Chicken Feed Recipes, Articles and Systems

[Phaedra Geiermann]

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From Blue Ribbon Reds What They Are And How To Produce Them, edited by A.G. Studier, second revised edition 1919

Thanks for the sharing. I did give my hens almost everything mentioned here. As we have two raw-fed cats and two raw-fed dogs, the hens also enjoy cooked minced meats, organs, and carcasses.

They also have very sufficient homegrown greed feed from all kinds of vegetables and safe weeds. For example, now they have kales, flower sprouts from my winter vegetable patch, and also very fresh chickweeds and dandelions just grow recently.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Thanks for the sharing. I did give my hens almost everything mentioned here. As we have two raw-fed cats and two raw-fed dogs, the hens also enjoy cooked minced meats, organs, and carcasses.

They also have very sufficient homegrown greed feed from all kinds of vegetables and safe weeds. For example, now they have kales, flower sprouts from my winter vegetable patch, and also very fresh chickweeds and dandelions just grow recently.

One of the things I need to do but have not had the time to do with these older recipes is crunch the nutritional data.., so we can see how it stacks up, I have just been super busy with work and still in recovery from pneumonia… so pretty exhausted at the end of my 11-12 hour work day.

I also am trying to relocate some studies on feed and broilers, layers, breeding stock and eggs… in my brain I remember the gist of the info but I think folks would like that info to read themselves.

 

[saysfaa]

I'm not sure this fits here so started a different thread and linked.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...tious-forms-of-vegetables-and-fruits.1511712/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

One of the things I need to do but have not had the time to do with these older recipes is crunch the nutritional data.., so we can see how it stacks up, I have just been super busy with work and still in recovery from pneumonia… so pretty exhausted at the end of my 11-12 hour work day.

I also am trying to relocate some studies on feed and broilers, layers, breeding stock and eggs… in my brain I remember the gist of the info but I think folks would like that info to read themselves.

If you have particular recipes in mind, I can do one or two at a time in between other commitments. A member had asked for some help privately, and that's now been done, so I have 15 minutes or so to spare amidst other promises yet to keep. Can continue to squeeze in 15 min, from time to time.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I was just going to pick one of the old books and start crunching the possible numbers…

I would probably start with Blue Ribbon Reds Chick feed suggested

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I was just going to pick one of the old books and start crunching the possible numbers

all you then. Enjoy!
I have plenty of other things I've been putting off to occupy my time. Thank you again for organizing this, I've found it educational.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Okay… I appreciate all your input here

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

https://poultry.extension.org/artic...reals-in-poultry-diets/oats-in-poultry-diets/

Some basic Oat info

https://www.feedipedia.org/content/feeds?category=All

A site of feed nutrition…

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I am going to look at the first period feed for chicks from Blue Ribbon Reds… option 6 is easy a “commercial chick feed”… so feed of your choice.
In looking at the other options 1-5… on there own I do not see how they would be balanced on their own, you would definitely need to mix them up… the Hardboiled Egg one would probably be your best all around nutrition, ingredients like Stale Bread Crumbs or Cracker Crumbs would be highly dependent on the bread/crackers you are using. The instructions don’t give me ratios or anything like that… the other ingredients of the options are milk sweet (probably whole I would think), pinhead/steel cut oats, cracked wheat, and cracked corn. It suggested bread crumbs and sweet and sour milk for variety.

Then it states if birds confined feed cabbage, lettuce, mangels, lawn clippings, apples, sprouted grains.

So this is pretty ambiguous in figuring out ratios.

So I just popped over to Purina as they are a fairly commonly stocked chick starter at feed stores… to see what the felt needs to be on the label.

Crude Protein Min 18%
Lysine Min .90%
Methionine Min .34%
Crude Fat Min 3.00%
Crude Fiber 5.00%
Calcium Min .75% Max 1.25%
Phosphorus .55% Min
Salt Min .25% Max .75%
Vitamin A 5000 IU/LB Min
Vitamin E 14 IU/LB Min

So that is the basic goals

So that Hard Boiled Egg…(peeled)
100g
Protein 12.6 g
Lysine .904 g
Methionine .392 g
Fat 10.6 g
Fiber 0
Calcium 50mg
Phosphorus 172 mg
Salt 124 mg
Vitamin A 520 IU
Vitamin E 1.03 mg

Well at least it has all the stuff… I do know the nutrition can be upped a little based on feed studies, but this is what the USDA has for your average Egg, and there is ton more stuff in it… but let’s keep it simple. 100 grams = 0.220462 lb, or 453.592 grams = 1 lb. It is still low in some stuff, the Calcium can be upped by including the egg shell.

But % wise some parts of the egg are good but others not so good… plus once you add the bread it messes up the %… I would be inclined either mix in grains or make one of the old chicken bread recipes (yes that was a thing, baking breads specifically for prized chickens… crazy the stuff I have read from the 1600-1700s). If using bread I would want some really good stuff… then I would want to add all sorts of greens and fruits like suggested, cracked seeds… anything to up the Protein and other nutrients and get fiber in their diet.

I would definitely add dairy…

 

[3KillerBs]

Cracker Crumbs

I had access to expired saltine-crackers from the food pantry but declined to give them to the chickens because of the salt content.

I have to wonder if the word "cracker" had different assumptions tied to it then than now? I have a vague memory of something I watched or read about the history of crackers that leads me to *think* that historically "cracker" was something more like a ship's biscuit than a saltine or a Ritz.

So there's that issue when looking at historic recipes too -- the words might not mean what they mean now.