Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[LittleMissPurdy]

ive been really busy lately, and havent had time to catch up.

when i have to add protein i use calf manna, hog pellets, or "bowles rangebird pellets". i avoid soy because of anti-nutrients, especially if using GMO soy and corn. if your chickens in question are eating eggs, it wont hurt to add small amounts of cat food a couple times a week. keep in mind to much cat food can be toxic to chickens.

to help with the issues we have here, im switching to open pollinated corn next year. the protein is higher, and a little better nutritional content.

i find my chickens do best with about 17% protein in normal conditions, 19-20% during molt and for high energy roosters, raise fat content during winter, and use coarser ground corn for heat.

to raise fat content..what do you suggest?(for layers),Thank you -danielle

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

with a little reservation im giving my feed formula, we worked with other farms to develop this feed for our situation of caged chickens. if your chickens are free range and get plenty of grass and bugs, you may need to modify this to match your needs. with local conditions it figures out to 16% protein. to date this is the best mix we have found. adding a bag of chick starter the overall price is $201.50. it figures out to around $13 per bag.

375 lbs of cracked corn
50 lbs of oats
200 lbs of "bowles range bird pellets" - a hog pellet will work too - these are 24% protein and developed for chickens.
75 lbs wheat
50 lbs sunflower
25 lbs wet molasses
10 lbs grit

when feeding we add alfalfa cubes 1 per 3 chickens (option, add 50 lbs of alfalfa pellets to above mix)
a couple of times a week we add meal worms

for turkeys, high energy birds, and table birds, we mix the feed with an equal amount of range bird pellets again to boost the protein.

sorry, I know this is probably not the forum to ask all this...I see you have "wet molasses"...what does that do for them(layers)?...thank you a second time

-Danielle..

 

[ozexpat]

ive been really busy lately, and havent had time to catch up.

when i have to add protein i use calf manna, hog pellets, or "bowles rangebird pellets". i avoid soy because of anti-nutrients, especially if using GMO soy and corn. if your chickens in question are eating eggs, it wont hurt to add small amounts of cat food a couple times a week. keep in mind to much cat food can be toxic to chickens.

to help with the issues we have here, im switching to open pollinated corn next year. the protein is higher, and a little better nutritional content.

i find my chickens do best with about 17% protein in normal conditions, 19-20% during molt and for high energy roosters, raise fat content during winter, and use coarser ground corn for heat.

Its good to see someone here that also mixes feeds.

I have used hog and pidgeon pellets as well as others - as long as the nutritional components meet your needs - there is nor real difference in feed types.

I do feed soy. I have spent a lot of time researching and although find a lot of hype about GM soy, I find very little scientific data that backs up the hype. If you have some data - I would love to see it.

There are definitely anti nutritional factors in soy - the major one being Trypsin Inhibitor. In raw soy they are around 23 TIU/mg but in soy meal they are below 3.5 TIU/mg for both "natural" and GM soy meal. The process of heating and extracting the oil from soy leaves the byproduct (soy bean meal) basically free of the ANF.

Quote from http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/23493/InTech-Genetically_modified_soybean_in_animal_nutrition.pdf
I want my chickens to be strong and healthy so if you can show me where this feed is doing them harm, I would stop straight away.

 

[familypendragon]

100% Hatch and 2 from the next batch have already pipped

 

[Sally Sunshine]

with a little reservation im giving my feed formula, we worked with other farms to develop this feed for our situation of caged chickens. if your chickens are free range and get plenty of grass and bugs, you may need to modify this to match your needs. with local conditions it figures out to 16% protein. to date this is the best mix we have found. adding a bag of chick starter the overall price is $201.50. it figures out to around $13 per bag.

375 lbs of cracked corn
50 lbs of oats
200 lbs of "bowles range bird pellets" - a hog pellet will work too - these are 24% protein and developed for chickens.
75 lbs wheat
50 lbs sunflower
25 lbs wet molasses
10 lbs grit

when feeding we add alfalfa cubes 1 per 3 chickens (option, add 50 lbs of alfalfa pellets to above mix)
a couple of times a week we add meal worms

for turkeys, high energy birds, and table birds, we mix the feed with an equal amount of range bird pellets again to boost the protein.

