Bulk seed

[CarlaCo]

flax should be available at the feed store. It comes shredded and stabilized in many areas for use as horse feed (if not stabilized ground flax can oxidize into undesirable compounds.

Thanks. I saw the horse kind at TS and wondered if that would work.

 

[CarlaCo]

Yesteryear's chickens didn't produce a 2 oz egg 300 days a year, from a bird that weighed only 5 pounds. If you take a modern chicken, which has been bred to produce lots of eggs with as little food as possible, and give it yesterday's feed (tossed scraps etc), the chicken won't get the nourishment it needs. For example, calcium is an electrolyte as well as egg-shell maker. Similar for all the other nutrients, especially those in the vitamin pack and the make up of the amino acids . So, you get a malnourished bird who gets sick "trying" to produce at the rate it was bred to.

The calcium for our birds comes from oyster shell mixed with crushed egg shells and is offered in a separate container near their feed. Nutrients are plentiful in corn, oats, flax and sunflower seed etc. We do supplement with mealworms and we hope to get them lots of greens and meat scraps when that make sense.

 

[CarlaCo]

https://www.palousebrand.com/

I use this company for many of their products. Lowes has food-grade buckets and gamma lids. Grains should be pre-frozen for 3 days, thawed for 3 days, frozen again for 3 days - to break bug cycles, before long-term storage. If you live in a cold-winter climate - you could take advantage of nature's freezer. Just protect your supply from scavengers, while doing it.
In your buckets - layering in a few bayleaves also helps.

Whether you feed a commercial feed or not - having a recipe like this written down, is a good idea - in case for some reason, commercial feed becomes unavailable.

Super helpful.Thanks! we actually have an unheated room over a crawl space that we use as a fridge half the year, lol. That’s where the feed is now.

 

[CarlaCo]

It didn't link to a recipe--do you have a recipe, or were you just referring to the OP's recipe from the youtuber?

It was just part of the OP

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?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Seems pretty high in fat, but I don't really know enough about it.

 

[CarlaCo]

Seems pretty high in fat, but I don't really know enough about it.

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.

 

[Aunt Angus]

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.

Yeah, I have no real idea. I'd have to do more research for me to feel comfortable. Let us know how it goes! It might take a while for differences to materialize, but I'd love to hear what happens!

 

[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.

 

[Sammster]

Super helpful.Thanks! we actually have an unheated room over a crawl space that we use as a fridge half the year, lol. That’s where the feed is now.

If you put a bowl of water out there, does it freeze? This is an excellent storage space for short to medium-term storage. If you plan to store long-term, the grain should actually be frozen. However - you are also adding DE, which should also keep bugs at bay.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

notice a chubby chicken

A chicken can have a lot of internal fat without looking anywhere close to it.