Finally: A Feed Recipe Calculator

Hi all!

I'm a newbie here on the forum, finally having signed up, but I've been reading it for ages. Anywhooo, after much research, reading loads of agricultural journals and scouring the internet for info, as many of you have done I'm sure, I finally decided to come up with my own feed nutritional calculator so I could come up with the most ideal feed for my situation, for the ingredients that I could find near me and feed items that were a price that I was comfortable with).

Given the risk of nutritional deficiencies, I wanted to share it with other backyard flock owners who also want to formulate their own feed, or find out whats in the food they mix in with their complete feeds, give as treats, etc. I'm a lover of Scratch and Peck Feeds and a few other organic, non-GMO brands personally, which are really hard to get a hold of in Canada, but I also love making things from scratch. Whether you choose a pre-made feed or make your own, I hope this helps you out

The Urban Homesteader: http://www.chateaujardin.net/blog/chateaujardinfeedcalculator

Scroll down for the link to the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet below the picture of my girls enjoying their feed.

I'm not a vet, nor an animal nutritionist (insert eye roll here by those that are experts in the area on me giving advice!) but I love my hens and I hope this helps you out anyway. Please let me know if you see any errors so I can make the changes, and you can edit the nutrient amounts for what is available in your area if it greatly differs from mine. It's fun to play around with and see what different ingredients, snacks, etc. you give your hens are made of!

All the best and happy urban homesteading!


Amelie

Hi nice to see another Canadian

I've been doing a fair share of research into making my own chicken feed as well....not there yet though. Raising mealworms as well and crickets. Thanks for the link very interesting.

Hello and welcome to BYC!

I am another of those who dream/wish to devise a super concoction of seeds and feeds for my beloved birds. Your provided link is most interesting, and I thank you for posting same. Do you have results and or impressions of doing this yet? Do you plan on using something on this order for your flock? I, as well as many others would be interested in your experience with this. Should you do so, would you mind updating your findings here…

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

Welcome to BYC. Thanks for your information.

Welcome!

Very detailed article! I like your recipe. We also mix up our own feed.

Hi RJSorensen,

I've been using the calculator I made for some time now, and have found with my second recipe (on my website, link in my original post above), I get bright orange yolks, shiny feathers, overall happy and healthy foraging chickens who lay loads of eggs with fabulously thick shells, many more than what the breed standard says. When I recently went back to an organic, soy-free, nonGMO commercial layer feed (as I was away for a week and another person who lives with us was feeding them) their eggs weigh on avg 2-5 grams less, shells are a tad thinner or are bumpy (excess/deficiency of calcium) and their legs and wattles are less bright. They also need to eat a lot more feed than they did on my recipe....so though this is only anecdotal from my personal flock, my conclusion after this unintended experiment is that im going back to my recipe again once I finish this bag of food. Its worth the extra time hunting down the ingredients and mixing it at home for me to have hens that i feel are healthier and better layers. This is just my personal experience, but I hope that helps you anyway!

Amelie

RJSorensen said:

Hello and welcome to BYC!

I am another of those who dream/wish to devise a super concoction of seeds and feeds for my beloved birds. Your provided link is most interesting, and I thank you for posting same. Do you have results and or impressions of doing this yet? Do you plan on using something on this order for your flock? I, as well as many others would be interested in your experience with this. Should you do so, would you mind updating your findings here…

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

Click to expand...

Yes, thank you for the follow up. Very thoughtful on your part.

RJ