Feed mills

[CBDean]

They asked me is I was feeding turkey feed to my chickens because I requested 20% protein and then told me I needed layer feed with 17% protein. They weren’t willing to make anything special for me. Which I thought feed mills could do.

Thank you everyone. It’s good to know I can feed starter to my whole flock. I didn’t know that. I’ll be looking into different mills and calling the local extension like suggested. There’s plenty of mills around me. Not just the one I contacted.

You have to remember that it is not a easy thing to mix small batches of feed. Most mill are set for cattle &/or hog feed by the ton.

 

[buckock]

I have been feeding a combination of pellet commercial feed and feed from a hammer mill we bought (ca 1950) since September. We had a bad experience with a local mill that sold chicken feed by the barrel. Turned out to only have 12-13% protein, weevils, and weighed 309 lbs instead of the advertised 400 lbs. There’s a lot we don’t know but we’re learning and I’m currently mixing a 18-20% feed. I can’t be exact since the local ingredients are from farmers who haven’t assayed the corn or wheat middlings. I can say that they love it and it’s nice to be able to increase or decrease the protein batch to batch. We have about 75 chickens and go through enough to mill a barrel every couple of weeks. I add a vitamin supplement (VTM premix) which increases the cost a bit but is peace of mind.