Feed Recipe

Make sure your soybean meal is roasted. The following is just an estimate:

wheat 12% protein (can be higher up to 14 commonly for the hard red wheat)
oats 10% protein (unless human oats are used)
soybean meal
alfalfa meal 16% protein
flaxseed 20%
BOSS 16%

These protein amounts are from memory and may not be exact...so I calculate you are at about 14% by my eyeballing it and not using a calculator. I like to use lbs instead of parts, per Chris09's recommendation- to make it more exact. The volumes are not the same as weights, and the weights are usually what the protein % is calculated upon from what I have read.

So your mix is great for layers!

I favor using the following too:
rolled barley was approx $13 per 50 lb I think at feed store
split peas currently 50 cents a lb in grocery store bulk bins
millet (birdseed) currently about $20 per 50 lb at feed store

Peas are around 24% pro., barley I think was 10%, millet was 11% protein.

Good recipe and thanks for sharing!

Here is what I like to feed:
one scoop each of the following as 2/3 of mix, 1/3 of mix is org. chick starter (soy and corn only ingred. with vitamins):
rolled barley
rolled oats
wheat
millet
org. cracked corn
BOSS
split peas
oyster shell
grit available

woodstove ashes to bathe in also they eat for trace minerals.

I vary the mix, sometimes not buying everything at once. Other times everything is included, but always including the BOSS and some grain mixed with the starter.

I like this since the org. feed is so expensive...I just make sure my soy and corn are organic (to avoid GMOs).

 

You don't need to cook the peas:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/poultry/bba01s21.html

I don't use vitamins- only I make sure they have fresh green grass year round- grass clippings 1/2 inch long for new chicks, and only 2-3 inches long for adults (to prevent impacted crop as the longer pieces can wind around and cause a blockage).

There are vitamins in the organic chick starter that we use - but that is only 1/3 of what they are eating.

You are welcome! They will also eat the charcoal from the ashes and it makes the poo black, just so you know. They LOVE the ashes and the charcoal. It helps to keep away mites too if you let them bathe in it. I put them in a metal fire pit so I never have to worry about the sparks igniting wood. Sometimes I put them into a small pit lined with bricks in the ground also.

 

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list
usda is where people pointed me to originally - they have it listed per 100 g so it is a percentage

But for wheat I look on the feed bag, since it comes from the feed store and it lists the protein there- those percentages are usually lower than the usda lists. I don't know why. I also googled for protein numbers and found many different numbers as you said.

As long as I keep layers in the 15% protein range and offer a wide variety I don't worry about it...but here are some fun sites:

http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html
http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/feed_ingredients/proteins.html
http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/feed_ingredients/grains.html
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/poultry/bba01s20.html
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-4/Harvey_Ussery.html

Finally, I really like "Feeding Poultry" by GF Heuser (Norton Creek Press)- a book.