Creating my own feed mix

[tocool4uvk]

Hi, I am not new to chickens, but having recently acquired a few chicks a few months ago. The deeper I get into the GMO demise, the mote I want to know exactly where my food is coming from. So I am interested in how to get going on mixing my own feed for my girls. Would love to hear the journey of others on this and how to get started down this road. Thanks!

I happen to live in Central PA near several large Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities. There are a few grain mills that can make a custom mix for me. Most of what they store is non GMO but you have to request it be 100% sure.
When I was a child growing up on a fairly large farm, we rarely fed the free range flock during May - October. Those were the best eggs and chicken meat ever.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Hello and welcome to BYC!! It’s so nice to have you join us!

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[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

Sorry I'm so late to the party. There are a number of approaches you can take to get clean feed. Most difficult is making your own, it can be done but not as cheaply as buying commercial feed. I use a cement mixer and intend on buying the small hammer mill from premier 1, but my approach is to buy a ton of a base feed and then mix in additions to get the variations my birds require, but not in high enough quantities to justify a ton.

I recommend two books:

• "Commercial Poultry Nutrition" Second Edition by S. Leeson and J.D. Summers
• "Feeding Pasture—Raised Poultry" by Jeff Mattocks

I highly recommend using Fertrell Nutri-Balancer as your vitamin pack and if you're going to use Fish Meal, get it from them as well. If you become a fertrell customer, you'll also have access to their nutritionists. No I don't work for them and am not affiliated with them in any way, but I know their products and think they are the best. You'll also find that many of their distributors make feed in the manner you're looking for.

ETA: Another major consideration is shelf life of your ingredients. Also as mentioned above you can often find Amish mills that will make a custom blend for you if you provide the ingredients they don't have.