Why Your Chook Feed Mix is Important

Like human beings, chooks are omnivores that need a balanced diet to stay happy and healthy.

And like us, chooks have different food requirements when they are babies to when they are adults. Chick starter products are normally mashes or crumbles as these are easier for chicks to digest, and they need to be a nutritionally balanced high protein and high energy food source that supports growth at this critical point in the chick’s life. We supply T & R Chick Starter Crumble and we also stock heat lamps to provide the best possible incubation environment for your eggs in the lead up to hatching.

What Feed is Best For My Chooks?

There are a bewilderingly wide range of chook food products on the market, from mashes and crumbles to pellets, mixes and scratches. However, it doesn’t really matter what form your chook food takes, as long as their core food is nutritionally balanced. Some people prefer mashes, crumbles, pellets or crushed grain mixes because they stop chooks from picking out their favourite grains and force them to eat a “balanced dinner,” but it all comes down to personal preference.

What Nutritional Elements Should I Look For?

Essentially, the core food supply for your chooks must have a minimum of 15% protein to keep them strong, should also contain fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals (including calcium), and needs to contain a variety of different grains and/or seeds. We supply a range of quality foods, including T & R Poultry Mix, Layer Crumble and Layer Pellets, and Australian Consolidated Grains Super Poultry Mix.

Interestingly, T & R now include postbiotics in all their poultry food.  Postbiotics are simply the beneficial gut flora and microorganisms that probiotics create in the gut, so including them in chook feed gives your chooks the “good oil” direct to their gut.   

Support Your Chooks Digestive System

It is worth noting that your chooks may need grit in addition to a balanced food source.  Chooks don’t have teeth and as a result have to swallow foods such as grains or treats whole, so they need grit within their digestive system to break this down. Luckily, grit is small pieces of course dirt or gravel that free ranging chickens pick up whilst foraging, however if your chooks spend all of their time in a pen or on pasture you may need to find a source of insoluble mineral grit because only this is tough enough to help chooks digest really robust food.

Chooks also benefit from soluble shell grit which gives them an additional source of calcium and prevents weak eggshells. We supply bulk bags of shell grit, or it is included in some of our chook food products such as the Super Poultry Mix.  

Do You Have Extra Hungry Chooks in Winter?

Interestingly, T & R report that the dietary intake of chooks can increase by 25% to 50% in winter. They rely heavily on their quality core food source to keep them warm and healthy, because free ranging food sources such as insects are less available.

How to Prevent Wastage From Messy Chooks

Finally, it is important to mention that chooks are a bit like toddlers because they treat eating as a whole body experience and aren’t aware that food is supposed to stay in a bowl. They like to flick their food all over the place and they do make a mess. To prevent such wastage, we supply a range of poultry feeders that keep your chooks well-fed but restrict their ability to flick their food everywhere. We also stock a variety of poultry drinkers.

Need Extra Guidance? Reach Out For a Chat

For any other poultry food related questions, drop in to our Moora store or give us a call on 1300 327 626.

Some information above sourced from the Aussie Chook Supplies article Feeding Your Chickens: The Basics, from Talking Hens article Understanding Chicken Feed: Types and Their Benefits, and from Grubbly Farms in the United States’ excellent article The Role of Grit for Chickens.