Feed Recipe - Not Sure How Much Of What...

[WI FarmChick]

With the Commercial or feed mills They are out to make money. As with Anyone who has a product for sale. I am a business owner as well. I wouldn't be in business if I wasn't competitive.

As the market goes up and down the grain goes up and down as well. So your feed will reflect that and also change with the market. If corn is cheap the feed will have more in the recipe, If wheat goes up there will be less in the recipe and so on. ever changing. It wouldn't be logical to keep wheat in the feed at a high percentage it would be too costly to be competitive commercially.

I don't need to be competitive. I would rather feed my chickens knowing what is in the feed rather than not knowing. It would be more consistent in quality.

 

[Chris09]

I read that Linseed/Flax has good nutrition for chickens. Then I hear it isn't good for them. I may add it back into my mix. I can't get split peas... Just the whole roasted soybeans. I just know there won't be any byproducts or 'meals' in my mix.

Oh, and yes, the feed will be crackled/crimped. Not ground or mashed, though. Small enough for the babies, but not to small for the adults. My day olds were actually eating wild bird seed, so they should be okay with a crack/crimp mix.

I myself do not and will not feed it. Way too cons and not enough pros in feeding it.
Here is a quote from University of California, Avian Sciences Department.

F.H. Kratzer and Pran Vohra University of California, Avian Sciences Department, Davis, CA 95616
posted on 1996.
​

Historically, linseed meal has not been a satisfactory feedstuff for poultry. It could satisfactorily replace the protein equivalent of soybean meal up to 2 or 3 percent of the diet, but higher levels caused noticeable reduction in gain and feed efficiency in broilers and poults (Ewing, 1963). The adverse effect of feeding linseed meal was greater than one would predict from the nutritional contribution to the diet and there was concern that it contained a toxic factor. At one time, it was speculated that cyanide from its cyanogenetic glucoside might be responsible for the adverse feeding value.


Linseed meal may be used satisfactorily as a protein supplement for poultry if it is water-treated or supplemented with pyridoxine to counteract the pryidoxine antimetabolite. The protein is somewhat deficient in lysine and must be properly supplemented. The mucilage of the linseed meal causes sticky droppings



Chris

 

[WI FarmChick]

Why so many ingredients?
Now I would recommend adding either Molasses or a Oil to help bind your ingredients a little and also cut the dust.
Another thing you may want to add is Calcium Carbonate.

I like to keep my mixes simple.
example of one of layer mixes that I use.
Corn, Oats, Whole Roasted Soybean, Animal Protein Mix, Trace Mineral/Vitamin mix, Molasses and Calcium Carbonate.

Chris

What kind of animal protein mix are you using?

 

[Chris09]

Quote: Its a mixture of porcine meat meal and fish meal.

Chris

 

[HSerChickLady]

I didn't know flaxseed could cause pasty butt in chickens. But this does explain why i've noticed some dirty bums since moving to my current feed. Ugh! One more reason i'm reading this thread trying to find something better that i can make myself here at home.

I wouldn't worry to much about variety as much as I would nutrition.
You have types of feed stuff (Barley and Linseed/Flax) that are known to cause pasty butts in both chicks and adults if feed too much so I would keep them to a minimum. In fact if it way me I would take both the Barley and the Linseed/Flax out of the mix, the Corn and Oat will cover everything that the Barley was adding to the mix as far as nutrition and the Alfalfa, Soybean and good old pasture covers everything the Linseed/Flax was adding to the mix.

With this mix being for chicks also I will assume that you are grinding this mix to a mash, am I correct?


Chris

 

[WI FarmChick]

I mix mine at home.... and it's not that hard. I did have to grind the grains when they were little.

Now they are bigger (9wks) and they are eating all but 2 grains that I still have to crack for them.

 

[Reyvaughn]

I think you may have your calculations wrong. A ton is 2,000 pounds or 40 bags at 50 pounds each which is $380 a ton. Just don't want you getting a shock at the mill when you ask for a ton and see the price.

My calculations are right, I said ton meaning half a ton. See where my total is for 1000 pounds? Error in wording, not math. $198 per half ton.

 

[WI FarmChick]

Do you have your recipe where you want it now?

 

[Reyvaughn]

Do you have your recipe where you want it now?

I still have to investigate vitamins and minerals. I think - not sure yet - it will be cheaper to have it added in by the mill than buying NutriBalancer and Kelp. It won't be as natural as I want, but I am trying to mind what I am spending. I get to much invested, my husband won't continue liking the birds, to be blunt. He will be on me to get rid of them like he is about me selling my last horse. I feel that 84% 'natural' is better than 100% questioning what my birds are eating - other than processed by-products, meals and a lot of corn.

I won't know about the minerals and vitamins until Thursday when I go get more feed. I am up to almost 200lbs of the mill's crumbles a week. That's almost $45 a week with tax.

 

[WI FarmChick]

WOW....How many birds you got?