Everyone, post your best homemade chicken feed recipes!

[pdirt]

Loved reading through this thread!  We have been making our own layer ration and Meat chicken feed for the past 2 or 3 years now, mainly because of our desire to feed soy-free feed, and we couldn't find a good or affordable pre-made feed in our area.  We have definitely learned a lot over the past year or two, and though I know there is still room for improvement, I am pretty happy with our current mixes.  We are blessed to be able to purchase grains in bulk from a local Organic grain processor, and we purchase the supplements (Organic Fish Meal, Fertrell Poultry Nutri-Balancer, and Thorvin Kelp) from nearby Feed stores.  We purchased a home feed grinder and are able to grind the grains at different sizes for the different aged chickens.

Here is our current Layer Ration - about 18% protein...

5.5lbs  Whole Wheat
3.5lbs  Cracked Corn
3.5lbs  Garbanzo Beans (used to use Adzuki, but these are the other "safe" bean that is available right now)
2lbs     Flax Meal Pellets
1.5lbs  Whole Oats, run through grinder on Medium
.5 lb    Organic Fish Meal - 62% protein
.5 lb    Fertrell Poultry Nutri-Balancer
.18lb   Thorvin Kelp

I put the corn through our grinder on Large, then the beans, Flax Pellets(they don't like the whole pellets), and Oats through on Medium.  Wheat goes in whole, and then all the supplements. My younger brother is our Human Mixer currently - we are definitely in the market for a cheap barrel mixer or something of the sort!!!    

This recipe gets tweaked quite often, according to availability, or new information, or time of year.  I have added some Wheat Germ too recently, about 1/4 lb for this size of recipe.  This makes about 16.68 lbs BTW, which is approximately 1/3 of 50lbs, and is the perfect size to hand mix in our buckets...:/   I have also just started fermenting the feed after reading the thread about fermenting feed for Meat birds.  So far it seems to be going well!

Hope this is helpful to someone!


Edit:  I forgot to mention that we give the above layer mash as 2/3 of our laying hens' diet - the other third is a scratch mix (currently fed dry) of Corn, Wheat, and BOSS.  

I like your recipe. Are you still doing something like this? If so, have you found a need to include an oil to help then powdery Nutri Balancer and fish meal to stick to grains and not end up as powder in the feeders?

I just started supplementing my feed with fish meal and nutri balancer and so far am not seeing a powder build up, but I was curious what others's experience has been.

 

[Me alter]

For a oil to add to my laying hens diet I give them black oil sunflower sees from our local hardware (same kind as is utilized as bird seed). The black oil sunflower seed had higher protein than any of the grains and has a high oil content hence the tit Black Oil Sunflower Seed (BOSS). Doesn't the whole wheat have germ in it? I give oats and sunflower seed whole as the bird's gizzards should do the grinding. It's a muscle and the feed should be feed alongside the pelleted mix to allow the girls a chance to develop the gizzard muscle. I allow my girls choice feeding which reduces waste to about 5 % instead of 60 %. And according to studies the girls eating whole grains eat about 10% less because they eat the whole kernel. I figure a whole kernel of corn is too big so I crack that. Then I sift it to add the finer grind to my fish meal, kelp and nutri balancer. I also grind oyster shell so there is really fine oyster shell throughout my concentrate. Without this last procedure they would leave the larger she'll pieces behind in the concentrate.

 

[tobystevensonjr]

I have a mix I use for Cornish cross and for a chick grower. I buy the supplies at my local elevator. It is a 100 lb. recipe. And is estimated to be 21% protein. The mix cost me 18¢ per lb.

30 lbs. ground corn
30 lbs. soybean meal
12 lbs. ground wheat
12 lbs. ground oat
12 lbs. ground Milo
1/2 lb. salt
1 1/2 lbs. Calcium
2 lbs. Bone meal

 

[tobystevensonjr]

OK, so an update on the feed mix I posted earlier. I have been feeding 250 CX the 21% mix. Its been 14 days and the chicks have eaten 260lbs of feed. We've weighed 25 random chicks and have an average weight of .95 lbs. Seem to be right on track. The next 2 weeks will tell.

 

[redsix]

I planning on planting some winter wheat this fall, but it is hard red wheat. Can I use it instead of the soft shell wheat that you have listed in your recipe? Is there a nutritional difference? I also plan on raising some corn and oats this summer.

 

[tobystevensonjr]

I planning on planting some winter wheat this fall, but it is hard red wheat.  Can I use it instead of the soft shell wheat that you have listed in your recipe?  Is there a nutritional difference?  I also plan on raising some corn and oats this summer.

. Grind it. Breaks the seed open on the wheat. I grind all my grains so the chickens process the feed better. If you mix all the grains together the protein leven is an average of 10%. Add the standard salt, bone meal, you can substitute crushed shells for calcium. I use soymeal for a protein substitute to boost the protein level of the feed. Also gives you lysine. Sunflower seed works but its low in lysine. Lysine is a very important amino acid. I'm working on finding a nongmo soymeal. The biggest problem with soymeal is when its made the oil is separated with a solvent that is toxic. Organic soymeal cost is thru the roof. So for now I put up with the standard GMO soybean meal.

 

[redsix]

What about feeding garden variety type dried beans? Do they have as good nutrient levels as soy beans? The chickens could eat the smaller beans like navy beans whole..

 

[tobystevensonjr]

What about feeding garden variety type dried beans?  Do they have as good nutrient levels as soy beans?  The chickens could eat the smaller beans like navy beans whole..   

. I really don't know without researching it. I do know that you can't feed chickens more than 25% of their feed mix in beans. The protein level of peas or other beans is in the 26% range. Soybean meal is 47%. There is no one product that replaces soymeal. To match it you have to combine 2 or 3. For example: use ground peas/ or navy beans and mix with ground sunflower seeds. The pea/bean will give you the amino acid and the sunflower will give you the protein. The calculations are done on a formula called Parsons Table.

 

[Iherb]

I sprout my wheat or even just soak it overnight. It's a lot easier on the digestion.

 

[tobystevensonjr]

I sprout my wheat or even just soak it overnight.  It's a lot easier on the digestion. 

how many chickens do you feed? I am feeding 260 right now. That's a lot if work to sprout that much wheat.