A small amount of chopped alfalfa adds valuable greens, but too much green forage cannot be digested properly by the birds. Chickens don't like dusty or powdery mash. Moistening the mash can stop the valuable protein powder from filtering down and being left in the feeder. Homestead uses organic flax or soya oil for this purpose. Research has shown that feeding oats in summer helps the birds cope better with heat and allows them to maintain their egg production even in hot weather.
Sprouted grains help with a richer egg colour in winter and are a good source of vitamins.
They can be used to replace synthetic amino acids. Be careful not to overdo this however, as the resulting nutritional imbalance may affect the health and production of the birds. Feed them only what they clean up in 10 minutes. Don't feed raw potato peels. Don't feed anything spoiled or rotten.