chicks this past fall that included 26 new laying hens (New Hampshire Reds) and 32 meat birds (Cornish X Rocks). With this batch of chicks, we decided to try some new feeds to see how they would grow.

First, I started making what I call “Chick Cornbread”. Here is my recipe:

• 1 cup buttermilk, soured milk, or skim milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup split peas
• 1/3 cup whole corn
• 1/3 cup whole wheat
• 1/3 cup whole oats
• 1 t salt
• 1 T kelp meal
• 2 T alfalfa pellets
• 1 T dried nettles
• 1 T brewer’s yeast
• 2 T oil or melted lard
• 1 t baking powder

Using Sue Gregg’s Blender Batter method, I whirred this up in my trusty Osterizer. Then I poured it into a greased 8x8” pan and baked it at 350^OF for 35 minutes. When cool, I crumbled the cornbread and fed this to the chicks several times per day. The first couple of days, one batch was enough. By the end of 2 weeks, 50 plus chicks were eating 4 batches a day.

While this recipe is not “scientific”, I did try and include a variety of grains and legumes, and eggs & milk products, for balanced nutrition, including high protein. The kelp, alfalfa, and nettles provide “green matter” for vitamins & minerals.

In addition to the corn bread, I fed them 1/4-1/2 lb of beef liver each day. The liver was first pureed, and then sprinkled with Brewer’s Yeast. The liver and yeast provide high protein and lots of B vitamins needed by growing chicks.

By the 3^rd day, I began feeding clabber, also known as soured skimmed milk. This provided the chicks with additional protein, B vitamins (riboflavin in particular), and probiotics. When raw milk is soured naturally it is “cultured” just like yogurt and provides the chicks with lots of good bacteria for their digestive systems which helps prevent coccidiosis and other diseases. Cultured buttermilk from the store is a good substitute.

Chicks eating clabber.

Starting in the 2^nd week, we began feeding the chicks scratch grains and phasing in Layena Start & Grow. (I am not wild about Layena as it is a processed product with few details on the label, but it is what I can get locally.) The liver was phased out by the end of the 3^rd week.

At this time, all the chicks were relocated to a movable pen on our (scanty, drought-ravaged) pasture. They ranged beautifully and continued to thrive.

The chicks were switched to scratch grains & clabber after the 6^th week.

The results: The Cornish X Rocks dressed out at 4+ lbs (roosters at 8.5 weeks) and 5+ lbs (hens at 10.5 weeks) And they are delicious! The New Hampshire pullets have grown and should begin laying in a month or so.

We lost one Cornish X Rock chick the first day to curly toe syndrome (a lack of B-vitamins) before I added the liver. We also lost 6 or 7 of the Cornish x Rock chicks due to unusually high temperatures in October (it was over 90 degrees!).

Again, while this is not scientific, it worked well for us! Do a little research and experiment a bit! As with feeding our children, using a few basic principles you can feed your chicks well with whole, natural foods!

Here are some great resources to help you feed your chickens:

• Morrison’s Feeds & Feeding - this is old but a great resource for all animals, check used book stores
• Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
• The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
• Chicken Feed: The World of Chickens on the web at http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html

Kristin Hoffman homesteads with her family in the hills of East Tennessee and blogs about alternative energy, family farming, and home schooling with her husband at www.solarfamilyfarm.com. She can also be found each day searching  the coop and barn for chicken fruit.