Healthy Feed...

[Cluck Cluck Farmer]

I have researched so much and want the healthiest feed for my flock...
Some say feed this, and some say don't feed that...
Feed is getting expensive, and I would hate to stock up on premium feed, just to find out what is in it is not good for them or their eggs for me...
I have read that fishmeal is a good source of protein, and have also read that fishmeal is not suitable and would make the eggs taste fishy...
What are your opinions?

 

[WIchickMama]

@U_Stormcrow has lots of knowledge on feed and can help or at least guide.

 

[Dakota8472]

free range or move around a chicken tractor daily in the spring summer and into fall, it'll help alot with the feed bill. lets them eat all that free grass and insects. i need to remove some chipmunks........ that'll help my feed bill. Winter i think im just adding some cracked corn in with my regular bird feeds so i will be seeing my bill go up shortly.

 

[Brooks_]

I have researched so much and want the healthiest feed for my flock...
Some say feed this, and some say don't feed that...
Feed is getting expensive, and I would hate to stock up on premium feed, just to find out what is in it is not good for them or their eggs for me...
I have read that fishmeal is a good source of protein, and have also read that fishmeal is not suitable and would make the eggs taste fishy...
What are your opinions?

For all intents and purposes, any commercially prepared feed will be fine.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have been summoned! Wahahahaahahahahaa! errr ummm...
Ok, my advice for what its worth? Ignore almost evertything on the bag. The most important things on a bag of feed are:

A) The mill date. It doesn't matter how good the feed once was, if its value has been degraded by oxidation or its been taken over by a colony of mold, mildew, etc. Mites, roaches and the rest making a home in it isn't quite so bad, as they have nutritional value, but because no proces s in nature is 100% efficient, they have less total value than the contents of the bag that they ate (plus whatever they were eating before they got into the bag.)

B) The guaranteed nutritional label. Your birds and your needs will determine what the optimum mix of vitamins, minerals, fiber, fat, and amino acids will be (many use protein % as a stand in for amino acids - they aren't far wrong, but they aren't right, either.).

and I'll use your fish meal question to illustrate why. Fish meal, or any animal protein meal (menhaden [fish] meal, porcine blood meal, crab meal, etc) is a high protein %, moderate fat, high (relative) cost suppliment used to compensate for the lower nutritional value of much lower cost (usually grains) ingredients. One of the most, if not the most, important limiting amino acids in a chicken's diet is Methionine. Metchionine is literally the first building block of protien creation. Its used to make strong connective tissues - skin, tendons, and the digestive system primarily, but its a component of most everything else.

Without enough methionine, the rest of the protein components in the feed are wasted - because without that first building block, the rest can't be used - like a train with no engine. Its so critical, in fact, that even feeds bearing the "organic" label can contain some amount of synthetic Met.

Fish meal is an EXCELLENT source of Met, which is good, because there are no natural plant sources which, in their raw state, can meet the minimum needs of a modern chicken for optimum growth and productivity. Most of the literature suggests rates of inclusion up to 10% are ok, and Justin Rhodes' well respected "make at home chicken feed" contains 10% fish meal without apparent feedback of "fishy flavor" from those who use it. However, @Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay does feed science for a living and has advised that the industry tries to keep fish meal at 5% or less. I trust that opinion. Taste is HIGHLY subjective, and fish meal is a product whose composition can vary wildly. Fish meal made from sardines or salmon is much different from fish meal made from tilapia or catfish. Don't use the fish meal found in the garden center, use fish meal with its own nutritional label. Or a commercial feed that has sourced its own fish meal.

How much Met do you want? That depends on the age of your birds, your needs for your birds, your budget, and your expectations. The old numbers generally agreed that Met levels of 0.3% were adequate for adult layers under commercial conditions. Hatchlings and juveniles need more, and more recent studies have suggested that modern production layers benefit from higher met levels, as do meat birds (much higher met levels) to support their very high growth rates.

Anyhow, that's a high level overview, I hope it provides a starting point for you.

and this is my general generic feed recommendation.

 

[saysfaa]

I have researched so much and want the healthiest feed for my flock...
Some say feed this, and some say don't feed that...
Feed is getting expensive, and I would hate to stock up on premium feed, just to find out what is in it is not good for them or their eggs for me...
I have read that fishmeal is a good source of protein, and have also read that fishmeal is not suitable and would make the eggs taste fishy...
What are your opinions?

Most of what makes a feed be labeled or promoted as "premium" are things that don't improve the ability of the feed to meet the needs of chickens. The most common such things are organic, non-gmo, soy free, corn free, wheat free, grain free, vegetarian, vegan.

I'll emphasis, these don't make a feed that meets the needs of the chickens better than standard feeds (feeds that are standard in the US; not necessarily feeds that are standard in all parts of the world).

They sometimes meet the needs of people who want to feed something different than standard feeds. Usually, in my opinion based on what they say are their reasons, because it makes them feel better rather than because the choice does what they think it does. Vegetarian, for example. Standard feed is already vegetarian most of the time. Paying more for that to be on the label or in the marketing doesn't feed the birds better.

Yes, I picked the easiest, most uncontroversial thing for an example. I'm hoping for clarity. At least until and unless you want to get into the weeds about the others.

I agree with "...Doing something different has limited benefits in limited conditions..." from U_Stormcrow's link. Although, full disclosure - I do something different. I feed ground feed from the local grain elevator. It has the same ingredients and profile as the most common standard all flock feeds but is not pelletized or crumble. It is harder to feed, I need to soak it in order for them to pick up the powdery stuff where much of the vitamins and trace minerals are. The limited benefits are supporting locally grown crops, sometimes but not always less expensive. The limited conditions are that I live close a grain elevator that is a market for local crops.

About fishmeal. If you are asking because it is on the label of a feed you are looking at buying, and the feed has a label with guaranteed minimum analysis then it is probably good for them and the eggs good for you. And that the eggs won't taste fishy, at least to all but a few people with really sensitive palates.