Feeding Backyard Chickens in New Zealand

Good feeding is the difference between a flock that lays well and stays healthy and one that struggles. The foundation is a quality layer feed that covers everything a laying hen needs, topped up with the right extras and plenty of clean water. Get the basics right and the rest is just keeping it interesting for the birds.

This page covers the feed brands you will find in New Zealand, how scraps fit in, and the few things you should never give your hens.

Layer pellets are the foundation

A complete layer pellet or mash should make up the bulk of a laying hen's diet. It is formulated with the protein and calcium they need to lay well and stay in condition, so it does the heavy lifting and everything else is a supplement. New Zealand has several well regarded brands stocked through rural suppliers, garden centres and the big hardware chains.

• Topflite: a New Zealand made brand with a popular Classic Layer Pellet, widely stocked
• NRM: a long standing feed brand, with Peck'n'Lay pellets a common choice for backyard layers
• These are easy to find at Farmlands, pet and produce stores, and hardware chains nationwide
• Move pullets onto a layer feed at around point of lay, roughly sixteen weeks

Grit, greens and scraps

Hens need grit to grind their food and shell grit or crushed oyster shell to keep their eggshells strong, especially if scraps make up a good part of the diet. Offer it free choice in a separate container and they will take what they need. Fresh greens, garden trimmings and kitchen vegetable scraps are all welcome and keep the flock busy and content.

The key is balance. Treats and scraps should stay a minority of the diet. When other feed makes up more than about half of what they eat, the complete pellet is no longer doing its job and you risk soft shells and lower laying, so keep the pellets as the main course and the scraps as the side.

What to avoid, and the rules around scraps

Some foods are simply bad for chickens. Avoid anything mouldy or spoiled, very salty or sugary foods, and known toxic items such as avocado, raw dried beans, and green or sprouting potato. Onion in quantity is best left out too. When in doubt, leave it out.

On the legal side, New Zealand's strict swill rules about feeding meat scraps apply to pigs, not backyard chickens, so they are a separate matter from feeding hens. Even so, the sensible practice with poultry is to keep meat and food that has touched raw meat out of the run. It draws rats and predators, spoils fast, and is good biosecurity to avoid. Stick to vegetable scraps, greens and grains and you keep the flock healthy and the pests away.