I buy my layers non-GMO feed from a local farmer who has it milled and the girls love it. With my last batch of meat birds, we used bags from Tractor Supply. This time, I am interested in using the farmer's feed for the meaties. He won't have any milled until about a month after we get them and told us that all he does is add two pounds of fish meal to every 20 pounds of his regular feed, which puts it at a 19% protein level. I *think* we used a 20% feed last time, but I am not too worried about a 1% difference -- plus, I could always add a bit more fish meal to up the protein level a bit if I wanted. My plan is to give the birds 24/7 access to the 19% feed for the first 2 weeks, and then switch them to 12 on, 12 off. Plan to process to 7 weeks, but could push to 8 if I wanted them to get a bit bigger. Has anyone ever used fish meal in conjunction with regular feed for meat birds? We ordered 30 jumbo cornish X's from Murray. Any thoughts on this?
Totally good. Just need to think about the type of fish meal, as in where are the fish from and what is it preserved with? Or maybe synthetic preserves are not a concern for you. Catfish preserved with ethoxyqquin for example would be a no-go in my book. Fast growing, cold water, sea-going fish that are naturally preserved would be ideal (although the highest price). But I believe we are what we eat, and garbage in garbage out.
