I Fed My Chickens Rice and Beans for a Month...Here's What Happened

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#chickenfeed #backyardchickens #riceandbeans

[Chickenfoothomestead]

I am literally starting this feed trial today. I was watching other people doing the same thing. I'm currently buying organic layer feed (the same brand you showed in your video as a matter of fact) and spending a fortune but not REALLY knowing what's going on in that food. I think real food is the way to go so I will be doing my own videos on this. Thank you for sharing your experience. I've subbed your channel.

[livenletlive]

I raise mealworms for my chickens and I feed them the darkling beetles that lay the eggs of mealworms. They are getting mealworms and darkling beetles. I have about 20 trays of them at various stages and sizes. I did this because I didn't want to rely on commercial laying feed. I also cook up brown rice and many beans. They also get scraps and during the growing months, my chickens get a lot of leafy greens, weeds, grass clippings, flowers to peck and eat. During the winter months I sprout sprouts for them from lentils, rye, barley, black oil sunflower seeds....all organic, and they love the sprouts. They see the quart jars and come running. I have 14 hens that are 2 years old and continue to give me eggs daily. During the winter, not so much, which is expected.

[kellyd]

I feed mine rice n beans at breakfast. Lunch is cabbage, lettuce n mealworms. For supper they get scratch n mash. Ducks and chickens are happy

[stillwatersfarm]

If you cooked the beans and rice in bone broth, it would bump protein and possibly help the shells. I’d just put the bones in the pressure cooker with the rest and skip the making the broth step.

[lorie]

We use a mixture or layer feed, mealworms, weeds and household scraps. They get very excited with the mealworms.

[rubymccaslin]

When I was growing up my Mama also saved egg shells and all our leftover fruit which she would grind with a hand grinder Long with corn from our garden for our Chickens

[sandyburrows]

I add seasonings to my hens feed like rosemary oregano sage and garlic powder. I sometimes add sunflower seeds as well. Mealworms for a treat, or sliced boiled eggs and spinach. Apples & blueberries

[MUDANETV]

My friend if you see chickens pecking each other it could be they are crowded or they are bored.Big space is always better.

[MaximumLiving]

Instead of buying soldier flies. Grab a container and cut slits at the top. Fill it with scrap food and the smell stuff works best. Within 28 days you'll get free soldier fly larvae crawling out. The bigger the container the more larvae. #free

[susanmcconnell]

Thanks for sharing!! I give my 'herd' of 19 chickens (15 hens, 4 roos!) their organic, nonGMO layer feed, and mix it (periodically) with their scrambled or raw eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, garlic, cherry tomatoes, cooked sweet potatoes, watermelon, chia seeds, flax seeds, soldier worm larvae, black sunflower seeds, oats, pumpkin seeds, and garden scraps, etc, plus they free range. I kind of mix and match what I give them. I have a big variety of breeds, but am still getting 10 to 12 eggs per day.

[johnsheppard]

Egg production will ALWAYS change when you make a big change to their diet. I wouldn't worry about the small drop in egg production for a few days after changing their feed. The best way to avoid this is to mix a small amount of the new feed into their old feed and increasing the amount of the new food each day over a week. Totally not necessary, but it will save your birds stress and keep you in eggs when you change feed.

[addieanderson]

For 15 years I raised parrots. When ever they were raising babies, I cooked up a batch of 15 beans and rice. There babies grew fast and it made the process easier for the parents. I am sure it would be good for chickens as well. I am interested in seeing your results.

[JonDoe-woec]

My chickens laying eggs they eat cat food, scraps,whatever bushes they find, wheat and corn feed, as well as bugs and they also dig in the dirt where the cats go poop .rhey sleep in the tree

[forcedmotorsports]

Great vid. There are a few channels talking about this method, but I went one step further. I started farming my yard (little 125x80), growing black eye and pink eye peas, and others. The greens are a great source of vitamins and minerals as well, especially magnesium (this used to be a livestock fodder but fell out of favor - not sure why as its drought resistant and dual purpose). The green create the most amazingly rich orange yokes too. I also give them daikon radish geens, cooked radish here and there, sweet potato greens and raw ground up sweet potatoes, pineapple almost daily and a cover crop mix; clover, chard, vetch, sunflower, weeds, etc and have a maggot bucket. BSF are native here so we get some naturally in the bucket now and then. I supplement with floating catfish food, as it's 32% protein, which makes up for the lack of protein in the beans and leaves; ~6%. Chickens need about 20%. Even the 16% layer feed is to low IMHO.

[greaterthanme]

Please remember to store your beans and rice correctly; as they can cause illness and death if not properly stored. once cooked let cool to just long enough to reach room temperature then store in the refrigerator. Beans can be a breeding ground for botulism and rice can easily become ripe with bacillus cerus, a bacteria that can cause gizzard erosion, respiratory issues and ulceration syndrome in chickens. Botulism can kill them within hours. Both botulism and bacilla cerus can go unnoticed, as they may not have any color or odor in the beginning stages, but can still be very dangerous. Yes, chickens can die of food poisoning too.

[sandyburrows]

I bake the eggs shells for 15 min on 350 then crush them with a potato masher

[shalizalacombe]

Grow some sweet potato vines...healthy greens for them...chicken manure for potato growth & loads of sweet potatoes for you
Everybody wins

[sweaterdoll]

I did discover that millet provides chickens with the methionine they need also. So that's something to consider adding.

[heribertocandelaria]

My 22 girls get a mix of corn, oats, dry mealworms, and fish meal in both of the feeders for all day

I give them one house meal in the morning, bread, fruit, and veggie scraps, with pasta and beans. They free range from 12pm till dusk.

They are extremely happy birds.

[CheezNriceu]

I cook them beans in the winter, cooked outside. During the summer, watermelon and scraps. Autumn, yogurt and scraps. Grass and weeds, banana leafs and Sprouted black sunflower seeds in spring to mid summer.