{"id":87262,"date":"2021-06-07T13:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T17:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?p=87262"},"modified":"2025-07-17T06:40:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:40:52","slug":"the-farm-can-feed-your-chickens-a-non-gmo-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/the-farm-can-feed-your-chickens-a-non-gmo-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Farm Can Feed Your Chickens A Non-GMO Diet"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he first things <\/span>everybody gets when they move to a homestead or small farm are chickens! Small, easily moved and confined, chick<\/span>ens seem as though they should be the easiest, simplest\u2014and cheapest\u2014livestock to start with on a small farm.<\/p>\n

Or so we thought when we began our farm, the Sow\u2019s Ear, <\/span>20 odd years ago. But like so many other folks, we <\/span>quickly discovered that it wasn\u2019t that simple!<\/span><\/p>\n

Farming for Feed<\/h2>\n

It has never made sense to us that a farm\u2014the place where food comes from\u2014should have to go to the store to feed its animals\u2014or its people! And yet how often is the feed bill the downfall of a beginning homesteader?<\/p>\n

Since those early days when our chickens plowed their way through tons of grower ration and laying mash, finding ways to ease our reliance on the feed-supply store has been one of the guiding efforts at the Sow\u2019s Ear.<\/p>\n

Chicken feed was an issue from the beginning.When we added up the costs of our first two years of raising chickens, we were amazed at how feed costs raised the price of our \u201cfree\u201d homegrown eggs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other problems existed, too, such as unwanted chemicals and genetically questionable food sources. Unless we bought more expensive organic feed, our chickens were almost certainly eating genetically modified corn and soy, soaked in herbicides.<\/p>\n

If they were eating undesirable ingredients, then so were we. We knew we\u2019d have to find an alternative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost 25 years later, our chicken-feeding regime has changed a lot! Today, we feed our flocks of laying hens, pullets and meat chickens an inexpensive diet of homegrown or locally-grown grains supplemented with high-protein, vitamin-rich additions sourced from right here on our farm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This menu keeps our birds healthy and active, <\/span>while laying lots of natural and chemical-free and GMO-free eggs for just a few cents a dozen. And eggs grown without GMOs\u2014and with no corn or soy\u2014command a really special price in the local egg market.<\/p>\n

\"chickens
blessingscaptured\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pasture Makes Perfect<\/h2>\n

The first step to feeding our chickens a healthy, cheap and farm-produced diet was right outside the door. We mean pasture<\/a>, of course!<\/p>\n

While birds that live in confinement depend on us for their every need, if we give them access to their natural habitat, they can do a good bit of scrounging for themselves. Leaves, seeds, bugs and worms make a significant contribution to the dietary needs of our laying hens and broilers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pen Pals<\/h3>\n

We don\u2019t just turn our birds loose, though. We find that mobile, bottomless pens give our birds the best of both worlds. Moved once a day, these chicken tractors provide fresh pasture and a clean floor every 24 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While fully free-range poultry do have a wider area in which to search for food, chickens in movable coops are protected from predators. Plus, they never hide their eggs where we can\u2019t find them!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, chicken tractors let us direct our chickens\u2019 efforts where they will be the most beneficial for the whole farm, such as on empty garden beds. We often graze our chickens on cover crops and green manures that double as nutrient-rich chicken feed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chickens love buckwheat, a high-protein grain alternative, and will harvest it for themselves. Just pull their tractor pen forward on a fresh patch every day. And while you can use your tiller to incorporate a spring green manure of oats and Canadian peas into the soil, it\u2019s much easier to let the poultry take care of that chore while they harvest a good proportion of their dinners at the same time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pasture is the first step toward noncommercial chicken nutrition. Leaves and seeds\u2014not to mention bugs and worms\u2014are a great start to a good chicken diet. But if we want to be sure our birds are getting enough nutrition to grow (and to lay eggs), we\u2019ll need to offer something more.<\/p>\n

\"chickens
Beth Dougherty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Good Grains\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Everybody needs energy! And energy comes from carbohydrates, foods such as grains and starches. Grains are the traditional source of energy for poultry. In commercial feeds this is usually genetically modified corn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, we were looking for something different. Non-GM corn can be hard to come by. Even heritage varieties readily <\/span>cross-pollinate with their genetically modified neighbors.<\/p>\n

