Homemade feed questions?

[SavageDestiny]

I'v seen a lot of chicken feed mixes on this sight and most are nothing more that expensive scratch mix.
What I would like to know is out of all these chicken feed mixes everybody is making how many of them sent there feed mix off to be tested for proper nutrient levels for the type of poultry they have.

It would be impossible for me to send off my diet. Because aside from the grain/seed/legume mix I feed my chickens, they also get a huge variety of fresh vegetables, greens, and fruits as well as various fresh meats and organs. They get fish oil a few times a week. Plus supplements like kelp, yeast, cayenne, turmeric, etc.

This is exactly why I asked this question. Even though there are tons of homemade recipes around the internet for chicken feed, there are still others that say it is not worth it and actually not nutritious enough for the chickens.

For now I am going to be buying organic feed, but will make my own sometime in the future. Funny though, if you look at alot of the organic feeds out there you will see additives of minerals and vitamins and other things. Funny I thought organic meant everything was natural and not an additive such as those added vitamins.

Processed feed has to have vitamin and mineral supplements added. Cooking everything down and mashing it into a pellet removes nutrients. Those lost nutrients have to be replaced somehow, thus the additives. Even with totally fresh foods, some supplements are necessary for trace minerals, like kelp.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That's not the point though. People eating junk food isn't the topic of conversation. I just find it hilarious that people are convinced nobody can figure out how to make food for a dog, cat, chicken, etc. but we are all totally fine feeding ourselves and children. Nobody makes kibble for kids, lol.

I can figure it out, it's just much cheaper for me to buy organic feed than to buy all the organic ingredients individually.

And yes, I am an omnivore and I do know how to feed myself as well.

 

[Chris09]

This is exactly why I asked this question. Even though there are tons of homemade recipes around the internet for chicken feed, there are still others that say it is not worth it and actually not nutritious enough for the chickens.

For now I am going to be buying organic feed, but will make my own sometime in the future. Funny though, if you look at alot of the organic feeds out there you will see additives of minerals and vitamins and other things. Funny I thought organic meant everything was natural and not an additive such as those added vitamins.

There are a number of reason for added Vitamins, Minerals and other Nutrients (example some amino acids). Grains and other ingredients can vary from batch to batch, from field to field and year to year. Some of them are added because some nutrients are harder for poultry to extract.
Some forms of Vitamin E is added to feed as a feed preservative and can help hold in nutrition.
By adding that nutrient they are insuring that your bird is getting all that they need.

 

[6of6chicks]

I just bought The Chicken Health Handbook a few days ago and there is a chapter on health and nutrition. Then it talks about vitamin deficiencies, and quite frankly that chapter was more frightening than the disease chapter. Even if I somehow managed to get a balanced feed, a chicken's nutritional requirements vary at different times in its life (like during molting). It just seems like it would be impossible to keep it all balanced, especially since you're dealing with an animal whose eating habits can't be controlled. I can mix my dog's food and she will clean the bowl, giving me some degree of control over her diet. But chickens? In eight weeks I've seen them eat everything they can get their little beaks on, nutritional or otherwise.

Maybe it's just because I'm new and don't have enough experience with chickens and that's why I don't get it. For those people who successfully mix their chickens' feed, could you provide a basic recipe you use for a balanced feed? Maybe that will help me understand how it's done.

I just wanted to chime in because this is exactly the sort of thing I would normally do without realizing the consequences down the road. Google homemade chicken feed, try it out - because hey, that sounds great! - and end up with sick chickens.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I just bought The Chicken Health Handbook a few days ago and there is a chapter on health and nutrition. Then it talks about vitamin deficiencies, and quite frankly that chapter was more frightening than the disease chapter. Even if I somehow managed to get a balanced feed, a chicken's nutritional requirements vary at different times in its life (like during molting). It just seems like it would be impossible to keep it all balanced, especially since you're dealing with an animal whose eating habits can't be controlled. I can mix my dog's food and she will clean the bowl, giving me some degree of control over her diet. But chickens? In eight weeks I've seen them eat everything they can get their little beaks on, nutritional or otherwise.

