Feed Ration

[destiny_56085]

Need a little input....
Went to my local Kent dealership today to pick up my feed. Normally I feed strickly the 18% pelleted Multi-flock Showtail formula. Its about $11-12 for a 50 pound bag. Well I had ordered a ton of it over 2 weeks ago. The semi was full for last week so they promised to deliver it this week. Stopped in today because I am now out of feed and the truck normally comes in on tuesdays. They forgot to load it and thus none of my pellets were here.

Hmmmm.... now I just need something to feed my birds until the next truck comes. I know straight cracked corn isn't near enough protein. I also know with winter approaching that I don't want to feed straight layer mash and need a higher energy content for warmth. The guy said he could run some corn in the grinder and mix in half/half with the 23% layer crumbles. He added in a lil oyster shell to the mix and bagged up 810 pounds of it for me. The total only came to $113. I got to talking to him a lil more while we were at the mill. He could get me a custom mix with a minimum order of 500 pounds delivered to my farm (20 miles away) for less than $8 per 50 pounds.

This really got me thinking....today I paid : $0.13/per pound compared to $0.23/per pound of the pellets in the fancy bag. If I take into consideration the price he quoted me for a custom mix and delivery to my farm ($0.16/per pound)... Wow... I could be saving alot of money in the long run. We usually run about 150+ chickens (silkies & standard cochins), 30-40 ducks, 15 geese, 20 turkeys, 30 peafowl, and a few hundred fancy pigeons. This could amount to HUGE savings in the feed bill.

Does anyone else get their feed custom mixed? I like the fact that I know it is freshly ground and hasn't been sitting in storage forever losing vitamin content. I like supporting my local elevator and farmers. If I do decide to do this, what else should I be mixing in there for a complete ration? Wheat, fish meal, BOS, oats maybe? I have exhibition birds only. These aren't hardcore layers and I'm more concerned about maintaining weight & feather condition than productivity. It does get quite cold up here and I do need a high energy content for most of the year. Any ideas or suggestions?
Amy

 

[Mac in Wisco]

A complete ration is going to consist of carbs, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. A feed mill will usually mix two or three feedstocks to get the desired energy and protein levels and then add a premix for vitamins and minerals. Mixes like corn, soybean, and premix or wheat, peas, soybean and premix will provide a complete ration. Unless there is a nutritionist or someone well versed in poultry nutrition at the mill I'd just let the mill stick with their basic recipes.

If you want to view some sample rations, look here, there's nothing too mind boggling about the the ingredients:

http://www.lionsgrip.com/recipes.html

 

[Chris09]

You could try this I found it on a site I was on:
5 # each millet, whole wheat, corn, oats. buckwheat and peanut pieces
12 # sunflower seed kernels (dehulled)
3 # brewers yeast
2 # dried kelp
2 # wheat bran
1 # Diatomaceous Earth

Some people that I know just have a mixture of a higher protein pellet/crumble and grains ether mixed at the mill or they mix it at home with a electric cement mixer they got at Lowe's..
If you want to stay with Kent feed you could try:
60 # Kent 27% poultry
20 # Pigeon feed ( it is a all grain mix that is around 16% protein )
10 # BOSS
10 # Wheat

This mix should be around 20% protein if you want a lower protein feed you can switch out the Kent 27% poultry with Kent High Flyer 22 and that should put you at 18% protein

* The pigeon I use from time to time has a mixture of: *
Pop Corn
Wheat
Oat Groats
Milo
Polished White Rice
Buck Wheat
Safflower Seed
Peas ( Vetch, Maple, Canada and Austrian Peas )

Chris

 

[destiny_56085]

Thanks for the input! Most of those ingredients aren't even't available up here though. I know we can get soybeal meal, not roasted soybeans. Alot of the other stuff would probably have to be custom ordered in to which would hike the price up significantly.

I'm also trying to keep this ration affordable. We have alot of really big birds...turkeys, geese, etc. They are also not meat birds and not high production layers. The pigeons are really the least of my concern. I have maybe a couple dozen of my own modenas. The other couple hundred are birds that my family just keeps depositing in my other lofts and never want to thin out. I do buy a pigeon feed blend for my modenas. Its pretty much the same as your recipe Chris. However its $29 for a 40 pound bag. Until my family starts chipping in on feed, their pigeons can eat the chicken ration too. Oh yeah the geese, exhibition rouens, and turkeys are my brother's too. By the middle of summer after hatching season, he just can't seem to get it through his head why I'm squawking about feeding 80 young geese and 100 ducks.

 

[Chris09]

the pigeon feed should be a stock Item that your feed mill has...

Chris

 

[destiny_56085]

ummm nope... My family has been into pigeons for more than 20 years and its always the same old story. A few times a year we have to take a roadtrip and buy in bulk. The elevators do not carry this stuff around here.

Have to drive to St. Cloud to get the Old Elm blend. That's about a 6 hour round trip for me. The Pet Expo in Mankato (2 hour trip) carries the Kaytee brand of pigeon feed but you better have a huge checkbook for that. In fact, our local pigeon club realized the fact that pigeon feed is sooo hard to get up here and every spring orders in 2 pallets of feed for sale just to club members. I know they have to ship it in from out of state. Only $25 a bag from them and its gone by the end of spring.

I live in Minnesota. We have mainly corn and soybeans for crops up here. You will see a rare field of oats, peas or sugar beets. The availability is why I switched my birds to pellets in the first place.
Amy

 

[Chris09]

Wow now see we have 4 feed mills with in a 1/2 hour drive an they all have pigeon feed.
I never payed over $18.00 a 50 lb bag...

Chris

 

[destiny_56085]

I can pick up straight safflower and BOSS from our local Runnings at a hefty price. Occasionally they will put the BOSS on sale for $19.99 for a 50 pound bag. They did have a wild bird blend that has millet in it too... $14.99 for a 20 pound bag.

Lol...I called around to our local elevators last year just looking for bags of those dried trapper's peas and that red grit. My pigeons love them. No luck! If I would have cattle or hogs, they would have plenty of stuff to help me with.

I believe there used to be a company in Mankato that made pigeon feed. It was bought out by Nutrena a few years back. We used to get it for $12-15 a bag too then. That was at least fairly close. The Old Elm place in St. Cloud realized they had no competition and hiked the prices way up. It didn't help when wheat prices skyrocketed too. When our club orders it, they have to get it shipped in from out of state. I'm fairly sure the $25 a bag is at cost. They do it as a service to us, not to make money off it.

When prices skyrocketed, I had close to 60 pomeranian pouters in a couple of my lofts. They always will be my favorite breed and I truly miss them. Absolutely gorgeous birds, but huge and eat like horses. Those were the first to go. I made major cutbacks to my modenas too. All this extra loft space just seemed a shame to my family though. Tons of swing pouters, bohemian pouters, komorners, nuns, etc all of a sudden showed up. I also started getting the overflow of american show racers from my brother's lofts across town. Grrrrr

 

[Chris09]

I made major cutbacks to my modenas too

I had some Modenas at one time. I used them as "drop birds" for traning my young homers. Now I just use some bantam Old English...

Chris​

 

[kristen2678]

Check out this article:

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-4/Harvey_Ussery.html