Can I make my own feed with these items?

[TKDmom]

I've got 6 black Australorps that are just about 3 months old. Every time I run out of chicken feed, I start wondering how hard it would be to make my own feed in bulk. I have a ton of bulk grains and beans sitting in my closet, and we (the humans

) aren't going to be able to eat it all before it goes bad. Here's my list:

quick oats
cornmeal
hulled barley
powdered milk
Ezekial mix (mostly hard red wheat with spelt, barley, millet, lentils, and various beans)
Lot of dried beans (great northern, black, kidney, pink, black-eyed peas, etc.)

Can I use any of these in a homemade mix? What proportions would you use? What else would I need to add? Anything on that list that chickens can't eat? I have a ton of white wheat that I'd be willing to add in. But I actually use that to make bread, and it doesn't seem to go bad with age like everything else. I also have a wheat grinder that would handle any of those grains and beans, but it grinds everything into a pretty fine flour.

I think I read somewhere that beans must be cooked, and I'd be willing to cook up a mash. I ran out of chicken feed today and just tossed some of the ezekiel mix in their feeder to tide them over until I get myself over to the feed store. They adore the wheat and little grains, but totally avoid the beans.

I'm totally new to chickens, so please be gentle with my ignorance.

 

[Kelsie2290]

I feed everything on your list to my chickens at one time or another. All raw beans and peas should really be cooked/roasted/steamed (google feeding soybeans to poultry for a general explanation). What I would actually do in your case is use a mix of the stuff you have to supplement or stretch your feed out on a regular basis, maybe feed them 20% whatever and 80% commercial feed or something along those lines if you are worried about them getting a balanced diet. Not sure if you free range them or give vitamins etc. If you are feeding a lot of beans I would figure out the general protein % of what you have and try to keep your total mix around 16-18% depending on age (or whatever you are aiming for) since beans/peas etc are usually really high in protein ... Your girls are still young and pretty small, but they will be going through a lot more feed in a couple of months if they are your typical australorps, so you'll probably have plenty of chances to use up all that extra food.

 

[TKDmom]

Thanks! They are in a chicken tractor with a portable run on our lawn, so they have some access to greens and bugs. We let them do a little bit of supervised free ranging around the yard (aka letting them hide in our broccoli and eat it all). But our garden is almost done for the summer, so they are running out of hiding places. And now that the local hawk has taken an interest in them I'm limiting their time out of the coop.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html
you might like this website

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Grains.html

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Proteins.html

 

[TKDmom]

http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html
you might like this website

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Grains.html

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Proteins.html

Great articles, thanks!