Maybe it's just because I'm new and don't have enough experience with chickens and that's why I don't get it. For those people who successfully mix their chickens' feed, could you provide a basic recipe you use for a balanced feed? Maybe that will help me understand how it's done.

I just wanted to chime in because this is exactly the sort of thing I would normally do without realizing the consequences down the road. Google homemade chicken feed, try it out - because hey, that sounds great! - and end up with sick chickens.

IMO, you bought the best book any chicken keeper can have on their bookshelf.

If you don't mind, did you buy the version updated this year or the original edition. I personally haven't bought the new edition yet but plan to.

 

[6of6chicks]

IMO, you bought the best book any chicken keeper can have on their bookshelf.

If you don't mind, did you buy the version updated this year or the original edition. I personally haven't bought the new edition yet but plan to.

Didn't even know there were multiple editions, lol! I bought this one from amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Healt...1&sr=8-1&keywords=The+chicken+health+handbook

The copyright says 1994, so I'm guessing it's the original edition?

This is one scary book! I had no idea how much could go wrong with chickens. It's why I chimed in about mixing your own feed vs. store-bought feed. With everything that can go wrong with a chicken, why CREATE more potential problems by messing with their food? I'm not wild about highly processed stuff either, but at least I won't have to worry about my chickens getting rickets, anemia, or any of the other awful things caused by vitamin deficiencies AND overloads.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good point. The new edition came out in February or March. It may be scary but the number of problems that can affect chickens aren't isolated to chickens. Humans and most other animals can be affected by as many problems I'm astounded when someone posts a single symptom and wants to know what is wrong with their chickens.

 

[SavageDestiny]

I'm a newbie and my chicks are only 8 weeks old. However, I wanted to comment because it isn't just experienced folks reading threads like this. Newbies are reading too, and for me personally it's sometimes hard to know who to listen to.

I just bought The Chicken Health Handbook a few days ago and there is a chapter on health and nutrition. Then it talks about vitamin deficiencies, and quite frankly that chapter was more frightening than the disease chapter. Even if I somehow managed to get a balanced feed, a chicken's nutritional requirements vary at different times in its life (like during molting). It just seems like it would be impossible to keep it all balanced, especially since you're dealing with an animal whose eating habits can't be controlled. I can mix my dog's food and she will clean the bowl, giving me some degree of control over her diet. But chickens? In eight weeks I've seen them eat everything they can get their little beaks on, nutritional or otherwise.

Maybe it's just because I'm new and don't have enough experience with chickens and that's why I don't get it. For those people who successfully mix their chickens' feed, could you provide a basic recipe you use for a balanced feed? Maybe that will help me understand how it's done.

I just wanted to chime in because this is exactly the sort of thing I would normally do without realizing the consequences down the road. Google homemade chicken feed, try it out - because hey, that sounds great! - and end up with sick chickens.

My recipe is:

2 cups white wheat
2 cups barley
2 cups lentils
2 cups black oil sunflower seeds
1 cup alfalfa pellets
1 cup split peas
1 cup soft red wheat
1 cup bird seed (red and white millet plus sunflower hearts)
1 cup flax
1 cup chia

I ferment my grain mix. Whole grains are difficult to digest, fermenting makes the nutrients more available as well as provides probiotics. Plus each hen gets 1 tsp kelp, 1/2 tsp yeast, and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper and turmeric each day. Grit and oyster shell/egg shell are offered free choice.

It's important to note that I don't consider this complete if the hens are not free ranging or supplied with variety. Chickens are omnivores and shouldn't be forced to survive on grains alone. So I provide insects, fresh greens, veg, and fruit, as well as fresh meat occasionally.

 

[6of6chicks]

My recipe is:

2 cups white wheat
2 cups barley
2 cups lentils
2 cups black oil sunflower seeds
1 cup alfalfa pellets
1 cup split peas
1 cup soft red wheat
1 cup bird seed (red and white millet plus sunflower hearts)
1 cup flax
1 cup chia

I ferment my grain mix. Whole grains are difficult to digest, fermenting makes the nutrients more available as well as provides probiotics. Plus each hen gets 1 tsp kelp, 1/2 tsp yeast, and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper and turmeric each day. Grit and oyster shell/egg shell are offered free choice.

