# Do pastured chickens need supplemental feed?



## Mosherd1 (Nov 12, 2011)

I am looking into raising some chickens for meat and for egg production. Does anyone know if they are in chicken tractors if they will need supplemental feed and if so how much will pasturing them reduce their feed need? Also, do many of you find any trouble finding a market for your broilers? Thanks in advance,


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## fishpick (Jan 7, 2012)

Mosherd1 said:


> I am looking into raising some chickens for meat and for egg production. Does anyone know if they are in chicken tractors if they will need supplemental feed and if so how much will pasturing them reduce their feed need? Also, do many of you find any trouble finding a market for your broilers? Thanks in advance,


They absolutely need supplemental feed - regardless of the breed. Here's an article that might be meaningful in helping to understand the economics of the feed, the market and the birds...

http://www.chickenthistlefarm.com/blog/2011/8/17/2011-pastured-chicken-season-statistics.html


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

During summer months the amount of additional feed is reduced prolly up to 50%, however a balanced ration feed needs to always be provided for a healthy flock. So the answer is YES then need commercial feed.

brownegg


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Meat: Definitely supplement.

Layers: Supplement in Winter for sure. Some folks do not supplement once there is a lot of greenery and bugs, but if you're restricting your layers to tractors, you're going to have to give them extra food.

My layers are free-ranging, so they get regular feed in the cold months, but are pretty much on their own the rest of the year - with the exception of kitchen scraps, of course.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

if in tractors yes


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## birdman1 (Oct 3, 2011)

Yes your chickens will need extra feed how much and what kind depend on the type of chicken and how fast you want them to grow . the broiler cross fast growing will need a commericial mix .what the movable tractors or cages do is let the birds eat greens and bugs so you don't need as much feed and the birds grow in a cleaner healther home and are much stronger and healther than those raised in total confinement one of the reasons for useing cages is to keep them safe from pretitors. check and see if there is a farmers market association in your area they can help you with advertizing what you have for sale .in my area of virginia you can sell directly to the public or they will take orders and deliver toa market once a month .I hatch and raise my own heavy breed chickens and sell eggs at the farmers market I feed them a scratch mix mostly corn and wheat , I havent sold any dressed birds as like you i'm still learning ,but I do sell my extra rosters at a local small animial auction where they sell for 4 -5 for fryer size and 6-7$ for roasters .all mine are free range after they feather out i have 3 mountian cur dogs that keep the varmits away .I have trouble with them getting in my gardens so plants they like must be planted farther away and the area near the hen house is now bare of grass (a couple more reasons the tractors are a good idea)


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## Mosherd1 (Nov 12, 2011)

Great comments, I really appreciate the advice


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## Mosherd1 (Nov 12, 2011)

One more question, do most meat growers have a chicken plucker or do you do it by hand? Thanks again,


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

i am not sure, but the first year I grew out 500, I bought a plucker... It pays off. even for 50 it would pay I would think.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

A very generous neighbor loaned us his WhizBang Chicken Plucker WOW! It was fantastic!

But we have found that, with experience and practice, we are now able to process about 8 birds an hour by hand. Sure, if we were doing 20 or 30 birds at a crack, I'd still want to use the WhizBang, but we don't often do THAT many.


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## lisa's garden (Apr 1, 2010)

I usually skin my chickens, but they are only for our use and I don't like the skin.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

we sell them live
After the sale we have been known to help skin and part out the birds.
We don't pluck but local Amish ladies will process the birds for a couple of bucks.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I'd consider the pasture to BE the supplemental feed since you have no control lover what they eat from it


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

I recall reading somewhere that "free ranging is an excellent practice because it will provide up to 30% of their diet". This was a source that was really pushing free ranging and tractor use, so I wouldn't think it would provide more than 30%.

They absolutely need feed, the grass and foliage is the supplement(as Bearfootfarm stated). The grain will be the mainstay of their diet.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Chickens range far and wide. I wouldn't expect my chickens to get a very great amount of thier feed even over a few acres worth of land because about 50 chickens compete with 3 geese, 4 guineas, and about 30+ ducks. You've gotta factor in the amount of land and how long/often they range. Ours range 24/7, 365. Very few bugs to be seen anywhere our poultry go, lol. They only eat so much grass/plants, to be honest. 

Your soil levels may also not be adequate copper, selenium etc levels. Definetely not high enough energy to meet demands of today's birds - be it commercial or heritage types, IMO. 

At the very least a carb source, protein source, vitamin/mineral mix, calcium (for layers, we offer free choice oyster shell). In the winter it would be more important to balence the Amino Acids in the diet, less important in the summer when they have access to 'quality' protein cources (bugs, worms etc have great AA balence, most grains do NOT).


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## notasnowballs (Dec 28, 2010)

I saw a guy once that had rabbits, birds, pigs, and plants in a greenhouse setup, which gave me the idea to let my birds just free range and scratch under the rabbit cages at will. We have somewhat mild winters here. We had 2 feet of snow for a week, and that was unusual this year. I fed them some grain then, but they just LOVE to be under the rabbits. They scratch and scratch and devour every bit of dropped hay, and they grab all the redworms they can find, which is plenty in the rabbit poo. I also throw oyster shells out there for calcium, and I dug up local clay here, which has minerals in it because we are somewhat close to the coast, too and have minerals in the mountains. The birds are quite fat, when I butchered, they were fat, and they don't have missing feathers hardly at all except when molting, and their egg shells are all strong and look good. Maybe the shells were a bit darker when fed commercial feed, but I really don't see a difference except for the color. The shells are just as thick, and the eggs themselves are VERY thick, with thick, creamy whites and yolks. But mine aren't in a chicken tractor, they run freely and eat whatever green stuff they want and spend the bulk of their time under the rabbits.


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