How to Choose the Best Type of Chicken Feed

How to Choose the Best Type of Chicken Feed
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | February 20, 2024
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Picking out a homestead poultry feed is probably one of the first things you should consider when you plan on adding chickens to your homestead. What are you going to feed your chickens? What is the best feed for chickens to eat? Since you are what you eat, choosing a feed for your chickens not only affects them, but it also affects you. One stroll down the farm store poultry feed aisle will provide you with plenty of chicken feed options, but not all of them are appropriate for the homestead flock. This guide on how to choose the best type of chicken feed for your homestead flock will help you make the best feed decision for your chickens!

Why is it Important to Choose the Right Chicken Feed?

A chicken’s dietary needs are complex, as I have gone over in Balancing Protein in a Flock’s Diet, Feeding Chickens a Homestead Diet, and my other poultry diet related articles. Not only that, but environmental factors also play a role in what kind of diet is best for chickens. That means different homestead flocks are going to have slightly different dietary needs.

While there are many different pre-formulated diets available now, choosing the right one for your flock is an important decision to make. Not all chicken feed is created equal and not every flock will thrive on one specific diet. Have I lost you yet? Hang in there!

Chickens raised on the homestead are unique, and their dietary needs are different than chickens raised commercially. On the homestead, your flock will be getting table scraps and treats, they may be free-ranging for a good portion of the day, and you may even choose to add supplements and herbs to their diet. All these factors play a role in choosing a correct chicken feed to give them.

It’s important to choose the right chicken feed for your homestead flock because that will affect how their diet is balanced. This in turn affects health, productivity, and longevity.

Factors to Consider when Choosing Chicken Feed

First, let’s go over some factors to consider when choosing a feed for your homestead flock:

• Particle Size
• Variety
• Cost
• Mess/Waste
• Productivity
• Complete Diet
• Feeding Method

Particle Size & Variety– What size are the feed pieces? Chicken’s tend to prefer larger feed particle sizes. Small feed particles are often the last to be eaten. Does the diet contain a variety? Chickens like variety in their feed. A feed that contains a variety of ingredients mimics what a chicken would forage for in the wild. Particle size and variety in the feed you choose will affect how much your flock likes their food and can help prevent waste and increase productivity.

Cost– How much are you willing to spend on your homestead flock’s feed? The cost of a certain chicken feed may be a very tempting factor to let rule your decision. However, don’t let the cost of a particular feed sway you from choosing the best diet for your flock. Sometimes a little extra expense now will pay off in the long run. Plus, there are other ways to save money when raising a homestead flock!

Mess/Waste– Is the feed you choose prone to being wasted? How much feed is wasted when the chickens eat is often another factor that sways decisions. Feed waste though, is often determined by how much the chickens like the feed and the feeding method you use.

Feeding Method– Does the feed you choose suit your particular feeding method? Learn more about different feeding methods in my article on How to Feed Chickens Naturally!

Productivity & Complete Diet– Does the feed promote good productivity in the flock? Is the feed a complete diet and contain all the essential nutrients required by chickens? Productivity and a complete diet go hand in hand. If the feed does not contain all the essential nutrients a chicken needs, then the chicken will not be able to function at its full potential and may even have dietary deficiencies.

Types of Chicken Feed

When you are perusing the feed store aisles or scrolling through articles on Google, you may notice that there are several different types of chicken feed. Choosing a type of feed will be the biggest decision to make when selecting a feed for your homestead flock. There are 5 main types of chicken feed to choose from:

• pellets
• crumbles
• mash
• pellet & mash blend
• whole grain

Pellet Chicken Feed:

Pellets are probably one of the most common types of commercially sold poultry feed. This type of feed is thought to be superior to any other type of feed. Pellets were more than likely developed by companies looking for an economic (read: cheap) way to feed large quantities of chickens and get the highest productivity out of them. Nonetheless, pellets are also a common preference for backyard chicken keepers as well. Pelleted feed is easy to find in most feed stores, is economic to buy, and still provides a complete diet for chickens.

Pellets are also favored because of their higher feed density and easier digestion. Both of these factors means that chickens can eat less and still get the proper nutrition from their feed to be productive. With pellets, there is no feed ingredient separation, which leads some to believe that they are less messy and get wasted less by the chickens.

