Does anybody have poultry/waterfowl

[brydee]

Hi, I am trying to find info on feeding a 100% raw diet for poultry and waterfowl, mine are both mainly raw but wondering if anybody has experience in getting them 100% as they all do depend on their feed except my cock who isnt that fussed.
The prepared foods usually have the contents of scratch in them just in different proportions, though they say not to feed scratch as a meal and only as a treat. Part of me is saying its quite easy as most the foods they eat already are raw but its finding something to fill the bulk of prepared food for them. would seed sproats contain enough protein?
Any ideas?
Oh and if anybody has any experience of curing scaly leg naturally would be a big help! currently using vaseline but wanting to use something more natural and that i could possible grow in the future.
Thanks
Brydee

[MysticTree]

I have hens and they have mixed grain and the run of a fair amount of my garden so they also eat bugs and worms.

They also have layer pellet sometimes which isn't raw but they are a happy lot.

[brydee]

I have hens and they have mixed grain and the run of a fair amount of my garden so they also eat bugs and worms.

They also have layer pellet sometimes which isn't raw but they are a happy lot.

Hi MysticTree,

Mine are the same, they get full run for 6 hours a day but at the moment have to be shut away for the other 6 hours so that the geese can graze as the males do not get on. I am moving soon and will have more space but still wouldnt feel that they would get enough without the pellets.

[MysticTree]

Hi MysticTree,

Mine are the same, they get full run for 6 hours a day but at the moment have to be shut away for the other 6 hours so that the geese can graze as the males do not get on. I am moving soon and will have more space but still wouldnt feel that they would get enough without the pellets.

All this dry weather isn't helping. The hens have grazed the grass right down and if you have geese too then your grass situation must be fairly critical.

[Mary Kay]

I also have chickens. Try this:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/pou...ds_sprout.html

HTH,

Mary Kay

[Mary Kay]

Oops, I just tried to go to the Modern Homestead site and it says it's temporarily down because some hackers got on it. Sigh....but that he'll be back.

He did a lot of sprouting for his birds. He uses Austrian peas, which he sprouts, instead of soy, for example, which must be roasted.

He says he feeds his birds about 3 oz per day per bird. This is 21 oz per week...heck all the books say you feed about 1.6 lbs of feed per bird, per week, and this has been my experience, so the savings is not much, however, there is the "live/sprouted food" factor to consider.

Check out his site in a week or two. It's pretty cool.

Mary Kay

[brydee]

All this dry weather isn't helping. The hens have grazed the grass right down and if you have geese too then your grass situation must be fairly critical.

No its not, I have been watering the grass which is helping. We had some minor flood damage so have alot of new grass growing. The chickens have never been that interested in the grass and are more interested in the other wild plants. We only have four geese at the moment. And one hen/one cockerel of my own and then im looking after a hen and three chicks, possibly keeping them but she spends most of her time not on our land and comes here to roost so she has very little impact. We have 'wild' chickens in our village and that and one of my cats interveening is how I ended up with just one hen and one cockerel and looking after the hen and chicks