Table of Contents
Chickens can eat just about anything. They’re fantastic foragers, and they do a great job of picking around for anything from seeds and plants to grubs and even common critters like mice. But we’re afraid the odds and ends in your backyard soil are only part of a balanced breakfast for your friendly fowl. They need a wide array of grains and protein sources, and their needs change throughout the year.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to plan your chickens’ nutrition, and how to change things up when their needs shift. Enough clucking, let’s get to it.
General Chicken Nutritional Needs
You could probably guess a chicken’s basic nutritional needs based on the fact that they’re omnivores, like us. They primarily fill up on grains, which contain lots of carbs and fiber. But they also need protein and fat, which they commonly get from insects and other animals.
Beyond that, they need the usual spread of macro and micronutrients you might expect. In particular, egg-laying hens need lots of calcium. The normal solution to get a flock of chickens everything they need is to feed them crumbles, which contain a tailor-made mix of nutrients.
But a chicken’s needs depend on what you’re raising it for, as well as the time of year. Layers, for example, need 16-18% protein, whereas broilers need more like 23%, especially while they’re young. Egg layers need less fiber (under 10% of their diet) and higher calcium.
The other factor is whether your chickens are molting or not. During molting, your chickens protein intake will shoot up quite a bit. We’ll elaborate on that in just a minute.
Should I Feed My Chickens Pellets or Insects?
As we mentioned, crumbles are a great staple food for your chickens. But eating a highly-processed (though nutritious) soylent isn’t exactly enriching, and it can leave your chickens short of fat and protein. So you should supplement your chickens’ diet with insects.
You can buy bags of dried insects at the feed store. But dried insects are expensive, and half the fun is giving your chickens a chance to forage and chase their food down, like nature intended.
So the best option is to give your chickens a mix of feed and kitchen scraps twice daily, mixed with live insects, for maximum enrichment (as well as protein and fat). Insects should be treated as a treat, not a main course.
What to Feed Your Chickens for Egg Production
If you’re trying to get your chickens to pop out as many eggs as possible, you need to make sure they have all the nutrients they need, plus a healthy helping of protein.
To make sure your chickens get enough protein and calcium, we recommend giving them live black soldier fly larvae. If you’re not aware of these little superbugs, allow us to introduce you. Black soldier fly larvae (or BSFL) are a composting superhero that can turn any kitchen scraps into chicken feed and organic fertilizer.
They have a high calcium content and are a lean protein source, which is great for making eggs. Other good options for high protein content include superworms (which are also fatty and delicious) and dubia roaches (which are very easy to raise at home).
Crickets are a little harder to manage, but they jump and move a ton, which your chickens will love. They also have a high fiber content, which is good. But make sure not to give your layers too many.
How to Introduce Insects to Your Hens
As a general rule, you should give your chickens grain twice a day, morning and evening. You can supplement their diet with insects either once a day or a few times a week. Give them 10-15 insects per bird.
When you first introduce insects to your chickens, do it slowly. Give them a few at first to figure it out. Try spreading the insects over a large area to promote your chickens’ foraging instincts.
Giving your chickens insects in the morning can be good for their energy levels and enriches them with some entertainment. But you can also save insect feedings for the evening to incentivize them to come back to the coop. Either way, it’s wise to pick a rhythm that works and stick with it, so your birds will learn to expect it.
During molting, you will want to give them insects more frequently to boost their protein.
Feeding During Molting Season
When Do Chickens Molt?
Chickens start molting around 18 months old and will do it once per year, in the fall. During molting, your chickens will grow new feathers to replace old, worn-out ones and bundle up for winter weather.
Why Molters Need Extra Protein
Feathers are made of keratin, the same material as hair and nails. And keratin is basically pure protein. In order to grow feathers, your chickens need enough to sustain their bodies like normal, plus an extra dose to turn into feathers.
This can put a nutritional strain on your birds, as their protein intake will increase by 16-20%! If they can’t get extra protein, the nutrient deficiency can be bad for their health.
Best Insects for Molting Chickens
The key to increasing feather growth is protein, protein, protein. So the main thing that matters is that you give your chickens protein more often. If you normally feed them insects three or four times a week, step it up to every day. Or if you normally give them 10-15 insects each, give them five or so extra.
That said, it’s smart to pick a feeder with a high protein content. BSFL are our number one favorites. Depending on what you feed your BSFL, their protein content might be higher or lower. BSFL can actually compost meat and dairy, which will pump up their protein content, which you can then pass onto your chickens.
Superworms are also high in protein, but contain lots of fat too, which is good for energy and your chickens will love it. Mealworms are similar, but less fatty. Both of these options are fairly easy to raise indoors, too.