Everyone, post your best homemade chicken feed recipes!

[JoyfulPromise]

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.

 

[pambaum]

hmmmmm...maybe i will just stick with commercial & add good stuff to it. I don't want to take a chance on messing up their nutrition.

 

[ian j w]

$1 50 a pound is quite a lot i get a 20 kg bag of mixed corn for £9.00 thats about $ 12 / $14 a bag but i am trying to get my own mix going .i have found thy love fresh cut grass ,worms even cooked chicken cut up small .i have a big compost heap that i turn over about every 4 weeks for the worms that i give them and thy go mad for them . get egg shells for them dry them smash them up small give them to them ask local cafe or diner to save them for you good luck to you all

 

[ian j w]

$1 50 a pound is quite a lot i get a 20 kg bag of mixed corn for £9.00 thats about $ 12 / $14 a bag but i am trying to get my own mix going .i have found thy love fresh cut grass ,worms even cooked chicken cut up small .i have a big compost heap that i turn over about every 4 weeks for the worms that i give them and thy go mad for them . get egg shells for them dry them smash them up small give them to them ask local cafe or diner to save them for you good luck to you all

 

[poultrypharmer]

We would love to not have to buy as much food also. We do plant oats, sunflowers, and beets, which they love and we find they don't eat as much of the mix. It just gets so pricey, especially when your egg money doesn't cover the cost of food. Once our young ones start laying better, then we can start selling more eggs. They also love watermelon, grapes and strawberries, and almost any vegetable.

 

[bairo]

After heavy research with a goal on good nutrition, a maximum of 5 grains to keep it simple, and a super easy ratio.....the best I can come up with is this 18.5% feed (over the age of 6 weeks) with free choice calcium and plenty of grit in the run. As matter of fact I would suggest filling the feeder and using this as a scratch so they will be inclined to pick up grit


cracked corn 20 percent
field peas 20
crimped oats 20
ground whole wheat 20
sunflower 20

 

[Donna Lynn]

Geepy, which peppers do you grow and how do you go about drying them? I am originally from Tampa born and raised just moved out to CA with my DH 3 years ago. I miss the thunder & lightning storms but man can I grow things here! Thanks!

 

[silkielover5]

So food is going up a lot so I decided to make my own feed. I want to include one 50 lb bag of their layer crumble and add sunflower seeds, oatmeal, flax seed, mealworms, red cell, and dog food ( heard it was good for them) I also want to include their oyster shells, grit, and showbird mix. How much of each should I add? I want to make sure I don't give them enough of something or to much of something. Am I forgetting something?

 

[catnipchickens]

Does anyone here have an opinion of whole oats vs. crimped oats? I was thinking of feeding a 33% wheat bran, 33% organic layer feed, and 34% whole oats and then fermenting it, but wasn't sure. Thanks to those who have shared their recipes......

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Bah, with high-quality feed so expensive these days, I would really love to make our own. But it seems so complicated! And even more expensive than buying pre-made feed! What's the magic solution, guys?