Everyone, post your best homemade chicken feed recipes!

[annagoodspeed]

It is possible to find organic soil amendments, which I am ok with using as chicken feed. I am sourcing through Concentrates in Portland, Oregon. They just started a mail order service, which I figure will cost a fortune, but less than buying pre mixed organic feed.
I am using fish meal, crab meal, and kelp added to a two to one mix of field peas to wheat, with oyster shell free choice.
http://concentratesnw.com/v2/catalog/soil-amendments/ferts/50-og-fish-meal-propell-fert/

 

[Papachick76]

It is possible to find organic soil amendments, which I am ok with using as chicken feed. I am sourcing through Concentrates in Portland, Oregon. They just started a mail order service, which I figure will cost a fortune, but less than buying pre mixed organic feed.
I am using fish meal, crab meal, and kelp added to a two to one mix of field peas to wheat, with oyster shell free choice.
http://concentratesnw.com/v2/catalog/soil-amendments/ferts/50-og-fish-meal-propell-fert/

How did you determine the amounts of the meals and kelp to add? Also, are you making it in small batches? The reason I ask is I don’t know if you have to worry about the fish and crab meals going bad.

 

[annagoodspeed]

I used that feed calculator found in this thread, and determined the amounts by weight according to their protein percentage. The grain/peas base is now premixed, I use around seven pounds daily for around thirty birds,and add the meals when I add the water for fermentation. I also add dried greens, either alfalfa, or a mix that I have harvested over the summer, to the soak.
I am not sure how fast the meal deteriorates in my situation, but try to not get too much at one time.
These birds have a big pasture, compost, and extra garden greens in addition to the feed. I go for around twenty percent protein.

 

[shober]

I am going to have to check this whole thread for recipes! My gals don’t care for corn! That is what is always leftover. I usually give wet mash in the morning and they love it.

 

[schmedlap]

OK, here goes:
I've been doing an lot of reading over the past few months on this, and I am sure I am probably doing something wrong, so those of you with more knowledge, correct me please.
I want to provide a 1:1 ratio of mash:scratch. The layer mash I get has 18% protein.
In any ratio of mash to scratch, the minimum to maintain is 15% protein. I am going for 22-24% protein.
A scratch mixture of at least two grains is usually best for the laying hen, so I've overdone it and am using four. Each has a varying degree of energy content and benefits. You don't want any grain to be more than 50% of the scratch feed. Also, I've read that it is best usually fed in late afternoon and that overfeeding of the scratch will lower the feed intake of the mash and decrease their protein intake.
I am aware that summer/winter seasons will make a difference in the feed ratios, and that wether or not hens free-range also makes a difference.
So this mix is based on the fact that my hens do not free-range, get veggie/leafy greens in AM, and this mash/scratch mix in afternoon beginning in July of this year (when my pullets will be 19 wks old.)

100# Layer Mash:Scratch mix =

50# Layer Mash
.75# cracked corn
.25# whole oats
.50# soft shell wheat
.50# rice bran
1# sunflower
1# millet mix
.50# flax
.25# granulated garlic
.25# brewer's yeast

Final cost breakdown is $1.45/lb. So... I've mentioned before that my girls are the Paris Hiltons of the poultry world, haven't I?

So I'm waiting for your suggestions and comments...right off, I can answer a few of them....
-I'm not sure what I'm doing, most of this info has come from reading several thoughts, theories and weighing out the plusses and minuses of each of the items listed.
-I want to provide a high omega3 diet to decrease cholesterol content in the eggs.
-granulated garlic is used to reduce smell in coop.

yer formula doesn't add up. following yer recipe would yield 55# of mix, not 100#

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I made my own chick feed this a.m. My husband thinks it's better than what they were getting at the place we purchased them. Plus, rather than being caged, they are now living in a nice tractor w/fresh grass and bugs.

