"Secret Ingredients" in Commercial Chicken Feed

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Lots of discussions I've read seem to suggest that commercial chicken feed is the "BEST" or "ONLY" way to feed chickens. To each his own, but I decided to scratch at this a bit (I must be part chicken).

So, if chicken feed is so great....why? What's in it that you can't get elsewhere?

I found a chicken feed concentrate by Form-A-Feed, the idea being that you buy the concentrate, and mix it with grains you either grow yourself, or buy locally for cheaper (or at least with a bit lower carbon cost).

Description from the web site:

Multi-Purpose Poultry Concentrate is a premium quality concentrate, in crumble form, designed for a variety of poultry rations. It provides protein, lysine, methionine, calcium, phosphorus, salt, vitamins and trace minerals. Mix with corn and other grains for pullet and layer rations, or make broiler rations by mixing with corn and additional soybean meal.

Great! The secret ingredients in chicken feed! Where do these magical compounds come from?

Calcium, we all know comes from egg shells and/or oyster shell.

What about protein, lysine, methionine, and phosphorus? They can be found in....MEAT!

Vitamins? They can be found in VEGETABLES!

Salt, which is only needed in small amounts, can be found in....MARGARITTAS! Wait...no, other foods (or in mineral form).

No word on what the trace minerals are, but I find it hard to believe they wouldn't be attainable.

Again, not saying there's anything wrong with commercial chicken feed. It's clearly the most convenient way, and in many cases, likely the cheapest way, to feed your chickens a well-balanced diet. All I'm saying is it may not be the ONLY way.

 

[chickenlittle21]

feeding chickens meat can give them salmonella.

 

[Folly's place]

Of course it's not the only way, but it's the least expensive and easiest way!
There's no need to 'reinvent the wheel' here, or spend lots more money, or lots more time; there's plenty of other things that need doing.
Feeding whole grains encourages at least some birds to eat the yummy bits and leave the rest, so at least that bird is malnourished and in trouble. It's not a rare event, either.
Enjoy your Margaritas, and buy balanced feed, or spend lots more time and money doing it all yourself. Less time and money for those drinks!
Mary

 

[chickenlittle21]

egg yolk has protein and chickens can eat it. also chickens LOVE herbs: basil,parsley rosemary, lemon balm, lemon grass, etc..

 

[chickenlittle21]

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

feeding chickens meat can give them salmonella.

Raw meat, maybe. Cooked meat?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sounds interesting! Also time-consuming. Keep us posted, if you do this. Keep careful notes!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Of course it's not the only way, but it's the least expensive and easiest way!
There's no need to 'reinvent the wheel' here, or spend lots more money, or lots more time; there's plenty of other things that need doing.
Feeding whole grains encourages at least some birds to eat the yummy bits and leave the rest, so at least that bird is malnourished and in trouble. It's not a rare event, either.
Enjoy your Margaritas, and buy balanced feed, or spend lots more time and money doing it all yourself. Less time and money for those drinks!
Mary

Isn't "it's the easiest and cheapest" approach the same thinking that got us factory farmed meat and eggs?

My thinking is that we have lots of locally produced food waste on it's way to landfills.

Meanwhile, we grow crops that get processes into chicken feed, bagged in plastic bags, and shipped hundreds to thousands of miles to feed our flocks.

Call me crazy, but I'm just thinking there could be a way to solve for both problems with a little creativity.

Maybe not for everyone....but....I'm intrigued.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Sounds interesting! Also time-consuming. Keep us posted, if you do this. Keep careful notes!

Yes, records would have to be kept, and if ill was being done, reversed.

 

[sunrise.superman]

I feed organic chicken feed, starter blend. And you can see each little food particle looking like a food particle and know its name. The feed store was out of what I feed one weekend so I used TSC organic crumble for a few days...could hardly tell it was food and my chooks looked at me like I was nuts.

I come from a long veterinary background with training in whole foods nutrition so commercial highly processed feed seems pale in comparison to a varied and rich diet in fresh foods.

I feed mine the chook feed fermented, oyster shell, meal worms/grubs, greens, fresh fruit and veggie peelings and scraps, some meat and egg scraps, and they free range in my large yard for grass and weeds and fresh bugs.