Thanks!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

100% Hatch and 2 from the next batch have already pipped

 

[loveourbirds]

littlemisspurdy - i typically raise my corn and sunflower content during the winter. the sunflower is the main fatty item in my feed.

sorghum is rich in micronutrients, it also makes the chickens more thirsty. just like humans the more water that passes through the chickens system will "flush it out" removing worm larvae and eggs along with possibly reducing chances of cocci. (no proof on that but i did read it as an opinion somewhere and it makes since)
now for non scientific areas of sorghum. since we started putting it with our feed, we have a higher ratio of pullets to roosters. the seed works best but the sorghum does work to an extent. it will also increase the chances of broodiness as it contains small amounts of progesterone.


ozexpat: if your feed is working for you, it may not be in your best interest to change a thing. to find an actual report that states GMO products are harmful is nearly impossible. the ones i have seen have no true scientific proof. where there is a problem with GMO's is a possible link to the decline in bee population, and lower nutritional value.
in the 1970's and 1980's most commercial laying farms feed 3 oz. per adult ideal strain leghorn, with an average output of about 6-8 eggs per hen under 24 hour lighting. more recently it appears they feed 5 oz. of feed to accomplish the same thing. the chickens (according to hearsay) have more fat, but overall are in the same health.

the proof in nutrition shows up if you look at protein and nutrient reports from 20 or more years ago and today. corn carried an average of 12% (some say more) protein over 20 years ago. current standards set corn at 8-9%. wheat has dropped from somewhere around 40% to 14-16%. with soy, there was a higher ratio of some "acid" that is slightly harmful to humans, but i couldnt find any issues with chickens; so take that how you will.

i hope this helps, and i will help you research certain ends of this if you need it - for my own information if nothing else.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

My local feed mill will as most, mix whatever I want in a bag of feed, but they are small and limited in grains and stuff, so I have in fact ordered my chick crumbles from a new place that also sells a great dog food in bulk 100lb bags, so the min delivery is 500 lbs, I can easily order that combined dogs and chickens. In the winter the chickens eat like pigs so I will go well over that in delivery.

Nice people at the new place, helpful. They sent me to revivalanimal.com and I love that place too! I had an episode of cocci and the pups got it last litter, I had one chicken death but not sure it was associated, I had let everyone and their families come to see the pups and I shouldn't have until first shots, lesson learned, cocci can be anywhere, what happened last time is a pup got stressed going to new home and was more susceptible to them with all the stress, anyway, they are so awesome in helping with the chickens and the dogs! I feed our Mom Maddy the preventative low dose of cocciguard (Decoquinate) two weeks before birth and then continue and wean pups onto it as well, then send a small bag of the feed home with a pup and have the new family wean them to their puppy food choice. I am already liking the firmer stools and the pups are gaining weight like mad! Mom looks awesome too! I wonder if this is better preventative than amprolium for chickens????

Anyway this is what got me started with the medicated chick crumbles for everyone, the price is awesome and I hope they eat it or else they will starve lol

 

[ozexpat]

littlemisspurdy - i typically raise my corn and sunflower content during the winter. the sunflower is the main fatty item in my feed.

sorghum is rich in micronutrients, it also makes the chickens more thirsty. just like humans the more water that passes through the chickens system will "flush it out" removing worm larvae and eggs along with possibly reducing chances of cocci. (no proof on that but i did read it as an opinion somewhere and it makes since)
now for non scientific areas of sorghum. since we started putting it with our feed, we have a higher ratio of pullets to roosters. the seed works best but the sorghum does work to an extent. it will also increase the chances of broodiness as it contains small amounts of progesterone.


ozexpat: if your feed is working for you, it may not be in your best interest to change a thing. to find an actual report that states GMO products are harmful is nearly impossible. the ones i have seen have no true scientific proof. where there is a problem with GMO's is a possible link to the decline in bee population, and lower nutritional value.
in the 1970's and 1980's most commercial laying farms feed 3 oz. per adult ideal strain leghorn, with an average output of about 6-8 eggs per hen under 24 hour lighting. more recently it appears they feed 5 oz. of feed to accomplish the same thing. the chickens (according to hearsay) have more fat, but overall are in the same health.

the proof in nutrition shows up if you look at protein and nutrient reports from 20 or more years ago and today. corn carried an average of 12% (some say more) protein over 20 years ago. current standards set corn at 8-9%. wheat has dropped from somewhere around 40% to 14-16%. with soy, there was a higher ratio of some "acid" that is slightly harmful to humans, but i couldnt find any issues with chickens; so take that how you will.

i hope this helps, and i will help you research certain ends of this if you need it - for my own information if nothing else.

I am a scientist at heart and research the dickens out of anything I do.

I tend to get annoyed with people here that offer opinion as fact. Their ignorance is not only damaging their birds but the birds of others as well as the integrity of the site.

I do like your info. I will try and find data to support your statements. Bees declines really concern me.

 

[TweetyNPetey]

100% Hatch and 2 from the next batch have already pipped

YAY!
Awesome work.
Pics of the babies?