Just like the rest of us, chickens need a good balanced diet in order for them to stay healthy.

Chicken feed: pellets or mash?

The mainstay of pet chickens’ diet is usually either pellets or layers’ mash and most will accept either quite happily.  The choice is more yours as to what works out best for your pocket.

We have experimented with both but opted for mash in the end.  When we tried pellets, we thought that the chickens were getting through an awful lot, but gradually started discovered huge stores of pellets outside the run that had obviously been carried away by the local vermin population. Another reason for choosing mash was pure practicality.  We prefer to buy our chicken feed locally and have recently discovered a small poultry farm nearby which we can also get mash from. It feels good knowing it was all grown just a few fields away and it is very good value to boot.

However, some people prefer pellets because the chickens tend not to chuck them around as much as the grain so you get less wastage in that respect. I’d recommend trying both and decide what works out best for you.

You can buy chicken feed, pellets or mash, online or from agricultural merchants.  I have found a couple of online sources that you may wish to take a look at. The first is the GJW Titmuss. See their layers pellets and layers mash.

However, I have recently also come across Wells Poultry, a family-run company with a wide variety of chicken keeping supplies. See their poultry feed range.

Other dietary additions

You should always keep a ready supply of poultry grit down for your chickens. All chickens need grit in order to help mash up their food during digestion, helping them to get the most nutrition out of their mash or pellets. It also aids in the production of strong eggs thanks to the calcium content. If your chickens tend to lay soft-shelled eggs, you should definitely ensure that grit is part of their diet.

You should always use poultry grit rather than oyster shells because the latter affects the balance of calcium to phosphorous in their bodies. This unbalanced combination will lead to soft shelled eggs so is best avoided. It is also not a good idea to offer them crushed eggshells. While nutritionally this is less of a problem, you do not want your birds getting a taste for eggs.

As well as either mash or pellets, chickens can also benefit by small nutritional additions to their feed. Sunflower seeds are an excellent example. The chickens love them and they are a great source of omega6. However, as with anything, you don’t want to go over the top with the sunflower seeds.

Advice taken from Botanical.com

“Sunflower seeds have a high feeding value – the analysis in round figures is 16 per cent albumen and 21 per cent fat. Being so rich in oil, they are too stimulating to use alone and should only be used in combination with other feeding stuffs. Fed with oats in equal quantities, they make a perfectly balanced ration. Since both of these articles contain a big proportion of indigestible matter, particularly in the husks, grit must on no account be withheld, if the birds are to derive full benefit.As food for laying poultry, it ought in the opinion of some authorities, not to be used in excess of one-third of the total mixture of corn, owing to its fat-producing properties.”

Chickens aren’t usually too fussy about what you feed them but they really do enjoy some greenery being added to their diet. It is good to hang up a lettuce or some other vegetable for them to peck at from time to time as it gives them some amusement.

Foods to avoid

Feeding chickens kitchen scraps is generally fine, as long as you are selective. Do avoid:-

meat
avocados (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persin)
green peppers
onions
garlic (if you don’t want garlic-y eggs)

As a point of interest, when we bought our Marans we were told by the farmer not to feed them any kitchen scraps at all and to stick to chicken feed. No such warning was given when we bought our Black Rocks, who have a reputation for being bomb proof. It might be worth checking with whoever you buy your chickens from what is best for that particular breed.

Choosing a chicken feeder

When choosing a chicken feeder in which to put your pellets or mash, you basically have a choice of plastic or metal. We always go for metal feeders as we keep them outdoors and the plastic ones easily blow away if they are exposed to the elements. They are really only practical for feeding inside coops.

We buy metal pheasant feeders like these as they are sturdy enough to withstand strong winds and only rarely get knocked over by the chickens. If you were interested in plastic feeders for your chickens, check out these instead.

Choosing a drinker for your chickens

Chickens need to have access to water at all times. The metal drinker vs plastic drinker debate is exactly the same as with chicken feeders and for that reason we recommend metal drinkers like these. It is worth getting the largest size that you can find as you don’t want your pet chickens to ever run out of water.

The plastic inside drinker version can be found here.