However, pellets are also the most highly processed type of feed and usually contain additional, non-necessary ingredients to help preserve and bind the feed ingredients. Chickens also tend not to prefer pellets because of lack of variety. Pellet feed does not mimic a chicken’s natural diet.

Crumble Chicken Feed:

Crumbles are basically pellets that have been crumbled into smaller pieces. This is mostly for the purpose of feeding to chicks, since chicks can’t eat the larger pellet sizes. Chick starter feed and starter/grower feed is often sold in crumble form. Some feed brands also sell crumble layer feed. Crumble layer feed is often a good option for small birds, like bantams.

Since crumbles are essentially pellets, they have the same pros and cons as feeding pellet chicken feed.

Mash Chicken Feed:

Mash is a combination of feed ingredients that have been processed but not pelleted. It is usually a combination of grains, a protein source, and added vitamins and minerals. The grains are crushed and heat-treated to decrease the anti-nutritional factors in them.

Since mash is a mixture of feed ingredients there is feed ingredient separation. This means that chickens can pick out and eat more of what ingredients they prefer. Whether it be a certain grain or just larger particle sizes. More often than not, the finer feed ingredients are the last to be eaten. A mixture of feed ingredients can also encourage more waste as the chickens sort through their preferred ingredients.

On the flip side, chickens tend to prefer mash over pellets. They like the variety and the mash stimulates a more natural ‘foraging’ behavior. Since chickens seem to prefer mash, it also provides an incentive for them to ‘clean up’ any feed they waste on the ground.

However, mash feed also allows chicken to customize their own diet. This is especially beneficial if their diet is supplemented with free-range forage, feed supplements, table scraps, and treats.

Pellets & Mash Chicken Feed:

To get the best of both worlds, poultry feed companies have started making a mash pellet mix. Basically, this feed contains the crushed grains of a mash feed but the processed, pelleted feed ingredients of pellet feed.

Chickens treat the combination feed much like they do mash. They sort through what ingredients they like or need and leave the rest for later. A pellet mash blend does allow a chicken to customize its diet to a certain extent based on other foods in its diet.

Whole Grain Chicken Feed:

Lastly, there is whole grain feed. Whole grain feed is a mixture of whole grains, sometimes an added protein source, and a pre-formulated vitamin and mineral mix. Whole grain feed is similar to mash feed, however, it has not been as processed and often contains a wider variety of simple ingredients.

A whole grain diet can be harder for chickens to digest and may contain more anti-nutritional factors. However, a chicken who is started off on a whole grain diet will actually develop a stronger, more resilient digestive system. The larger particles of a whole grain diet also helps the feed stay in the digestive system longer to enhance nutrient absorption.

As for the anti-nutritional factors, all grains contain anti-nutritional factors. Processed feeds (like pellets) reduce these factors by heat-treating the grains and adding additives that reduce the anti-nutritional factors. A properly and carefully formulated whole grain diet will contain grains that pair well together to decrease the anti-nutritional factors.

As with the mash feed, whole grain feed allows individual chickens to customize their own dietary needs. It also has feed ingredient separation, but this does not always mean more waste as chickens prefer whole grain feed over other feeds.

Scratch… is it Chicken Feed?

Scratch is NOT a complete feed. I decided to mention it though since scratch grains are commonly sold right along side of complete poultry feeds. Scratch grains are a mixture of crushed grains with no added protein source, vitamins, or minerals.

Scratch can be used as treat, especially during the winter when chickens need more energy to stay warm. However, it should not be a part of a chicken’s daily diet, not even a homestead chicken’s daily diet.

Choosing the Best Chicken Feed

Now for the decision part! What feed is the best choice for a homestead flock of chickens? Here is my opinion on the main feed types:

• Pellets- Pellets are best for flocks who are all mostly the same breed and don’t have much else added to their diet (supplements, treats, etc…) I don’t recommend pellets for the homestead flock.
• Mash- Mash feed is okay for a homestead flock since it allows for a customized diet and contains less additives.
• Whole Grains– A whole grain feed is the best for a homestead flock. It allows for variety, customization, and is minimally processed, which makes it a more natural diet.

