Complementary and alternative medicines such as tea tree (melaleuca) oil have become increasingly popular in recent decades. This essential oil has been used for almost 100 years in Australia but is now available worldwide both as neat oil and as an active component in an array of products.
Conventional Grain and Legume Feeds for Chickens. Most grains in commercial feed for poultry (corn, legumes, and small grains such as wheat, rye, oats and barley) are easy for the homesteader to grow. I grow âHickory King,â a. vigorous, large-ear feed corn.
1 Wheat grains are small enough that baby chicks can eat them when theyâre a week old or so. 2  Cracked wheat i s can be a good feed, though Iâve never seen cracked wheat that isnât too dusty and floury to be a good scratch feed.3  I donât like it when my feed blows away on the wind before it even reaches the ground! Normally, in the U.S., whole corn is the cheapest grain you can buy, and chickens like it. 2  Cracked corn gets moldy fairly quickly, so use it or lose it. 3  Coarsely cracked corn is better than finely cracked corn, even for baby chicks. 4  Whole wheat is a wonderful scratch feed.