Luckily, other grains\u2014such as oats, wheat and barley\u2014and pseudo-grains such as buckwheat\u2014are just as good for chicken food. Some are even better. And all four can be grown in zone 6 climate in central Appalachia where we live.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summer, we grow a lot of buckwheat for the chickens to self-harvest. But wheat is our go-to for the bulk of our poultry grains. This is because wheat has a higher protein profile than most conventional grains: 11 to 14 percent, rather than 9 to 11 percent.<\/p>\n

And, just as importantly, commercial wheat isn\u2019t genetically modified.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because it hasn\u2019t been gene-spliced to withstand herbicides, wheat is more likely to be grown without toxins. That makes wheat a winner with us. What we don\u2019t grow ourselves, we buy directly from local farmers at the commodity price. That’s just a few dollars per 60-pound bushel.<\/p>\n

The savings and peace of mind are enormous.<\/p>\n

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Read more: Pasture your chickens with goats\u2014they make a dynamic duo!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Plenty of Protein<\/h2>\n

Eggs and feathers are made of protein. While a chicken diet of grains and pasture can be adequate for a hen\u2019s maintenance, we want to feed her some extra protein if she is going to lay us a generous number of eggs.<\/p>\n

For good laying, 16 percent protein is generally considered adequate. More protein means more eggs. Fortunately, a homestead grows lots of spare protein, if we know where to look.<\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s milk. At the Sow\u2019s Ear, we\u2019ve kept goats and cows from the very beginning. After all, these animals eat for free! And anyone who milks knows that where there is a dairy animal, <\/span>there is almost always extra milk.<\/p>\n

It turns out that chickens love milk. Historic farm texts all consider milk a must in the chicken pen. Fresh, sour or clabbered, all milk is welcome. And its high-quality proteins are exactly what a hen needs for egg-laying. It\u2019s even probiotic!<\/p>\n

Any kind of meat\u2014except poultry\u2014makes a good offering in the chicken house. Whenever we butcher a hog, sheep or steer, the organs we don\u2019t want for our own consumption are ground or chopped and fed to the chickens. Often there is so much that we freeze it in fist-sized lumps so we can use it over a long period.<\/p>\n

Leftover meat from our own table is just as appropriate. Aand a little goes a long way. Our chickens go into a feeding frenzy when there is meat on the menu.<\/p>\n

\"chickens
andrekoehn\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seed Savings<\/h3>\n

Then, to fill out the protein requirements of our birds when milk and meat scraps aren\u2019t available, we use high-protein seeds such as sunflower (20 percent) and squash or pumpkin (30 percent).<\/p>\n

They\u2019re easy to grow and harvest, and store passively. We hang sunflower heads from the rafters of an outbuilding, and store pumpkins and winter squash in a cool room in the basement. They keep through the winter.<\/p>\n

Feeding them out is simple, too. Sunflower heads can be stuck through the chicken wire walls of our poultry tractors. They\u2019ll hang there while the birds peck the seeds out for themselves\u2014protein and exercise in one step.<\/p>\n

Split a squash or pumpkin and offer the whole thing. Or just scoop out the seeds and put them in the feeder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Farm-raised protein is a game-changer. With so many ways of providing protein from the farm itself, we never need to purchase expensive or questionable chicken treats. And we never have to worry that an interruption to delivery will leave our chickens hungry.<\/p>\n

The Daily Routine<\/h2>\n

Of course, wet feeds such as soaked grain, clabbered milk and squash seeds aren\u2019t going to work well in those fill-it-and-forget-it commercial feeders that you may have used for dry crumbles or pellets. When we switched to whole grains and farm-raised proteins, it meant that we began to carry feed to the poultry by hand, twice a day.<\/p>\n

If that sounds like more work than just filling a feeder, it is. And the rewards are many.<\/p>\n

Regular, attentive trips to the pen at feeding time mean we notice the behavior of individuals.<\/p>\n