Q&A for How to Make Feed for Chickens

Neither. It is for raising healthy broilers.

Make sure they have proper living conditions, such as fresh water, food and a place to rest. You should also get a chicken pen to protect them from any potential predators, and vaccinate them to reduce the number of chickens falling ill.

No, baby chicks need special nutrition for the first year. You can find many resources to help guide you through chicken nutrition from baby chicks, under 1 year and also 1 year old and older on the internet, books and you local agriculture institutions.

"Feeding up to 25% cracked maize does not affect broiler growth performance while improving feed mill output by as much as 19%," according to research (Clark et al., 2009) from Kansas State University.

In general, all beans and peas are good protein and energy sources for birds. The primary problem with their use is that they must be processed prior to feeding. Raw soybeans should never be fed to poultry or game birds.

Healthy female chickens, known as hens, are able to lay eggs, whether or not a rooster is present. Eggs will be unfertilized if the hen has no access to a rooster, which means the egg will never develop into a chick. Healthy hens are able to lay an egg about once a day, but may occasionally skip a day.

Approximately 20,000 pounds for 1000 chicks to 12 weeks of age. If you are raising Cornish crosses going beyond 8 weeks, it is really not profitable.

Produce can be called organic if it's certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest. When packaged products indicate they are “made with organic [specific ingredient or food group],” this means they contain at least 70% organically produced ingredients.

The metabolizable energy (m.e.) of the ration fed is calculated as its gross energy less the gross energy of the excreta eliminated over the same period per kg. of ration eaten.

Unfortunately no, because they have lost their egg tooth, so they have to be fed just like chickens.

If you have one or more roosters with your hen(s), the eggs will hatch out baby chicks (if the eggs stay warm). If you don't have a rooster, you'll still get eggs but no baby chicks.

Place them in a box of appropriate size, and use a heat lamp above them or a heating pad under them.

That depend on what you mean by "training" them. You can begin desensitizing them to most things when they are very young, but have to wait until they are mature to teach them other things.

All chickens need food and water to always be available to them. Have a feeder and waterer always full and out in their coop and/or area to be easily accessible 24/7, 365.

1. Either have different shoes that you wear in your different chicken coops as well as another separate pair to wear in the areas where you keep your other animals, or get disposable covers to put on over your shoes in those areas. 2. Basil, mint, oregano, sage and many others are great for laying hens - and they love them! 3. Both are quite profitable, however, I recommend layers as they are a one-time investment that produces much income for years and years, whereas broilers you must continuously replace and only ever get one payment per animal.

The short answer is, no, you can't. Vegetables and such are great, nutritious treats for your chickens, but that cannot be their full diet. They also need chicken feed to survive and be healthy.

See Tell if a Chicken is Sick .

Starter feed is high in protein content, giving young chicks a healthy start when they're growing the fastest.

You can grind or mash or cook and mash feed for chicks. Grind it fine enough that they can easily pick it up and eat it. It shouldn't be so big that they wouldn't be able to get it into their mouths. Also, be sure they have access to tiny bits of crushed gravel. It helps them to digest their food.

The objective is to make healthy, organic chicken feed for your chicken/s. This way, you can know exactly what is in your chicken feed!

You should try to use your feed up within 3 - 4 months. Over winter, keep it dry and cool; in the summer, you should freeze it if you can to prevent it from going bad. That also goes for hay.

Not all chickens lay every day, especially when it is cold, when molting or when they don't have food or water. You could put some types of beans in the feed but "common bean" is not very specific, so it depends on what beans you actually mean. And dried sweet potatoes are good for chickens, but have a lot of sugar, and I think it is best to only give them those as an occasional treat.

Oats can be replaced with ground flax or rice bran. Alfalfa meal can be replaced with soy or field beans with supplemented calcium powder or oyster shells.

No, when the article states ''store up to six months,'' it means that you can continue feeding the chicken feed to your chickens for six months before it goes bad. You can feed the chicken feed to your flock as soon as it's made.

Chickens will lay eggs the size they were bred for, thus making it sort of impossible to change their egg size. If you got a Silkie hen, she just lays tiny eggs, as that’s all she can lay. You need to choose the type of hen according to the egg size you're after.

Some chickens do not lay a lot of eggs, depending on the breed. Just keep your chickens happy, wait until they are old enough (6 months to 2 years), and ensure they have easy access to needed food and water.

Depending on the breed of chicken you have, it changes. The average is 5-8 months until their first egg.

Laying hens can lay eggs for many years. The age that they stop laying is different for every laying hen. As they get older, egg production will gradually slow until it stops.

It depends on the standard of living you are going to provide them with. And what is important is their food and their cleanliness level. Their food should be rich in nutrients because you are going to obtain eggs from them as well.

It does depend on breed/age of your chickens, but if they have nesting boxes, put a fake egg there on their nesting boxes. It is natural behavior for them to know how to lay eggs, as long as they know where to do it. But remember some breeds don't lay eggs every day.