Bulk seed

[CarlaCo]

We are looking into mixing our own feed using this fella’s formula on a YouTube video:

Premium whole oats 30lb

Whole corn 20lbs.

Black oil sunflower seeds 20lb

Split Peas 10lbs

Flax seed 5lbs

Add DE as well maybe a cup?

So we see that TS is where we can source the first three ingredients, but I’m wondering gbwhere Incan buy bulk split peas and bulk flax seeds.
Does anyone else mix their own feed, if so what fro you use, what amounts and where do you find your ingredients? Appreciate any help.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Those are good questions- this guy didn’t add anything else. Those ingredients I assume naturally have vitamins and minerals etc. We already ferment and we are beginning to try sprouts, which both will also beef up their nutrition. They can only free-range for a few hours a day, at least till we figure out how to keep them out of the neighbors yard and off our porches. Letting them out a few hours before sunset, they tend to get in less trouble.
As far as going bad, I am assuming if stored well, they should last a few months, right? I may also split the homemade bulk mix with my son’s flock so it will go faster. That would be a dozen bird’s altogether.

Don't assume. There is PLENTY of Ignorance on the web. It seems to replicate rapidly there.

A) That's a terrible recipe, though certainly not the worst I've seen.

It's sub 14% protein (too low), greater than 10% fiber (too high), roughly 16% fat (4x target) and misses nutritional targets for Methionine, Threonine, and somehow even Tryptophan (props for that, its hard to miss a 0.2% inclusion rate for Tryp in a grain based diet). It also has no non-phytate source of Phosphorus (chickens almost can't use phosphorus bound up in plant sources), which guarantees their Calcium : Phosphorus ratio will be off, which is key to bone development, certain neurotransimtters, and a host of other biological processes.). Your vitamin/mineral content is "anyone's guess", and there is enough oats in there with their high beta glucan quantities that you have to be concerned with it blocking nutrient absorption and contributing to "sticky poops", a potential disease vector.


B) Its more expensive. A nutritionally complete mid range feed should be selling right now at about $0.50/lb +/- (more in places like AK, HI, PR, CA, NYC etc) from the farm store. On that basis, your recipe (makes 85#) needs to come in under $44.50. The flax seed alone is about $1.50/lb, the Winter Peas about $1/lb. Black oil sunflower seed? $0.80- $1.20/lb. WHole Oats you can get $0.50-0.55/lb - that's $52.50 before buying the corn (likely runs $0.35-0.40/lb right now, another $7-8). That is, 50% more expensive than buying a bag of nutritionally better feed off the shelf.


Thank you for coming here and asking first.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"I have noticed a decrease in the rate of lay of my 3 and 4 year old hens of breed this winter, much more severe than in past years. I feed X, I offer treats of Y every other day. I live here. They are completely enclosed and are fed ad libitim." Anyone have thoughts on what might be going on???

^^^ this is what BYC is for.

I heard in this Youtube video (or I read on FB that someone heard on this youtube video that someone claimed that Jeffrey Epstien/WEF/Al Gore/The Green Party/the Illuminati/some racial Cabal have introduced a secret ingredient into the chicken feed of a small to moderate market share provider causing their eggs to stop laying to increase reliance on commercial grocery providers and drive profits"

is NOT what BYC is for.

Those that don't recognize the difference between statement A and Statement B are more likely to believe statement B.

Please remember, correlation is Not causation, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary prooof.

Thanks for playing. It would be appreciated if you would make an effort at raising your signal to noise ratio.

 

[nuthatched]

So if all these fancy vitamins are needed, what did homesteaders and farmers feed their chickens a hundred years ago?

Our great grandparents chickens weren't the same chickens we have now, 100 years ago the best you could get out of a White Leghorn (the most productive breed we have) was 120 eggs a year. Even the worse egg producer breeds we have do better than that. Trying to raise today's fowl like my great grandfather did would be like forcing a pregnant mother on a 500 calorie a day diet, something bad will happen. Today's chickens are 3 and 4 times more productive than 100 years ago.
Chickens 100 years ago were kept on farms and fed offal and picked through the droppings of larger animals, that helped.
VERY few birds lived through their second autumn, they were eaten by the farmers, so long term healthy living wasn't a worry. Any diet will work for awhile but it doesn't take long for things to go sour.

 

[nuthatched]

Please be very careful when attempting to mix your own feed, 98% of the 'recipes' out there are formulated by people who either don't know anything about proper nutrition or checking for safety. Most are very unhealthy and will harm the the health of your birds long term.
Any good recipe will list the nutritional facts that can be verified on a public source. :]
Whose recipe are you wanting to try?
It is possible to mix your own feed but it's very expensive and more ingredients than just the ones on your recipe.

 

[nuthatched]

We were actually talking about doing this while they were even chicks. If we mix our own, we will know what’s in it, but more import, it will be cheaper.

It will not be cheaper, on average, a properly balanced homemade feed will cost $3 to $8 a pound.
If someone says their recipe is cheaper and better than store feed, you can be sure that their recipe isn't a recipe you want.
Poultry feed is one one the most heavily researched agricultural areas on the planet, what you buy at the feed store is formulated to provide all the necessary nutrition, most effectively and cheaply.
A homemade feed can meet nutritional needs but it'll will be quite expensive.

 

[Brooks_]

I agree with others that a home mix will most likely cost more and be nutrient deficient.

So if all these fancy vitamins are needed, what did homesteaders and farmers feed their chickens a hundred years ago?

Those chickens were not the same as what we have these days. they were also eaten at a young age.

My general advice is to feed commercial feed for best cost and nutrition.

 

[Brooks_]

I don’t have a problem with fat content unless we notice a chubby chicken. Then we can reevaluate. The fella online looked like his flock was healthy and happy.

You won't notice a chubby chicken. They do not store fat like other animals. Most/nearly all of it will be in the body cavity and around the organs.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don’t have a problem with fat content unless we notice a chubby chicken. Then we can reevaluate. The fella online looked like his flock was healthy and happy.

Chickens don't deposit fat like we do - and you can't judge by eye. **I** can't judge by eye, have been doing this a few years, and routinely take my birds apart and poke around inside while they are on their way to freezer camp. I can barely - I've been developing the skill - body condition gauge them by picking them up and feeling along the breast bone. The feathers are deceptive.

Chickens who die of fatty liver hemorrhagic usually fall over dead of internal bleeding with no prior symptoms. Chickens raised as a flock with others on nutritionally deficient feed tend to look fine, when compared to one another. The same way a North Korean male looks fine when compared to other North Korean men. The moment they walk across the border to South Korea, with similar climate, similar genetic pool, and a first world diet (for just the last 80 years or so) the differences are obvious. His South Korean counterpart is heavier, inches taller, and has better disease resistance on average, among other traits.

I can provide other examples.

This is not intended to insult. We appreciate that you came here and started asking questions. We'd like to help. In the world of chicken keeping, "assuming" won't get you far - it tends to lead to a host of errors we'd rather hope you not need to learn from. We've made them, no need to repeat them. Your chickens will thank you for it.

 

[allenw]

Go for it if that is what you want to do. Trying new things is how we learn and get experience. I would recommend that if this is your first time raising chickens to raise them on premade feed to give you a baseline to work from when you start experimenting with making your own feed.