Another homemade recipe attempt...

[NatJ]

With supplimentation, feeds up to 70% sorghum have proven adequate for reaising poultry indeveloping countries - but you likely don't have those suppliments available.

Minor point: "supplement" is the correct spelling.

I don't have the knowledge to comment on the rest of it, but I enjoyed reading it, and I appreciate the way you cite sources so it's easy to go check them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Minor point: "supplement" is the correct spelling.

I don't have the knowledge to comment on the rest of it, but I enjoyed reading it, and I appreciate the way you cite sources so it's easy to go check them.

The older I get, the worse my spelling becomes.

In short, I'm getting stupid in my old age - and don't care enough to correct myself online as I used to. In my prime, I was often mistaken for a genius, and almost always the smartest person in the room. Except in the presence of my extended family, which includes actual geniuses. I'm merely (or was) "profoundly gifted" [a term no longer used, I've come to understand]. Trust me when I say there's no comparison.

The worst part of the onset of stupid is being smart enough still to recognize the decline.

Apologies for this maudlin minute of introspection - its like this all the time in my skull. Plus several other conversations at the same time, of course.

 

[Kimi BK]

and I forgot to post the results from my chart (again, sourced mostly from Feedipedia, excrept the Fertrell's)

View attachment 2907973

Apologies.

Wow, thank you so much for this and the previous detailed analysis! I love finding someone who likes to nerd out on detail as much as I do, and in this case, especially someone who has some knowledge about chicken feed, since I am pretty much ignorant in this area. This is exactly the type of feedback I was hoping for, and then some!

I took a while for me to check back here because I had placed another 1-month order of the very expensive scratch & peck... now I'm pressed to pay my next month's order (due tomorrow) which prompted me to check back. Maybe by the end of January I'll be confident enough to buy ingredients instead of feed...? Anyway, thank you for giving me some great info to chew on. Excellent fodder for further study. Food for thought.

Is this your own spreadsheet? Are there other nutrients listed to the right of the screenshot? This is very helpful to have the Target and Minimum values for more nutrients. Where did you find those? I have mainly only found the broad brush guidelines... fat,calcium,protein...

Anyway, thanks again! So helpful!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Wow, thank you so much for this and the previous detailed analysis! I love finding someone who likes to nerd out on detail as much as I do, and in this case, especially someone who has some knowledge about chicken feed, since I am pretty much ignorant in this area. This is exactly the type of feedback I was hoping for, and then some!

I took a while for me to check back here because I had placed another 1-month order of the very expensive scratch & peck... now I'm pressed to pay my next month's order (due tomorrow) which prompted me to check back. Maybe by the end of January I'll be confident enough to buy ingredients instead of feed...? Anyway, thank you for giving me some great info to chew on. Excellent fodder for further study. Food for thought.

Is this your own spreadsheet? Are there other nutrients listed to the right of the screenshot? This is very helpful to have the Target and Minimum values for more nutrients. Where did you find those? I have mainly only found the broad brush guidelines... fat,calcium,protein...

Anyway, thanks again! So helpful!

I built the chart using (largely) numbers from Feedipedia.org. Its possible I could source numbers from elsewhere, but I wanted to single source as much as possible so as to avoid "cherry-picking" data, since reality so often does not reflect "best case". I keep meaning to go back and start adding in vitamins and some other things, haven't gotten around to it. Where I have a guaranteed nutritional analysis (such as from the Fertrells'), I'll use their label rather than the generic, since its a known, tested source.

The targets I got from reading a BUNCH of studies. There is some disagreement for a host of reasons - breed, age, testing methodologies, etc, but you can get a good sense from USDA/NRCS, your local extension office, or by reading the same studies I do (I've read maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the ones listed in this).

Hope that helps get you started. As I keep emphasizing, I'm no expert, and hold no degrees in this - its just some research I've done since joining BYC. I've only had birds about 20 months now (though, admittedly, I have more than many backyard owners). and while I use more feed each month than you do - I don't mix my own.