BEST chicken feed recipe, ever.

[vavavroom]

I actually ordered them from a man named Tim at Homegrown Harvest.

www.HomegrownHarvest.com

They sell organic and natural whole grains for human consumption. So - I figured, fit for me - fit for my ladies.

You can also buy most of them from the bulk food sections of any health food store. Not sure what you might have in your area - but I have real limitations, so I had them shipped to me.

It wasn't cheap - but I wanted to feed them natural whole grains and not the chicken feed, which is usually chemically processed.

 

[Felicitas]

Quote:
Tim at Homegrown Harvest should consider mixing these grains up himself and offer them as a product. I'd certainly buy some.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Quote:
No, it is not cheaper, but your eggs will be worth their weight in gold! J/k! Actually, unless you really know what is in your organic layer feed, it would be strictly for your good health, and for those of us who can get a high price ($6.00 or more) per dozen eggs for a high quality health product (and be able to name what is on the label of the eggs you are selling (people want to know what you feed them, and they will be your customer for life, if they are sold on your product)

If you find that your organic layer feed has soybeans in it, I would read up on the info about what soybeans does to humans, and animals. It causes most people and animals to have too much estrogen, and then the animals burn out very fast. So this could be a reason to make your own organic feed, as the estrogen from the soybeans will transfer to the egg, to you, is what I have read.

When starting out changing your chickens diet, you will need to do it slowly, and be sure they have plenty of granite grit to grind up whole grains. Even better yet is to soak or sprout the grains and give them to them on a daily basis. When my chickens get plenty of protein, that is when they are the most prolific layers. Soaking and particularly sprouting the grains makes them much higher in protein.

 

[poultryone]

I am much more comfortable buying a commercially-formulated feed and knowing that it contains just the right amount of vitamins, minerals and protein. While mixing and formulating your own feed has its advantages, I find the process is typically more complicated and cost intensive than it first appears to be.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I made a batch of feed from this recipe. I got the ingredients at my local food co-op. It ended up costing about $0.90/lb, which is much more than I pay for organic layer pellets. So, I thought I'd supplement the pellets with the grain mixture. The problem was they didn't want to eat the pellets if I had two feeders set out, one filled with pellets and the other with whole grain mix. Now I just give the organic whole grains mix in small bowls as treats. They love it and continue to eat the pellets too. One thing I read elsewhere that made sense to me was washing the quinoa first. It has a natural chemical on it's seed coat (saponin) to make it unpalatable to birds. If you've ever eaten unwashed quinoa, you know what I mean

. I rinsed and dried mine before mixing it in and giving it to the birds. I actually tested washed and unwashed and the birds had a pretty clear preference for the washed seeds. I think the mix is too expensive for me. But for someone who wants to feed organic in an urban setting, that doesn't have close access to a feed store that carries organic feed, or someone that needs to eliminate soy from their diet, this may be one option for them.

 

[Organics North]

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I do not know what dulse is? If it is not from the ocean, then maybe supplement some trace salt.
IMO hard red wheat is superior to soft white anyway. (Less carb higher protein) I only feed hard red. I would think lime stone should work fine. Crushing sea shells sounds like lots of work.
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For those of you trying to mix your own feed, it can be tough if you do not live within a days drive of farm country to buy grains. I go twice a year, spring planting time and fall planting time to buy grains in bulk and store them. My costs for 80% organic are around $16 per 50lbs.

It is my opinion you have to shop around for what is regional... Learn the nutritional values of those grains and seeds and build your own feed. Most recipes are based on what is cheapest and available for the person that created the feed mix. It is not that those specific ingredients are the "best", just that they were "best" for that individual person.

So learn your protein values, learn your amino acids.. and have fun making YOUR OWN feed, based on what you can find locally at decent prices..

ON

 

[Medicine Man]

digitS' :

From being around here awhile, I am beginning to see how some folks discover these complex recipes for feeding their birds. And, then . . .

