Do you make your own feed?

[silkielover5]

ive been feeding my birds houles 20% grain pellets and they dont seem to like it so much. ive been thinking about making my own feed. what do you feed your birds?

 

[BitsyB]

I buy organic pellets from the feed store, and then add nutritious snacks to their diet (greens and tomatoes from the garden, oatmeal with a little fruit and yogurt, etc). Plus mine free range so they are getting bugs and worms and goodness knows what else. So they do eat the pellets at times, but not a lot. So maybe if yours are free ranging they don't need/want as much of the grain pellets?

But there are many BYC members who make their own feed, and have posted recipes. I'm pretty sure it's something you have to do carefully so the chickens get all the nutrients they need, especially if they are laying hens. If you do a custom search I bet you'll find plenty of recipes for homemade feed!

 

[silkielover5]

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thanks mine arnt free range, and my silkies are pretty thin so thats why im thinking about making my own feed, i did just buy poultry crumble from fleet farm and they seem to like that

 

[BitsyB]

Here's a link, lots-o-recipes, good luck and have fun!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4477&p=1

 

[heatherscreations1969]

I use layers pellets and supplement with mealworms and crickets (bought from our local reptile store) and leftovers from the house, lettuce..tomatoes etc.

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

I mix all the formulated feeds I need (starter, grower, layer, etc.) using a recipe Fertrell the fertilizer company publishes. It is essentially corn, soy, oats, aragonite (calcium) and a nutrient blend by Fertrell. Also fish meal in the Starter. I can now modify it (add wheat, extra corn, etc.) depending on if I want to change it for any particular reason.

This I feed regularly in the evening, with scratch in the morning, grass all day and as many scraps as I can get. Sometimes I will replace feeding scratch or mash with scraps if I have enough.

I look at the mash more as a small fraction of their diet, supplementing everything else as opposed to everything else (grass, scratch, scraps) supplementing their main diet of mash. Many people wouldn't agree with that though, saying they need just mash since it is "scientifically formulated".

Here is a link to the Modern Homestead, Harvey Ussery does a lot of neat feeding things with his flock. I have met him and he is a very interesting guy - http://www.themodernhomestead.us/

Best of luck on your chicken feeding journey, MW

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I mix my own- see my BYC page if you are interested!

 

[Clay Mudd]

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I'm moving more and more that direction myself. These days, about half of what my hens eat is commercial layer pellets, the rest being sprouted grains and peas, scraps, and of course, as much forage as possible. I don't have much confidence in the scientific part of "scientifically formulated" feeds anymore.

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Have you got his new book yet? I ordered mine the day it was released, and it's rapidly becoming my favorite.