It's important to note that I don't consider this complete if the hens are not free ranging or supplied with variety. Chickens are omnivores and shouldn't be forced to survive on grains alone. So I provide insects, fresh greens, veg, and fruit, as well as fresh meat occasionally.

Wow, that's quite a list! Thank you for sharing - it definitely helps me understand homemade feed better. I think I was picturing corn and oats and not much else. I haven't looked at fermenting yet so I don't know anything about that process. I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask about your feed, if you don't mind (if not, that's okay too!). I'm not being snarky at all (and hope I'm not coming across that way) - I'm just WAY to afraid of trying something like this myself. After my sick chick last week I'm terrified of making more newbie mistakes. But I'm curious and would I'd like to learn more about homemade feeds.

Here goes: Do your chickens eat all of it, or do they just pick out the good stuff? Where do you get all of those ingredients? I'm thinking the bins at whole foods would be WAY too expensive - can you buy the ingredients in bags? Why the turmeric? I'm familiar with the benefits of the others, but what does turmeric do? Why no corn or oats? For some reason I have it in my head that those are "chicken feed" - but I'm new at this and don't know why I believe that, lol! Have you compared the cost of your feed to store-bought feed? I'm just wondering if the homemade is more expensive.

Your recipe gives me a place to start reading and researching. Thank you, I really appreciate it!

 

[SavageDestiny]

Wow, that's quite a list! Thank you for sharing - it definitely helps me understand homemade feed better. I think I was picturing corn and oats and not much else. I haven't looked at fermenting yet so I don't know anything about that process. I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask about your feed, if you don't mind (if not, that's okay too!). I'm not being snarky at all (and hope I'm not coming across that way) - I'm just WAY to afraid of trying something like this myself. After my sick chick last week I'm terrified of making more newbie mistakes. But I'm curious and would I'd like to learn more about homemade feeds.

Here goes: Do your chickens eat all of it, or do they just pick out the good stuff? Where do you get all of those ingredients? I'm thinking the bins at whole foods would be WAY too expensive - can you buy the ingredients in bags? Why the turmeric? I'm familiar with the benefits of the others, but what does turmeric do? Why no corn or oats? For some reason I have it in my head that those are "chicken feed" - but I'm new at this and don't know why I believe that, lol! Have you compared the cost of your feed to store-bought feed? I'm just wondering if the homemade is more expensive.

Your recipe gives me a place to start reading and researching. Thank you, I really appreciate it!

I don't mind questions. And DANG, I knew I was going to forget something writing it all out! There is 1 cup whole oats in the mix as well, haha. I avoid corn because I would like to avoid GMOs, if at all possible. Corn is also a warming food, so not great during the summer time! They will probably get some corn as treats when it is really cold out. I bought most of the stuff from local feed stores- 50lb bags of wheat, barley, oats, and alfalfa pellets were $10-12 per bag. The black oil sunflower (BOSS) was $22 for a 40lb bag. Lentils and peas I got at Cash and Carry for $16 per 25lbs, the millet mix was I think $7 for 10lbs from a feed store, the flax is $1.19 per lb at Natural Grocers. The chia is by far the most expensive at $5 per lb, but I use it myself so it is on hand, so I share with the chickens haha. I have not done the math to price it all out per pound. It is probably more expensive than regular chicken feed. The turmeric I do because it is an excellent anti-inflammatory and can also help get a nice orange egg color.

My chickens eat all of it. They don't leave a scrap behind! They're pretty gluttonous, though, they love food! They seem to be doing great on their feed. Happy, laying eggs well, nice shiny feathers and red waxy combs. Good weight on them too. I also have a 10 week old pullet who has been eating it and she is growing like a weed! I guess I'm more comfortable doing this because I believe so much in natural foods. I've made diets for dogs, cats, ferrets, and even my fish. So I'm pretty comfortable making feeds.