⠀ Commercial layer recipe

[daneblackburn]

I was wondering if anyone had a reasonable recipe. If looked on net and the supplement seams super expensive. Corn, bean meal, some sort of calcium. Is the supplement a must? I have a feed grinder just need a recipe. Thought about throwing in a bale of hay even. Any suggestions?

 

[DrMikelleRoeder]

I was wondering if anyone had a reasonable recipe. If looked on net and the supplement seams super expensive. Corn, bean meal, some sort of calcium. Is the supplement a must? I have a feed grinder just need a recipe. Thought about throwing in a bale of hay even. Any suggestions?

From my experience, it can be very difficult to achieve optimum nutrition with a homemade feed recipe, simply because there is such a delicate balance of nutrients needed to keep birds healthy and productive for many years. Birds require many different vitamins, minerals and amino acids in the right amounts and ratios.

If you are feeding laying hens, we’d recommend feeding them a 16% protein complete layer feed that also includes calcium. A complete feed should make up at least 90% of the diet to avoid diluting the nutrition profile with other scratch grains and supplements.
You may not see a difference right away, but a complete feed approach is likely your best bet for birds to live happy, healthy productive lives. Also consider that your hens’ lives may be lengthened by a correctly balanced diet.

For more tips on helping your hens produce quality eggs, check out this article on our website! http://purinamills.com/animal-nutrition-information/articles/backyard-poultry/3-tips-to-help-your-hens-produce-quality-eggs/

 

[bigbruce]

Stick with commercial layer it's better and cheaper

 

[kmartinez]

I looked for recipes, the ingredients can get costly. It benefits only if u have large flocks. However, it's not cost effective. Locally we have an organic farm and mill that mix broiler and layer feed, as well as sheep feed. It is cheaper for me to purchase from them I pay 22 bux for 50lb Bags.

Only thing I mix is sweet feed as treat for my sheep, but I still get the grains from them and the molasses from the amish..

U might want to look into local farms and Mills in ur area. Chicken feed is readily on hand and it's already mixed and bagged for ya

 

[ChickenCanoe]

From my experience, it can be very difficult to achieve optimum nutrition with a homemade feed recipe, simply because there is such a delicate balance of nutrients needed to keep birds healthy and productive for many years. Birds require many different vitamins, minerals and amino acids in the right amounts and ratios.

...

X2

Stick with commercial layer it's better and cheaper

X2

I looked for recipes, the ingredients can get costly. ... Chicken feed is readily on hand and it's already mixed and bagged for ya

X2



It can't be done. Consider the economies of scale. You may be buying grains/legumes by the 50 lb. bag and supplements by the pound. Feed companies are buying main ingredients by the trainload and supplements by the ton.
There are nutrient ratios available online but not recipes. That's mainly because all companies whether making feed for the retail market or layer/broiler operations that own their own mills, change their recipes from time to time in order to provide the nutrition mix chickens (or other animals) need at the lowest cost.
You might have a grinder but you likely don't have the means to analyze the end result for complete nutrition.
Even if you have thousands of birds or the acreage and climate to grow all the ingredients, it's virtually impossible to make your own feed that is as nutritious as commercial feed. If you have thousands of birds, you can buy bulk feed by the ton. If you have all the space to grow all the ingredients, you still need more abilities that aren't worth your time.
You can raise chickens without ideal nutrition but it will eventually have a negative effect on production and reproduction.

ETA
A good bag of poultry feed is often cheaper than an equal sized bag of one of the ingredients.

 

[daneblackburn]

I save money mixing big feed and cow feed?