Do These Nutrition Recommendations Check Out?

[AmyJane725]

Do you buy the 250 mg or the 500 mg of fish mox?

Also, what pine tar are you planning on getting? (And what is it's purpose?)

 

[DobieLover]

Actually lower protein between chick stage & the age of laying is to keep them from laying too young. While we all love getting the first eggs, having them lay too young is not a good thing.

Can you please provide a link siting the data from which this statement is derived?

I find it difficult to believe that protein can cause early sexual maturity. I feed 8 different breeds the exact same diet. First layer started at 20 weeks, last layer at 32.

 

[AmyJane725]

Can you please provide a link siting the data from which this statement is derived?

I find it difficult to believe that protein can cause early sexual maturity. I feed 8 different breeds the exact same diet. First layer started at 20 weeks, last layer at 32.

I agree with you. Only thought is perhaps if the protein is soy based and mimics estrogen like it does in humans, that could lead to hormonal problems/early puberty? Probably not though if your chickens are fine. Plus I don't know if chicken estrogen is the same as ours, and if they'd be affected by soy in the same way.
What feed do you use?

 

[DobieLover]

I agree with you. Only thought is perhaps if the protein is soy based and mimics estrogen like it does in humans, that could lead to hormonal problems/early puberty? Probably not though if your chickens are fine.
What feed do you use?

I agree with the soy comment.

My feed has fishmeal as the primary protein source.

I make the bulk of my feed and add in about 20% by wt. Purina All Flock. The fines in my mix stick to the fermented All Flock where they won't stick to the fermented whole grains. The chickens clean up their feed. If they could lick the trough out, they would!

 

[AmyJane725]

Pardon my ignorance, what are "fines"?

So you ferment your base ingredients and the purina too huh? How hard is that to do? What exactly are the ingredients/steps? I've read that fermenting is the healthiest way to go.

 

[DobieLover]

Do you buy the 250 mg or the 500 mg of fish mox?

Also, what pine tar are you planning on getting? (And what is it's purpose?)

I bought the 250 mg.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/bickmore-pine-tar-16-fl-oz
Pine tar is antipruritic, anti‐inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal. You can put it on injuries to help them heal and keep the other chickens from pecking them.
If I can't find the pine tar I want in a tube, i will purchase the can I linked from TSC.

Fines, in my case, are the fine material in my feed mix which are fishmeal and Fertrell poultry nutri-balancer. Here is a link to the base feed I make for my flock:

"I mix my own feed. My protein sources are my most expensive ingredients by a long shot. I'll not cheap out and deprive them of what they need to thrive, not just survive."
How about if you share with us 'complete-newbie-don't-even-have-the-chickens-yet' people exactly *what* you put in the feed that you mix yourself? Inquiring minds really do want to know!

Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I just stumbled upon an indirect quote of my post when catching up on this thread.
This is my current recipe for 50#:
17.5# triticale
8# whole field peas
7.5# BOSS
6# whole oats
3.5# whole flax seed
5# fish meal
2.5# Fertrell poultry nutri-balancer

There is an organic grains supplier about 1.5 hours away in the Finger Lakes region that I get most of my supplies from. I won't stock more than a 4 month supply at a time of the FM and PNB.
I store everything in an old apartment sized refrigerator that I gutted so it makes a great air tight grain bin.
The mix is kept in my pantry where I also keep the fermenting cans.
This is what it looks like before fermenting:
View attachment 1656491
This is after 2 days fermenting:
View attachment 1656495
After 3 days, I drain the days batch into an empty can like this:
View attachment 1656507
I keep the drained off liquid:
View attachment 1656508
Then add the dry mix and more cold well water and mix. I also mix the other cans at this time and add more water if they need it.

I feed in this trough I made:
View attachment 1656510

It takes less than 5 minutes a day to do this.

Including gas money for the drive out and back, 50# costs me about $31.

I feed 0.18#/bird in winter which is the highest volume. It's less in the summer.

When it's so bitter cold that the feed will freeze I put out a pan of 20% chick crumbles to make sure they have food when I can't refresh the trough.
I also toss the chick crumbles as their scratch. They love it.

 

[AmyJane725]

What is BOSS? And where does one buy things like whole oats, whole flax seeds, triticale and fish meal? Sorry, I've never looked into making any kind of food other than dog food, and they're a lot easier. It's mostly meat, lol. (Disclaimer: I don't have a dog. It's probably harder than I think)

That post says a grain supplier. I guess one of those? Is there such a thing as a chain store for that?

 

[DobieLover]

What is BOSS? And where does one buy things like whole oats, whole flax seeds, triticale and fish meal? Sorry, I've never looked into making any kind of food other than dog food, and they're a lot easier. It's mostly meat, lol. (Disclaimer: I don't have a dog. It's probably harder than I think)

That post says a grain supplier. I guess one of those? Is there such a thing as a chain store for that?

BOSS is black oil sunflower seed.
There are no chain stores for grains.
Local feed mills have whole grains that they mill to make feeds.
I use whole grains as they store better. Chickens have built in mills; their gizzards.
My local feed store sells the whole flaxseed and gives the best price for a 50# bag of BOSS but I don't use enough to make it feasible to buy from the feed store so I get it at WalMart.
Finding the Fertrell poultry nutri-balancer and fishmeal were the toughest for me. Having them shipped would have been exorbitantly expensive. Ithaca NY is a cool area with lots of holistic and organic stores and when I searched the nearby Finger Lakes region, I found Lakeview Organic Grains. That is where I get my Fishmeal, PNB, and the rest of my grains.
I store my ingredients in an old apartment sized refrigerator that I gutted. It seals air-tight (and hence water tight) so my grains do not mold during storage. I try not to store more than 4 months at a time.

 

[AmyJane725]

Hm, I can't seem to find a grain store like that near me. Plus I doubt my mom would be thrilled about me running a chicken feed operation out of her house anyway. We have nowhere to store it. I think I'm gonna have to go with store-bought food for now. Too bad we don't live closer. I could buy it off of you

 

[DobieLover]

Hm, I can't seem to find a grain store like that near me. Plus I doubt my mom would be thrilled about me running a chicken feed operation out of her house anyway. We have nowhere to store it. I think I'm gonna have to go with store-bought food for now. Too bad we don't live closer. I could buy it off of you

You can still ferment the store bought feed.
In the wintertime, you can put it in a heated dog water bowl to keep it from freezing.