Wholesome home-made chicken feed, without sweat, tears, a calculator, or deep pockets.

Just what I was looking for! I've been researching more efficient ways to raise chickens, and I stumbled across this thread by accident. Thank you so much for your advice! You are a Godsend.

Wow, very thorough, informative, and well-written! Thank you!

I've also seen the urging of very limited feeding of mealworms in every single article that I've read, attributing it to the high fat and high protein content. When I discovered one of my ladies had severe injuries to both legs from pecking, I thought for certain I was going to lose her. Both legs were literally teal in color and were completely bare with large puncture wounds! I immediately treated her with hydrogen peroxide and triple antibiotic oitment twice a day every day and fed her daily with a big handful of mixed mealworms and BSFL. I was relying on (and hoping) the high protein content to help her heal more quickly, if she was to recover at all. She was completely healed in three days, not one bit of teal skin showing by day 3! I could not believe how quickly she recovered from such terrible wounds. I attribute it mostly to the extra feeding of the mealworms and BSFL. I was so happy, and it was such a relief!

So, yes, I completely agree with you that feeding the invalids (sick/weak) with mealworms is essential for them to regain their health, if at all.

I saw some split peas at the market today and debated mixing it into their salad mix that I make for them several times a week, if not almost daily. After reading your article, I think I will put them into the rotation. Their salad varies depending on what I have growing in the yard and some fresh fruits and vegetables from the market or vegetable scraps from our meals. I grow some things just for them, e.g., fescue, which I was just able to harvest the past couple of days. I've got dandelion I've been growing from seed, but they are not quite ready for harvest yet. I appreciate your listing all the native plants. I try to do the same. I got really lucky and have wild nasturtiums that I occasionally include in their salad. I also sprout lentils and alfalfa for their salad-mix rotation. I've also purchased comfrey just for them. My girls are a bit spoilt!!!

Again, thank you for a great article!

Super informative and very well written!

totally comprehensive about the science of chickens' natural eating instincts and how to meet their needs economically and in a way that is satisfying. So @Perris, I'm guessing retired botanist - ?

Really awesome!! Thank you for suppling new important information, that really opens ,my bird eyes!!
I love the tourogh information, and apprciate the details, and for the pigeon info, I was wondering what to feed our Pigeon, Ruju, and this is SO useful!
I will replace the wheat with a mix of quinoa, spelt and perhaps teff though, for I don't like wheat.

Very thorough and inspiring article. Thank you! You don’t mention how long to ferment, is the time between your evening feeding and next morning feeding enough to ferment the new jar? I’m also curious whether this one jar is sufficient for all 20 of your birds (plus the extras) for the whole day or do you have multiple jars going for each feeding?
Thanks for the great recipe

Wow, this was a really interesting read and it seems you really did your homework as far as research goes. I've been interested in the idea of homemade feed for a while and this is a good resource.

Thank you for an excellent article. I like the detail, with prices, and information on how to put this together. Kudos!

Perris you've done it again! The information you give and the time you dedicate to this is incredible. My 11 chicks have been on a homemade feed since hatching and I 100% agree with everything you are talking about.
-I highly suggest anyone reading this to try out Perris' method. Trust your birds instincts, do not trust the commercial feed industry.
-None of my chicks have ever had pasty butt
-They currently eat a mix of fine cracked corn, barley, sunflower seed and quinoa.
-My chickens do not like lentils, wheat or peas.
-I feed them sardines a few times a month and they go wild for it!
-I throw the birds our extra berries, chopped meat (cooked) and broccoli (there favorite)
-I have played around with my feed recipe and tweaked it based on what my chickens liked and what they left out
-I've let them forage on their own (with me watching closely and standing by lol) since 3 weeks old. Before going outside, I grabbed dirt and mixed a small amount into their food to get their gut used to what they would be eating.
- They eat my feed mix fermented or dry.
-I buy all my ingredients right in my local super market.

Excellent! Enjoyed your research and explanations. As an American I also appreciated your explanation of corn and maize. Thank you for ALL the time and effort out into this article.

Very informative. I feel more confident in feeding my small flock of chickens such a varied diet, along with their free range outings in the garden. I also like the fact I can purchase a lot of ingredients from my store for this, rather than be confined entirely to commercial feed.

This was very informative. As I've had pigeons in my life a lot longer than chickens, I found that chickens enjoy pigeon feed grains pretty early on. I do mix up my feed, but include the egg laying pellets as well. I have also planted pigeon grain, growing fresh sprouts, which they love to forage. I have not fermented the grain but now I plan to. Thank you for this great information

Bookmarking this for later. Very informative!

Very informative, comprehensively researched and a great read. May take several read throughs for it to really sink in as there’s so much interesting information in there.

Very comprehensive, but not overwhelming. There's just enough science here to help the layman understand without getting too boggled in the technical details. I've been trying to find a locally mixed poultry feed for some time, with no real success. Armed with this information, I think I'm ready to try it myself, now. THANK YOU!

Thank you for taking the time to write this. Excellent and well written article, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and and explaining your methods and sources in a simple and educational way so that I could really take it in and understand how the process works. I’m really looking forward to following this step by step. Cheers

This is invaluable information! I want to give our chickens the best to encourage a long healthy lives. Thank you @Perris for all the hard work and thought that went into sharing this with us!

Very good resource for making feed at home.

The vast amount of nutritional information in this article is incredible! I really appreciated the nutritional info you added for each of the various foods you feed your flock. I also liked that you commented on an often-repeated refrain on BYC "to only give treats once per week; otherwise stick to commercial feed only." Every single item you feed your birds could be considered "treats", but they add up to a balanced diet. Plus, we all know how much chickens love treats! I have no doubt you have a very healthy and very happy flock. Since I couldn't memorize the entire article, I will be referring back to it often, and recommending it to others too.

Outstanding information!