The keeping of backyard chickens has become very popular in urban and suburban homes across the country. There have been a lot of changes in many municipalities that are making it possible for those of us who want to be more self-sufficient to start by keeping a small flock of chickens. Even major cities like Boston, Chicago, Dallas & Los Angeles are allowing residents to keep hens. The keeping of chickens can hold many benefits to your family, from fresh eggs to meat to composting scraps to fertilizer for gardens. Not to mention most of us who start down the path of freedom want to know what is going into our food, and what better way to know then to feed it yourself.

This leads us into the main topic of our article. So you are thinking of keeping chickens but are unsure what is best when it comes to feeding your chickens and what will provide you with the highest quality eggs. Well I will try to provide you with some ideas and concepts to help guide you toward a high quality product for your family. I’ll cover what I feed my backyard flock and some other options that may be available to you. As well as some of the “treats” we give our chickens that they seem to really enjoy.

Let’s start out with your main feeding options. You could go with just a basic layer feed but it’s not something I would recommend. One of the main reasons you are probable keeping chickens is because you don’t want the factory fed chicken eggs you get at the store, so why would you feed your chickens the same feed? At the very least you should choose an organic layer feed. Organic options that can easily be found at your local feed stores and while being slightly more expensive, they do provide a better healthier end result. In feeding our chickens I do incorporate an organic layer crumble feed with a mix I put together myself.

Which leads us into the next topic of discussion, mixing your own feed. With a little work this is can easily be done. You want to make sure you have at least a 16% protein diet for your chickens to ensure good egg production. This will take you sitting down and doing a little math (which is part of the reason I don’t rely on this as my sole feed option, just laziness if I’m being honest). You can put together a mix of corn, sunflower seeds, millet, peas, flax seeds, barley, oats, rye, etc… You then need to take the percentage of protein of each item and multiple that by the pounds of product you are going to mix into your feed. Then you add up all the protein amounts and make sure that adds up over 16%. It’s really not that difficult and after the first time you figure it out as long as you keep the same products and ratios going into your feed it will remain the same.

So let’s talk about “treats” for your chickens. You can feed your chickens almost anything. A few things to steer clear of are potato peels (I don’t give my chickens any potatoes), citrus, and avocado skins and pits. I also don’t give my chickens chicken….it just seems wrong. Some people say apples aren’t good because of the seeds, but I have apple trees and my chickens love to eat the fallen apples and have never had an issue. I have also read tomatoes can be bad, but again the ones that come out of our garden not in the best shape go right to the chicks and they peck away without an issue. But you may want to use your own judgement; I’m only speaking from my personal experience.

Well then what are some well-known items that chickens can have and love? Our chickens love any leafy greens. I have attached a large suet cage to the side of the run and place heads of romaine of other greens inside it for the chickens to enjoy. I have also strung up a whole head of cabbage and let them peck away; they seem to have fun with it. They love pumpkins and squashes of all kinds. I just cut those into quarters and throw them into the run. By the end of the next day there is nothing left but the rind. Same goes for melons like cantaloupe and honeydew. We love to give them grapes and watch them grab one and run around playing keep away from each other; the kids really get a kick out of that.  We pretty much give them any vegetable that comes out of our garden. We have given our chickens lettuces, kale, corn, carrots, cucumbers, beans, peas, Brussel sprouts, peppers, tomatoes just to name a few as well as berries from our bushes.

   Another favorite of our chickens is yogurt. I tend to stick with the plain yogurt just as a personal preference, but you could do flavored. Man do they love to go after the yogurt; it doesn’t take long for them to empty a bowl. It’s also funny to see them with it all over their beaks and then try to shake it off and see yogurt flinging onto the other chickens and all over the place.

Backyard chickens are a great addition to any homestead, especially an urban one. If you are like we were and a garden lead you down the path to chickens. Welcome to the beginning of a self-reliance, self-sufficient preparedness lifestyle.  Soon you will be looking for more land that provides you and your family more freedoms to grow your homestead. Congratulations! You are on the path I believe we were meant to live.

Peace, Love, and all the Above,

             Bear