Then, they apparently learn that it is too complex and too expensive.

Then, they drop out -- off the forum and maybe out of chicken-keeping.

Just looking at this thread, dates and some of the posters tells me that there was some quick-burning enthusiasm and then that was it. Even some who were around quite awhile or posting a good deal have flared-out. Perhaps, there was too much effort to it all.

We would all like to do the "best" for our birds. But, Heavens! There is virtue in simplicity, too!

Steve

This is true. Personally, I'm extremely jaded on reading some newbie touting that "Greener Pastures" recipe as the greatest thing since sliced bread when in fact it's really very amateurish. I guess it's true that there's not fiercer advocate than a recent convert.

Folks, avian nutrition is a very complex science. People go to school for this. People are paid lots of money for this. You're not going to crack the code by giving "a scoop of this a scoop of that two parts of this one part of that...."

This is not in defense of commercial feed, I do mix my own, but it's also a constantly evolving process and yes, I have f[oul]ed up a chicken, albeit in a minor and temporary way, by using an inadequate recipe. You won't see me on here telling you of my grand new epiphany.​

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
This is true. Personally, I'm extremely jaded on reading some newbie touting that "Greener Pastures" recipe as the greatest thing since sliced bread when in fact it's really very amateurish. I guess it's true that there's not fiercer advocate than a recent convert.

Folks, avian nutrition is a very complex science. People go to school for this. People are paid lots of money for this. You're not going to crack the code by giving "a scoop of this a scoop of that two parts of this one part of that...."

This is not in defense of commercial feed, I do mix my own, but it's also a constantly evolving process and yes, I have f[oul]ed up a chicken, albeit in a minor and temporary way, by using an inadequate recipe. You won't see me on here telling you of my grand new epiphany.

This is probably a stupid question but here goes.......

What did folks feed their chickens before commercial feed came along? Just plain, folk like me, who think simple and don't have a degree or understanding of avian nutrition. Did the chickens only live a few months? Where the eggs unhealthy?

 

[PortageGirl]

I have a couple comments, first, to the question about what people fed their chickens in the past... they free ranged them and feed them whatever extra grain they had on hand. Not much science to it, and no, the chickens didn't drop dead from it but they probably didn't lay the quantity or quality of eggs that they had the potential to lay. If they got too much corn etc, they probably became too fat which interferes with good health and egg production, or if the farmer was skimpy with the corn, and they free ranged a lot, they were probably lean mean laying machines till they stopped laying very well or got eaten by predators like Medicine Man said. They went broody more often and most people kept roosters so they had lots of replacement chicks which was good because when they stopped laying well for whatever reason, they became soup or stew. Thanks to more modern nutrition knowledge, and breeding research etc, chickens have a longer and better laying life, and they are just generally in better health (IMO of course).

As to people burning out, well just because they don't post too much, doesn't mean they aren't still keeping chickens or enthusiastic. People stop posting for many reasons. I admire the admins and the moderators here for being able to keep replying to questions without giving in to the urge to say USE THE SEARCH OPTION - This Question has been answered at least a thousand times!!!!!!

No, not THIS question, just various other questions that get asked over and over and over. I don't spend a ton of time here and once I have the urge to be snarly to anyone who re-asks questions, I step away for a bit because that's just not fair! People asking questions is a really good thing and I know it. I'm just happy that more patient people than myself are the Mods here and do such a good job of helping N00bs. Bless them all!

 

[Kilsharion]

Holy homework batman !


ETA - I'm not making fun cause I do the same thing LOL

**blushes** It's the engineer in me. I've been sitting here tweaking this spreadsheet for the starter, grower and development stages and have the protein levels where I want them. My mind is just boggling at the caloric intake, though. It took me a while to get the protein calculations figured out. But, I think I've got it, now.

Trying to tweak it for calcium calculations, now.

I'm sick in the head, I know.