I seem to be doing well on the mixture of my part grain, part feed. I ferment it and that bumps up the protein slightly. Still haven't opened my catfish feed yet. Doing well with the gamebird. I've decided to add tumeric to the mix. So many health benefits. Maybe 1-2 T per 5 gallon pail. I'm trying to get my courage up to paint my white pails black and make waterers out of them. I bought the little cup thingys that go on the side. 3 for the 1 in the big coop and 2 cups for the small coop.
The primary protein improvement is to increase its digestibility by decreasing phytic acid rather than actually increasing the protein.
What conflicting information.
I know that there is a ton of information out there some good and some not so good. The one thing that a lot of people forget or just don't know is that chickens eat to fill there caloric needs meaning when that need is met there eating stops weather or not they get all there nutritional needs.
Now before someone comes on and says that I'm downing a homemade feed mix, I'm not.
I'v had poultry and livestock for 30+ years and within those years I have done my fare share of mixing feed from scratch and having a home mix.
Same here, I still do. But the base intake is a nutritionally balanced feed. It's just cheaper for me than buying all those ingredients separately.
I do keep many grains, seeds and legumes for seeding pastures, growing sprouts, fodder and even scratch grains.
Just like everything else in this world, nobody can quite agree on what is best to feed chickens.
To some degree, it is about finding what you're comfortable with and what works well for your flock. However Chris09 was spot on about all the add-ons. Suet is basically just fat, which is unnecessary and can cause too much weight gain and high cholesterol. Kielbasa is heavy with preservatives, seasonings, and salt, none of which chickens need. Celery is mostly water and fiber with little nutrient content.
There is nothing wrong with adding scraps and snacks to your birds' diet, but be a little choosy. Fresh, uncooked, unseasoned, nutrient dense foods are the best. Leafy greens, fresh vegetables, fresh meat, etc. are the best sorts of things to give.
I hope we can all agree to disagree. Clearly, what works for one may not be the best for someone else. Furthermore, everyone has their own purposes and goals. Someone that raises meat birds, or replaces their layer flock every couple years needs to think differently than a pet person that will keep their birds for many years or the breeder that keeps the same line for many generations. The latter needs to make sure that nutrition is complete and optimal for good production, hatchability and grow out.
Clearly, if one has plenty of good forage in mild weather, the chickens well glean a fair amount of their nutrition there.
I'm with you on the leafy greens. Some people think that means grass. Grass isn't nearly as helpful as more succulent and nutritious things like the tender leaves of turnip, dandelion, buckwheat, peas etc.
Grower feed is usually about 5% fat and layer feed between 2.5-4% so if one keeps those numbers in mind, they may be able to add some fatty things.
So glad to see other folks thinking that, too. But unfortunately, it's "on the internet, so it must be true".
As much as I like this forum, I agree, as well as the information on the breed selection pages. Everyone can put their 2 cents worth in there regardless of their experience.
Most breeds of chickens are fantastic for one reason or many. Everyone loves their chickens but if someone has only raised 3 breeds of chickens they really don't have much to compare them to. I've raised about 30 breeds but don't consider myself expert enough to comment there. For instance, I've never raised games, silkies, orloffs, cubalayas, fayoumis, etc.. Those are disparate types that I can't comment on.
I just produce my own organic feed. I grow oats, wheat, barley and corn on my field. I buy non-GMO organic soybean meal in blocks of 400 pounds at a time to get it for cheap (this much lasts for a couple of years).
I grind and then mix the oats and wheat and barley together, and I grind the corn so it's in quite big pieces (not ground finely) and then prepare the home mix food in the following way:
broilers:
1 part soybean meal
1 part rough ground corn
3 parts oat/wheat/barley mix (note: I grind this too, but not finely)
this gives me a feed with a high spectrum of minerals and vitamins, and about 25% protein - good for broilers.
laying hens:
the same as above when it's winter, but in summer I don't use soybean meal or corn.
for these girls I have a second feeder of whole grains - again oats and wheat and barley, so that they can eat whole grains or ground grains depending on what they feel like doing.
year round I give all my chickens crushed oyster shells on demand.
my eggs and chicken meat are fabulous, and my chickens are always top notch healthy.
when I buy a laying chicken from a market or sale, they arrive at my farm with faded, off-color wattles and dull looking feathers and demeanor. Within a week or two of eating the food on my farm and ranging on the grass there outside, their wattles invariably become much darker red, their feathers get brighter and stronger, and they really perk up.
this is how I know for sure that my feed program is effective. I would never buy chicken food from a manufacturer, and I really don't understand why everybody does. it's cheaper and better to make your own.
good plan
I'm curious if you breed for replacements and have done so for generations or do you buy replacements?
Most Sunflower seeds are only around 13% to 16% protein which is about the same as some other grain like Steamed Rolled Oats (17% protein), Barley (12% protein) Wheat Midds (18% protein) etc. There Total Digestible Nutrition (TDN) is low at 68% do to the high amount of indigestible fibers. Soaking them over night or two will help with the TDN and still keeping oil content.
X2
hulled will give about 18% and meal is about 40% but the BOSS in the hull is about the same as a whole grain.
It sprouts rapidly so that's an alternative too.
I am finding this thread very interesting. I feel so sorry for my chickens since we just can't let them free range here. I bring them clover, dandelions, etc. I want to build them chicken tunnels that can be moved daily and connected to the runs with a pop out door. Until then, I really want to feed them fodder, and I want to give them fodder over the winter. I just don't have a nice sunny window in the winter. Is that necessary? Will a warm room and a nice light bulb suffice?
fluorescent lamps placed just above the fodder is probably better than light from a window. You need about18 hours of light.
If you have a room that stays around 68 to 70* F you can grow about anything you want including fodder.
As for the lights I would recommend getting 2 shop lights putting them side by side and putting a set of Agrosun bulbs in them.
Good advice. A cheaper alternative that will give good results is to use 'kitchen & bath" lamps. They're much cheaper and still give the red and blue spectrum the plants need. A guy tested all types of fluorescent tubes and got the best results from gro lamps and the K&B lamps.
