Does anyone mill their own grains for feed?

[ChickenCanoe]

My plan was to substitute a percentage of the commercial feed we buy with natural grains. Depending on the type of grain, it contains many vitamins and minerals already.

Well, the commercial feed you are buying is already mostly grain. Adding 'natural' grains will do nothing more than lowering the nutrition in the feed.
I think it is important to remember that chickens are omnivores and not strictly grain eaters.
Vegetative sources of protein, i.e. grain, is deficient in several essential amino acids like lysine, methionine, cystine and tryptophan. The only way to make a complete vegetarian feed that provides the protein chickens need is by a careful balancing of grains and legumes as well as adding at least two essential amino acids in synthetic form.
As for vitamins and minerals, yes grain has them but not all those that chickens need.
If you want to do this, it may help to also include something like fish or porcine meal to supplement some of those amino acids and the vitamins, minerals and fats missing in the grain.
I just don't think that substituting feed with what is already the main ingredients in feed is going to save money in the long run.

 

[416bigbore]

Well, I could probably give you some of the info off the tag? Would you be wanting it for chickens or ducks or both? I generally grind it at the recommended ration for laying hens & all the other fowl I have eat that ration with no ill effects. There is a different ratio for turkeys, game birds and waterfowl if you have only those specifically.

That would be great thank you. We have four ISA Brown who should start laying in a few weeks if the info on them is correct, then 12 ducks.

 

[416bigbore]

Well, the commercial feed you are buying is already mostly grain. Adding 'natural' grains will do nothing more than lowering the nutrition in the feed.
I think it is important to remember that chickens are omnivores and not strictly grain eaters.
Vegetative sources of protein, i.e. grain, is deficient in several essential amino acids like lysine, methionine, cystine and tryptophan. The only way to make a complete vegetarian feed that provides the protein chickens need is by a careful balancing of grains and legumes as well as adding at least two essential amino acids in synthetic form.
As for vitamins and minerals, yes grain has them but not all those that chickens need.
If you want to do this, it may help to also include something like fish or porcine meal to supplement some of those amino acids and the vitamins, minerals and fats missing in the grain.
I just don't think that substituting feed with what is already the main ingredients in feed is going to save money in the long run.

Hello ChickenCanoe, thank you for your input great food for thought! My plan isn't to make my own commercial feed that is equivalent to the stuff we can already buy. I understand the wheel is already round and no need to change that. I was just brainstorming different options in the hope of being able to lower my commercial feed bill and still have a healthy balanced diet in the end. I understand this isn't feasible and time friendly for everyone to do. This is just a new hobby for us and I was just trying to explore different options.

 

[de kippendame]

That would be great thank you. We have four ISA Brown who should start laying in a few weeks if the info on them is correct, then 12 ducks.

Right now we are grinding it at 16% since they are able to free-range and have unlimited access to bugs and worms, we'll probably up it to 18% when winter comes. The ratios are in very large quantities, but you can do the math to make smaller batches.

16% Layer
1200# Grain(we use corn)
150# Oyster Shell/Limestone(we leave this out of the ration & keep it out free choice)
650# Home Grown Multi-Purpose Poultry Supplement(bags come in 50# each)

This makes 2000# of feed (we have a grain bin). We don't always make a full batch simply because we don't want it to go bad in the bin before we can use it. I think we did a 7 bag batch last time(350# HG Supplement) and did the math for the grain.

Our ducks eat this too, but they prefer (and are pigs over) the cat food!

The actual ration for ducks is really quite close to the 16% Layer, it is just 1400# grain & 600# HG Supplement. Close enough for me to not worry about it.

 

[416bigbore]

Thank you for sharing. I am only looking at milling small amounts at a time. One would have to think that fresh ground grain for duck would be similar to freshly ground coffee beans, better flavor or not?

 

[de kippendame]

You're welcome! You could certainly do this in a small batch, a 50# bag of the supplement would end up making 142# of feed. As long as you have good storage, it will keep.

I would think freshly ground corn would be similar to coffee! That said, I do know my birds go for the biggest chunks of corn possible first, sometimes not every kernel gets cracked.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hello ChickenCanoe, thank you for your input great food for thought! My plan isn't to make my own commercial feed that is equivalent to the stuff we can already buy. I understand the wheel is already round and no need to change that. I was just brainstorming different options in the hope of being able to lower my commercial feed bill and still have a healthy balanced diet in the end. I understand this isn't feasible and time friendly for everyone to do. This is just a new hobby for us and I was just trying to explore different options.

There is a company called Fertrell that makes a nutritional supplement to be mixed with grain to make a complete feed. It is called Poultry Nutri-Balancer. To the best of my memory, it is a 60# bag that gets mixed with a ton of grain.
I don't have a big enough mixer to properly get it mixed thoroughly. I thought of using my cement mixer.

 

[416bigbore]

Great info. thank you ChickenCanoe. Here is a link I found for a 10# bag, might be a little more user friendly over 60# ?
https://www.amazon.com/Fertrell-Poultry-Nutri-Balancer/dp/B07GSH6C2J

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Truer words were never spoken. The only thing I could get around here that was fresh was that cumbersome 60# bag. It is supposed to retain the vitamin potency for 6 months.
I don't use much grain but mix it with cheaper brands of feed to boost the nutrients to what I want the feed to be. It takes about 1/4 pound to bring the A, D and E up to appropriate levels in 10 lbs. of Nutrena feed.

 

[416bigbore]

Being a Newbie to this, it's nice to know that there is some different options available.