Mis 5 pollitos are only a few weeks old at most and we still aren't sure if they're a Barred Rock mix or I hope not black sex link & all male but anyway, if you make your own organic type feed and can see something is desperately missing from mine, please let me know. All ingredients are not readily available in my area...Mexico...I'd love to buy diatramatrus earth...so if anyone familiar with Guadalajara knows where I could purchase a food grade, I'd so appreciate it!!! Also, I'm wanting to know if I ground up egg shells, if baby chicks need that?

here's my chick feed recipe:

2 Cups corn meal
3 Cups soft white wheat(can't find hard red wheat berry)
1 Cup oat groats
2 Cups sunflower seeds
1 Cup split peas
1 Cup lentils
1 Cup sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 Cup brewer's yeast
1/2 Cup flax seed

How about this recipe @U_Stormcrow

 

[U_Stormcrow]

How about this recipe @U_Stormcrow

I'm guessing you haven't even thought about price. Brewer's Yeast ain't cheap. Neither is flax.

I'm going to assume POUNDS, not cups - my calculator isn't designed for volumetric measurements - depending how things are gournd, you could end up will all sorts of variations. I'm also not correcting for water content (as fed) which typically lowers things about 10%, AND I'm working from avarages, not guaranteed nutritional assays. @Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay does this regularly, and is fond of pointing out the limits of a calculator like mine *(I agree with his points) and that the corn he deals with daily has a protein content around 6.7% not the 9.5% that still appears in published averages. [I've not changed because I single source all my data so as not to be accused of cherrypicking and favoratism towards a particular ingredient]

The numbers - CAVEATS ABOVE

17.04% protein - low, correcting for moisture content will drop this below 16%
6.53% fiber - high but not excessive
15.87% fat - BAD - 4x recommend for any bird, any life stage, any species
0.30% Methionine - low, after correction will be below target
0.75% Lysine - borderline
0.61% Threonine - borderline, after correction will be below targets
0.22% Tryptophan - low, but acceptable

MJ/kg 13.36 - in the right range.
So, apart from encouraging fatty liver disease, and stressing the heart and internal organs with an excess of cavity fat, that's a sub-par layer feed. Your excess fat comes from all the seeds in the mix - which just happen to be some of your best sources for your key amino acids.

You have two good sources of methionine - brewers yeast and seasame seed. Four good sources of lysine - peas, lentils, flax, brewer's yeast. Five good sources of threonine - sesame, peas, lentils, flax, brewer's yeast. and if you get the first three right, the tryptophan naturally follows in most grain-based diets - but sesame flax, and brewer's yeasts are all concentrarted sources of it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

How about this recipe if I added things?

I've only had two cups of coffee, I'm going to try and be polite.

I live in a very remote area. My internet is via cell phone. I have the best plan available (easy to say, when only a single carrier offers more than one bar service, WITH a powered antenna). I have neither the data bandwith, nor the time, to sit down and watch 30 minutes worth of videos in hopes of teasing a recipes from them when half the time my Facebook page loads as a banner and a screen full of white page...

Number ONE. " if I added things" - that's not a recipe. Well it is, but its a recipe for umnknowable chaos. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh, Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" Fixed it for you.

Number TWO. Salatins feed recipe is part of a system. You can't use the feed and expect good results if you don't use the System and understand the preconditions. That said, you can do worse.

Salatin has two recipes commonly offered:
52 Corn
29 Soy Beans (rosted of course, NOT meal)
11 Whole Crimped Oats
3.5 Fish Meal
3 Nutribalancer
1 Limestone
.5 Kelp Meal
.1 Probiotics

and

49.7 Corn
39.8 Roasted Sobeans
10.9 Whole Crimped Oats
5 Limestone (obviously a layer ration)
3 Nutribalancer
.5 Kelp Meal

Number THREE. That's J Rhodes' recipe, and J Rhodes channel, which I've already recommended as a good place to start. If all you are doing is throwing Youtube videos at me, waiting on me to do the real work for you, my TIME is worth much more than that. Running a calculator is simply not that entertaining to me.

Number FOUR
After adjusting for moisture content, and with the usual caveats about using averages, the eBay recipe is sub 16% protein, 6.5% fiber, 8.5% fat (2x to 3x too much), Borderline on Met, low to borderline on Lysine, Low on Threonine, and adequate Tryptophan. Those ingredients are NOT cheap.

Number FIVE
I'm not looking up their layer mash from a post 13 years ago, which if I recall correctly is a low protein scratch grain mix, so that I can calculate that before adding in more low protein, high fat corn, plus high fat sunflower, millet, and flax (the last three of which aren't cheap) so I can report on yet another high fat home brew feed mix which doesn't cut your costs any.

