I guess I would trust the people formulating feed who stand to lose millions with their commercial chicken operations if it's not right more than I would trust the dog food manufacturers who only need to sell food to other people's pets. I guess I've never heard of a chicken food recall, but dog food recalls and health disasters from additives and bad sources of ingredients are commonplace.
This is similar to what I do but I make my own whole grain feed to ferment & they love it. I use the Garden Betty corn free “recipe” I also use it as a free choice feed in their trough with crumble & add hemp seed free choice as an added treat (high protein & Omega 3 & 6) My chickens also free range in the tractor or supervised in the backyard + get occasional leftovers, fresh garden veggies, live mealworms, sprouts/fodder & other treats. We try to maintain a well balanced diet through variety.
You might be interested in New Country Organics, if there's one near you. They do ship, but buying in store is best. I drive 2 hours one way to buy it in Lubbock, TX but also stop at the raw dairy on the way home to make the most of the drive. They have a bunch of special formulas like corn free, wheat free, soy free, several types of grind and whole too. It's beautifully balanced, and I ferment with a couple glugs of ACV overnight in buckets, adding in couple tablespoons DE and Redmond Mineral Conditioner, barely covering feed with water. Our chickens consume much less feed by doing this, stay better hydrated, and their food is better digested. When I pour it into their feed trays, it smells like wonderful sweet sourdough bread. We range our 25 birds on 11 acres, so in the spring/summer my rule is no feed till later in afternoon to make them go hunt for those crickets, grasshoppers, and all the crazy crawlies on the Texas prairie from morning through afternoon. Then they receive their measured allotment, topping off their bellies before bed.
Do you not think the commercial feeds are full of stuff that is not good for them when you check the ingredients. I'm not happy with what I see.
Absolutely not.
Have found with my horses that 'mixing / making' your own feed is WAY TOO much trouble, and in the long run NEVER saves any money.
I'm cleaning rabbits and guinea pigs right now so I will give better response later, hopefully. I'm not certain that I am qualified to judge. I am asking questions, researching and learning as a first-time chicken mama. I have been carefully reading labels on all of my animal feed and also my own, and honestly I'm horrified, esp after reading the conditions of and what is fed to most commercially raised chickens and cattle. Guinea pig and rabbit food is loaded with fillers and preservatives in most cases. Whatever the chickens eat passes to us through their eggs, right? I am not good with a heavy corn and soy diet for myself. Most corn and soy are GMO in US, so I question the reliability of food that says organic and non-GMO, esp if they don't provide the source of the ingredients. I understand that dietary requirements for chickens are different than my own, still I am continually looking for better or the best options. I also know that all the contradictory opinions about chicken feeding in blogs and other articles are just opinions and not based in research or fact so I double and triple check. I put a post about feeding chickens charcoal mixed with apple cider vinegar and everyone poo pooed me, but this information was verified by scientific studies on a government website https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23972401/ which you can check out. Ok. I'm out until later. The natives are getting restless.
).
I don't mean to spoil all the fun and great suggestions, but some of us have more time than money. Electric fence equipment can be expensive and she mentioned in one of her posts that she sometimes buys from Sprouts on EBT. Lest anyone judge, we are not all sucking off the government teet because we are lazy. I am a single mom and made very good income until my body decided to give out. I hate being on disability and constantly try to find ways to "fix" myself so I can return to work, but meanwhile I struggle big time. I had no idea the cost and labor of raising chickens when I brought them home.Oh just one other thought on 'tractor runs' - unless it is more than 1/2 an acre then all a tractor run really does is keep your chickies safe from predation, and out of your neighbour's garden
Invest is a couple rolls of electric chicken mesh fencing and put that up. YOu can move it around to different location once they trample down the area they are in. I put mine up around some Coniferous trees by my barn, they all come an go from the barn and outside as they please, and the Coniferous trees offer shade, protection from rain, and a place to hide from Raptors (hahaha by that I mean hawks, eagles, etc - not the Jurassic Park variety
Enjoy your chickens, don't make it complicated, go to your local Feed-mill and talk to a feed rep there, the more complicated you make it the less fun you will have with them!
. I was just thinking of saving on eggs and the fun of raising them. Fortunately, I only have four. I wanted two but TSC said they would only sell in groups of four. 
I love them though and give the best care I can even if it is not fun sometimes. Plus, I live in the desert, not much forage and four hawks and an owl on the property.
