Everyone, post your best homemade chicken feed recipes!

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Here's a nice link discussing the shortcomings of barley (scroll down to see).
http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Grains.html

I do feed barley in my feed mix (see my BYC page if interested) and they eat it happily. I am sure to keep oats and barley together less than 15% of the total feed as I read that was good (somewhere on internet).

I just today threw out a bag of BOSS that had gone moldy. I had put it in a plastic bin on the floor of the garage (big mistake) and it was a total loss.

All my other feed stays nice and fresh in galvanized trash cans on pallets in our insulated garage. No problems with mold, etc.

gophert- I have a small flock of bantams (and 2 LF) but the feed just keeps so well as described above in the cans that I don't have a problem. See my BYC page if interested for my mix.

Stonecottagefarm- sounds like a nice thing to buy in bulk!

 

[gophert]

Thanks, ClayMudd. I should have mentioned that I do not have room to store food inside (small house). I could only put it in an outdoor shed. I also live in a VERY humid climate. I haven't experienced this yet, but friends of mine with small flocks have had trouble with 50-lb bags of feed going moldy before they get through them. I don't know if whole grains would store better.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
No, for it to be a whole grain will not protect from mold. You must keep them dry as well.

 

[kjfrogster41]

Quote:
Know what you mean about the tomatoes. I have to be careful not to feed them too much, as they get the runs. They also love comfry leaves. I guess the minerals in the leaves are good for them. Noticed that lately they have been focusing on grass shoots. Perhaps, they "know" winter is on the way and are getting as much green stuff as possible? Besides a high protein layer mash, I feed treats twice a day AM and PM. Treats are left over veggie and fruit scraps, meal worms, sweet corn, brown rice (cooked), split peas (soaked in hot water to soften), egg shell pieces, udon noodles (softened) and whole oats. Not necessarily all of this at one time, the mix varies.

If you have other suggestions, I would love to try that out. We don't have crickets available, darn. We do have tiny land snails, their shells are pretty easy to crunch.

 

[kari_dawn]

what a great thread! I just sat and read through the entire thing. I have been toying with the idea of mixing my own feed as I too suspect that the large amounts of corn in comercial feeds alone makes it worth mixing my own...alas, I do not yet have the space to keep differing grains and seeds...thank you all for sharing your vast knowledge with us!

 

[NanaRose]

Can anyone tell me where to get powdered brewer's yeast, and ground or powdered oyster shell or aragonite for calcium? Thanks.

 

[Chris09]

Can anyone tell me where to get powdered brewer's yeast, and ground or powdered oyster shell or aragonite for calcium? Thanks.

For calcium, you can get Calcium Carbonate at any feed mill along with the Brewer's Yeast.

Note - Feed Stores like TSC wont have it you have to go to a feed mill.


Chris

 

[NanaRose]

Thanks so much. I'll look around my area.

For calcium, you can get Calcium Carbonate at any feed mill along with the Brewer's Yeast.

Note - Feed Stores like TSC wont have it you have to go to a feed mill.


Chris

 

[NanaRose]

We are down in your area-- south Alabama-- and I'm planning to do the same, but I do worry about the mold. What is DE, where to I get it, and how do I use it? Thanks

Whole grains, stored properly, have a pretty long shelf life. I buy wheat, corn, oats, and peas in 50 pound bags, then parcel them into plastic buckets with a sprinkling of DE. It helps that i have room to store the buckets inside.

Mold might be a problem if the moisture content of the grain is high, but I haven't run into that.

 

[Clay Mudd]

We are down in your area-- south Alabama-- and I'm planning to do the same, but I do worry about the mold. What is DE, where to I get it, and how do I use it? Thanks

Howdy, neighbor!

DE is diatomaceous earth:

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search.php?search=diatomaceous+earth


I mix about a half cup of it into a 5 gallon bucket of grain, and it seems to keep the weevils from reproducing. Opinions vary on how effective it is, but I notice a difference. Nothing like opneing a bag of weevil-infested corn...