Number SIX
I looked at this yesterday. IN THIS VERY THREAD

I think I have been EXCEEDINGLY patient. Now, because I'm not wired for "touchy-feely", I'll say this once for the audience in back. Your birds depend upon you for their diet.

Their lives are your responsibility. Either take responsibility and do the real work of doing your own research, or stick to commercial feeds. I have done the research. I have attepted to save time and effort by repeatedly stating that home brew recipes almost never provide balanced and complete nutritional needs and are almost always more expensive than an off the shelf commercial soluiton, and further, that the more I know about feeding birds, the less likely I am to attempt it at home.

For your own good, and for your bird's health, we're done. Maybe I reconsider if I see some evidence of effort on your part - but thus far, I've seen less effort than I put into this response. I can only assume you are very young, and will hopefully gain maturity in the fullness of time.

/edited in part for clarity.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I've only had two cups of coffee, I'm going to try and be polite.

I live in a very remote area. My internet is via cell phone. I have the best plan available (easy to say, when only a single carrier offers more than one bar service, WITH a powered antenna). I have neither the data bandwith, nor the time, to sit down and watch 30 minutes worth of videos in hopes of teasing a recipes from them when half the time my Facebook page loads as a banner and a screen full of white page...

Number ONE. " if I added things" - that's not a recipe. Well it is, but its a recipe for umnknowable chaos. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh, Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" Fixed it for you.

Number TWO. Salatins feed recipe is part of a system. You can't use the feed and expect good results if you don't use the System and understand the preconditions. That said, you can do worse.

Salatin has two recipes commonly offered:
52 Corn
29 Soy Beans (rosted of course, NOT meal)
11 Whole Crimped Oats
3.5 Fish Meal
3 Nutribalancer
1 Limestone
.5 Kelp Meal
.1 Probiotics

and

49.7 Corn
39.8 Roasted Sobeans
10.9 Whole Crimped Oats
5 Limestone (obviously a layer ration)
3 Nutribalancer
.5 Kelp Meal

Number THREE. That's J Rhodes' recipe, and J Rhodes channel, which I've already recommended as a good place to start. If all you are doing is throwing Youtube videos at me, waiting on me to do the real work for you, my TIME is worth much more than that. Running a calculator is simply not that entertaining to me.

Number FOUR
After adjusting for moisture content, and with the usual caveats about using averages, the eBay recipe is sub 16% protein, 6.5% fiber, 8.5% fat (2x to 3x too much), Borderline on Met, low to borderline on Lysine, Low on Threonine, and adequate Tryptophan. Those ingredients are NOT cheap.

Number FIVE
I'm not looking up their layer mash from a post 13 years ago, which if I recall correctly is a low protein scratch grain mix, so that I can calculate that before adding in more low protein, high fat corn, plus high fat sunflower, millet, and flax (the last three of which aren't cheap) so I can report on yet another high fat home brew feed mix which doesn't cut your costs any.

Number SIX
I looked at this yesterday. IN THIS VERY THREAD

I think I have been EXCEEDINGLY patient. Now, because I'm not wired for "touchy-feely", I'll say this once for the audience in back. Your birds depend upon you for their diet.

Their lives are your responsibility. Either take responsibility and do the real work of doing your own research, or stick to commercial feeds. I have done the research. I have attepted to save time and effort by repeatedly stating that home brew recipes almost never provide balanced and complete nutritional needs and are almost always more expensive than an off the shelf commercial soluiton, and further, that the more I know about feeding birds, the less likely I am to attempt it at home.

For your own good, and for your bird's health, we're done. Maybe I reconsider if I see some evidence of effort on your part - but thus far, I've seen less effort than I put into this response. I can only assume you are very young, and will hopefully gain maturity in the fullness of time.

/edited in part for clarity.

OK, sorry for frustrating you. People just kept recommending you and I was just hoping you had the answers to my questions. I hope you have a good week and thank you for your time.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

OK, sorry for frustrating you. People just kept recommending you and I was just hoping you had the answers to my questions. I hope you have a good week and thank you for your time.

I suspect it is clear to most everyone reading this thread that I do have the answers - and have answered - but that someone isn't accepting of them.