how can i make my own chicken feed?

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ophir

ophir

Hatching
7 Years
Dec 16, 2012
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Hi everyone. I am new to this from, and to chicken raising in general:) , and i wanted to know if anyone has an idea of how to make chicken feed.
We recently got ten laying hens, to add to our exiting three chickens. They have been fed organic feed up until now(or at least so i am told). Since orgenic feed is hard to come by here i wanted to make them my own.they have a ranging area, about ten, fifteen squere meters and i have been working n puting a compost pile into that area so the can enjoy the kitchen scraps. So here the question. What should i add to thier diat, if at all? They used to give ten egs a day but since i change the feed ( two days ago) it has been going down ( nly one today) . Any advice woiuld be appreciated, i only started raising chicken a week ago:)
 
I recommend getting a poultry nutrition book:
Heuser's "Feeding Poultry" is good- I have that one.

Here are some websites to get you started:
http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html

http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/poultry/bba01s07.html

http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/poultry/bba01s20.html

http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/feed_ingredients/grains.html

http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Proteins.html

What I feed is organic chick starter as 1/3 of the feed (I have found that laying and weight gain is really affected by adding some soy), and the rest is just a mix of black oil sunflower seeds, rolled barley, rolled oats, split peas, millet, organic cracked corn, and wheat.

You need to offer greens too if diluting the vitamins from a commercial starter/layer feed such as grass clippings 2-3 inches in length, alfalfa hay in short segments to be safer from impacted crop, alfalfa meal or cubes soaked in water for ease of eating, and vegetable leftovers from your kitchen.

Calcium needs to be given in the form of oyster shells or some other source, and sharp granite grit from free ranging or bought at the feed store to digest whole grains.
 
Last edited:
Good advice above to read about complete chicken nutrition before deciding how to proceed. Chicken's are omnivores with complex needs and it is really important that they get enough protein.

You could also read about fermenting your feed or growing your own fodder to decrease feed costs while still maintaining and maybe even improving nutrition. There are some really good threads about both on this site.

I also farm my own meal worm as a really cheap high protein snack.
 

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