Does Anyone Make Their Own Food?

[BrandyMom2AFew]

If so where did you get your recipe?

 

[WalkerH]

Totally interested in this too. I shall be waiting around to see what everyone says.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Here's a thread on that subject: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4477&p=1

 

[Erica]

My initial recipe came from another forum member who does it, but I later also saw the same recipe on a website (sorry, I forget... May have been University of Manitoba's poultry section).

70% sprouted wheat
10% sprouted peas
10% sprouted corn
5% black sunflower
5% lucerne (alfalfa) meal or chaff soaked in molasses water
+ free range or various fresh greens and ad lib shell grit, sometimes also seaweed meal and a little salt

This didn't work quite well enough for me, and I felt the protein content was to blame. My growers in particular were having trouble thriving, and my layers cut back on laying. So I now do this:

Main feed (available all day):
60% sprouted or whole wheat
10% sprouted or whole peas
10% sprouted or whole corn
10% cracked sweet lupins
5% black sunflower
5% lucerne (alfalfa) soaked in molasses water
+ free range or various fresh greens and ad lib shell grit, sometimes also seaweed meal and a little salt

Afternoon treat, about a quarter to a third of a cup per bird:
45% bandsaw dust or mince or a mixture of both
45% rolled oats
10% kefir whey or lightly soured milk (leftovers are great for this)

I forgot to add: sunlight for vitamin D. The greens are very important for vitamin A.

I'm raising growers as well as keeping layers on this diet (after some hiccups using meat meal for the protein source...). Most of my growers are beautifully grown and healthy. With chicks I use cracked grains (no sprouts) and give them more of the afternoon high protein treat, or I add soya meal if I'm worried their protein levels are too low (say if they're a heavy breed). With layers I watch the amounts of bandsaw dust (fresh meat and bone meal) because it's higher in phosphorus to calcium than they can cope with, so too much stops them making proper egg shells. The good thing about this is that I can tweak any ingredient to cater to a particular bird.

Hope you find a recipe that works for you!

 

[jimz1]

Is bandsaw dust what I think it is????????????
Doesn't that plug them up? There can't be any nutrition in that!!

 

[BrandyMom2AFew]

Where would I buy this at?

 

[mtngrl812]

Quote:
This "bandsaw" dust is the shavings from cutting meat and bones... not wood like you are thinking. I was suspicious at first too, until I read "(fresh meat and bone meal) "

 

[Erica]

Oops, sorry about that!

Yes, bandsaw dust is from the bandsaw at the butcher. Whenever a carcass is cut up, the little bits of meat, marrow and bone can be collected (if you ask nicely) and fed to chickens. My butcher stores it in little bags in the freezer and I buy it for a dollar or two for a few kilos. I store it in my own freezer and take out a little bag to thaw when needed.

However it's quite fatty, so shouldn't be over-fed. But if the ration needs some extra animal protein and if care is taken with mineral balance it's a great supplement. With layers I use bandsaw dust maybe twice a week and fresh mince the other times. Anything with bone in it (meat meal, meat-and-bone meal, bandsaw dust) has enough phosphorus compared to calcium to make layers develop thin shells if fed daily.

My general purpose is to get the protein content of the ration at the right percentage so the bandsaw dust or meat mince is there just to supplement certain amino acids.

Hope this helps... Apologies if it's all over-the-top as far as effort goes!

regards
Erica

 

[nourahm]

My grandmother raised chicks and fed them a mashed up (not mash) concoction of what is nowadays in the typical breaded fish stick. As a matter of fact, in her older age, she only kept up to five hens at a time and everyday she thawed fish sticks so they would be soggy and sticky, not crisp and then mashed the fish sticks with about 3 drops of poly-vi-sol (no iron) per chick and hand fed this to chicks. The fish stick gruel thing is done once a day from 5 days old for the rest of their life. She also made her chick feed out of fish meal, cracked corn, oatmeal, millet and flax. And also grew them fresh arugula and micro greens. So, this is what I do, too. Grandma died at age 93 and never believed in medicated feed or antibiotics or medication. She would okay meds only if there was a current disease outbreak, which she had only once during my lifetime. What have noticed is they grow faster and have a deep sheen in their feathers that non-fish eating birds just don't have, maybe it's the omega fats?? They are also more alert and lay monster quantities of eggs. Their eggs are never fishy.

 

[Celtic Chick]

This website has a ton of info on feeding chickens, and lots of links to even more info.

http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html