A whole grain chicken feed pairs well with free-ranging, offering table scraps, using feed supplements, and giving your flock treats. These additional sources have less of a chance of throwing your flock’s diet out of balance when they are fed along side of a whole grain feed. A whole grain chicken feed is more like a natural diet for chickens. It fits well with the lifestyle your flock will be living on the homestead.

The best feed to give to your homestead flock is a whole grain feed. The second best feed choice being a mash feed.

Why Choose Whole Grain Feed for Chickens?

Let’s compare a whole grain chicken feed to the factors you should consider when choosing a feed:

• Particle Size– Whole grain feed has large particle sizes which increase digestion time and are more favorable for chickens to eat.
• Variety– A whole grain feed mix contains plenty of grain & seed variety, which increases favorability and allows for custom dietary needs.
• Cost– Whole grain feed can actually be cost affective since you can implement more feed saving methods and less waste usually occurs. Whole grains feed tend to be higher quality feed which means less feed has to be consumed in order for the appropriate benefits to be received.
• Mess/Waste– Whole grain feed CAN be less wasteful since the chickens are more likely to forage for the food off the ground.
• Productivity– Whole grain feed promotes good productivity because of its benefits to the digestive system and overall health.
• Complete Diet– A properly formulated whole grain feed should be a complete diet. It should supply a source of energy (carbohydrates & fats), protein, vitamins, and minerals.
• Feeding Method– Whole grain feed works well with a variety of feeding methods including free-choice and controlled feeding.

Whole grain feed can also be fermented or sprouted better than pellets. Fermenting and sprouting increases the nutrition in the feed and helps save on feed.

Should You Use Commercial or Homemade Chicken Feed?

After you have decided what type of feed to get for your homestead flock, you still have two more decisions to make. One of those decisions is whether to buy commercially formulated chicken feed or to make your own.

Making this decision may depend on where you are at in your homestead journey. If you are just starting off with raising chickens and starting a homestead, I highly recommend you stick with pre-formulated chicken feed. Pre-formulated chicken feed doesn’t have to mean commercially processed though! Like I mentioned earlier, whole grain feed and mash feed are the best feed for your homestead flock. These two types of feeds can often be found at local grain elevators or small farm businesses. You are less likely to find them at a farm store like Tractor Supply or Family Farm & Home. Besides, it’s always good to support local elevators and small farm businesses and source your feed right from your local area. That’s part of becoming a modern pioneer!

If you are farther along in your homestead journey and have adequate knowledge on raising homestead poultry and their specialized dietary needs, you may want to branch out into making your own homemade feed. Making your own whole grain feed or mash feed is a great way to control what ingredients are in your flock’s feed. You can even grow some of the feed ingredients yourself! I will not go into the details of making your chicken feed right now. However, you must have a proper understanding of a chicken’s dietary needs before making your own chicken feed.

A good place to start before making your own feed is to see if a local elevator or small farm business will help you make a custom poultry feed.

Organic vs Non-Organic Chicken Feed

The second question to answer is whether you want organic feed or non-organic feed. This decision is strictly a personal decision. However, I encourage you to evaluate the benefits of feeding organic feed. In striving to become a modern pioneer and a sustainable homesteader, I feel that organic feed is the way to go.

Organic feed, whether it be whole grain or mash, is all-natural. It does not contain genetically modified ingredients (GMO’s), artificial preservatives, antibiotics, or any other un-necessary additives. Organic feed uses ingredients that have been grown using organic methods. These methods are better for the environment and healthier for all ecosystems.

Since you are what you eat, I always prefer to go with organic. Even if it is just choosing a chicken feed! It’s a modern pioneer choice that I don’t mind making!

Hopefully this guide on how to choose the best type of chicken feed has helped you decide what to feed your flock! From choosing a type of feed to deciding about organic or non-organic, there are always modern pioneer choices to be made. An organic, whole grain feed would always be my first choice for my flock! An organic mash feed would be my second choice. As for homemade or commercial, I’m not at the point of making my own feed, so I choose to source my chicken feed from a local organic farm.

Feeding your homestead flock right will make for happy, healthy, and productive chickens! For more advice on raising chickens like a modern pioneer, make sure you sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter. We’d love to have you join us and to hear about your homestead journey!