Extremely Simple Chicken Feed

[Folly's place]

Is there an agriculture department at a nearby university? Ask there! Also, does Heifer International have any helpful advice? It's got to be products that are locally available, so what grows in Michigan is irrelevant.
Mary

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

To provide a brief background, I am working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Eastern Africa and I'm trying to help a local chicken farmer produce his own chicken feed. I have tried to read up on best-practices while also balancing our restriction to resources.

We are trying to mix a feed using:
-Corn, Corn bran, Soybeans, Lime (calcium), and salt

We have access to the following amino acids supplements:
-Lysine, Methionine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Toxin binder, Grower PMX 3kg packs, Coccidiostat, Zincbacitrach

There is a large cotton company in the area and we may try to see if we could rent their seed press for a small amount of time to make soybean meal - otherwise we would have to roast the soybeans.

From my understanding, for laying chickens the goal is 15-18% protein and 18-24lbs of feed per week per 10 birds. For meat chickens, 20-24% protein for the first 6 weeks and 16-20% protein after 6 weeks until slaughter/sell.

First of all, is it feasible to stick to corn and soybeans as the main content? Secondly, what should the ratios be? And lastly, how should we go about incorporating the amino acids and other supplements?

Thank you for any and all help!

Your calculations to percentage looks correct for that amount of birds If the birds are caged. If the birds free range and have access to eat bugs, plants, etc then they may eat less of your food mix. I have 11 birds and I buy a 50 lb bag of cracked corn and that lasts me at least a month or more because they free range (which they love).

As long as they are getting protein and calcium they will make eggs. To save on money you can also add crushed egg shells to the feed it has calcium in the shell and is perfectly safe.

 

[purslanegarden]

Thank you that is a very helpful article and a unique solution!! The article suggests keeping the number of chooses as few as possible to not overwhelm the chickens. Any idea how to best incorporate the amino acids?

You mentioned several amino acids by their specific names, which I don't know much about, but keep in mind, you may not need them as a separate supplement if you feed things that already have them. As an example for people, we don't need to buy omega-3 pills to add to our intake, if we eat fish often.

So if there are other things that have those amino acids, including plants or insects/other forms of meat, it's possible to add the amino acid requirement in this way.

An example for the lysine, is that it can be found in some kinds of meats and beans. You mentioned the soy beans already. If you instead provide a supply of the meats that the birds can get lysine from, you may be able to skip the whole soy bean and bean press part. As a further example, this lysine could come from chickens that you eat. Give the leftover bones and meat pieces for the chickens to pick at.

That means you don't even need another kind of animal or meat from the market. You already have the chicken...for the chickens.

 

[daniel3]

Is there an agriculture department at a nearby university? Ask there! Also, does Heifer International have any helpful advice? It's got to be products that are locally available, so what grows in Michigan is irrelevant.
Mary

I will look into Heifer International. Sadly there is no reputable University in the region but I can send an email/call the University in the capital (~2000km away)

 

[daniel3]

You mentioned several amino acids by their specific names, which I don't know much about, but keep in mind, you may not need them as a separate supplement if you feed things that already have them. As an example for people, we don't need to buy omega-3 pills to add to our intake, if we eat fish often.

So if there are other things that have those amino acids, including plants or insects/other forms of meat, it's possible to add the amino acid requirement in this way.

An example for the lysine, is that it can be found in some kinds of meats and beans. You mentioned the soy beans already. If you instead provide a supply of the meats that the birds can get lysine from, you may be able to skip the whole soy bean and bean press part. As a further example, this lysine could come from chickens that you eat. Give the leftover bones and meat pieces for the chickens to pick at.

That means you don't even need another kind of animal or meat from the market. You already have the chicken...for the chickens.

From all of the recipes shared with me so far and what I have seen, the variety of ingredients give a more balanced set of amino acids. So I will absolutely look into the specifics of the amino acids with regards to potential ingredients!! Using leftover chicken bones could also help a lot. It sounds ruthless, but is also a realistic solution. Thank you!

 

[RiverOtter]

Can you get cotton seed from the cotton mill?
Is this farmer growing any feed? If so, peas are better than soybeans and the birds will also eat the leaves. In fact, there is a kind of pea developed in Africa specifically for that, sort of a "cut and come again". I believe it was named for the region it was developed in. I grew it several years ago and it really did well, I'll have to see if I can dig up the name.

Raising maggots sounds horrific, but is a good form of pest control and a way to feed chickens.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...manure-bred-maggots-to-make-meat-sustainable/
http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[daniel3]

Can you get cotton seed from the cotton mill?
Is this farmer growing any feed? If so, peas are better than soybeans and the birds will also eat the leaves. In fact, there is a kind of pea developed in Africa specifically for that, sort of a "cut and come again". I believe it was named for the region it was developed in. I grew it several years ago and it really did well, I'll have to see if I can dig up the name.

Raising maggots sounds horrific, but is a good form of pest control and a way to feed chickens.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...manure-bred-maggots-to-make-meat-sustainable/
http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/

Good luck, and keep us posted!

There is a potential for getting some cotton seed yes! So we may be able to add cotton cake in the mixture eventually. He does grow some of his own feed so we'll look into peas as well. I'll try to do some research and see if I can find the name of those peas!

And the maggots sound like another possibility. We can't do it all at the same time, but next month we'll start using self-made feed and month by month we can improve the recipes and our set of ingredients.

 

[RiverOtter]

While I was looking everywhere for the name of that pea, I found this, it might be helpful
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/7047

And I did find it! It is called "Kunde" and is a cowpea with edible leaves and very strong growth. You can cut it back by half after it is well grown and it will come back. I grew it and loved it until deer wiped it out relentlessly.
I understand the word is used by some as a catch-all for black-eyed peas, but the variety who's proper name is "Kunde" has red peas with no colored "eye"

 

[daniel3]

While I was looking everywhere for the name of that pea, I found this, it might be helpful
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/7047

And I did find it! It is called "Kunde" and is a cowpea with edible leaves and very strong growth. You can cut it back by half after it is well grown and it will come back. I grew it and loved it until deer wiped it out relentlessly.
I understand the word is used by some as a catch-all for black-eyed peas, but the variety who's proper name is "Kunde" has red peas with no colored "eye"

THANK YOU!!! I will research it a bit and discuss with the farmer about planting some.

I cannot express enough how helpful everyone here has been. In a few months, I'll post a brief update on how things are progressing. To provide a brief background of the social enterprise work being done - this specific farmer used to work as an operations director for the cotton company. He retired to start his chickens and a 5 acre vegetable farm about one year ago with the goal of lowering vegetable prices for the community. For many families, vegetables are too expensive to use any or even a decent amount in food. For example, he has determined he can make a profit by selling tomatoes at 50 MZN (about 0.8 USD) per Kilogram even though the market price is 100 MZN (about 1.7 USD).

 

[JaeG]

THANK YOU!!! I will research it a bit and discuss with the farmer about planting some.

I cannot express enough how helpful everyone here has been. In a few months, I'll post a brief update on how things are progressing. To provide a brief background of the social enterprise work being done - this specific farmer used to work as an operations director for the cotton company. He retired to start his chickens and a 5 acre vegetable farm about one year ago with the goal of lowering vegetable prices for the community. For many families, vegetables are too expensive to use any or even a decent amount in food. For example, he has determined he can make a profit by selling tomatoes at 50 MZN (about 0.8 USD) per Kilogram even though the market price is 100 MZN (about 1.7 USD).

I'm sure we'd all love an update and I can see why you are so invested in helping this person out. What a wonderful thing to be doing (both of you)!