First time raising meaties... Commerical feed versus Salatin ration???

[Brunty_Farms]

I'm definitely not talking down on him..... half of his brilliance is due to his BS.... either way he is good at what he does.

 

[al6517]

Jeff I sent you a PM............

AL

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
Aren't we all? I mean, to one extent or another....

 

[Buster52]

I think Salatin is right. The learning curve is steep enough for a beginner without worrying about the feed mix, so go with a commercial grower. You need all the help can get with these fickle birds.

However, over the long term, I would encourage you to experiment with developing a good locally milled feed so you can cut your costs and get your grains more locally. It is more sustainable plus much much cheaper. Salatin's mix is an excellent starting point to work from. You can't go wrong with using his formula. He raises broilers using sustainable methods on a large scale and has been doing it for a long long time. He knows what he is doing and it is wise to follow his advice.

I don't have his book in front of me, but will post his formula when I am able to get my hands on it, for the curious minded.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Aren't we all? I mean, to one extent or another....

So true. Some of us more than others.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Thanks, Buster. I'd like to see the formula, too. There are local mills where I could get it made up, if I decide to give it a try. I'd love to save a few bucks on feed, without losing quality.

I'll never feed Dumor again, that I used to get from TSC. It smells bad, and when I was feeding that, my hens quit laying eggs AT ALL for about 6 months. I switched to a feed from a local mill, stocked by a small family-owned feed store near me, and I've never had that problem again. Even during molt, they slow down, but they don't stop. The new feed costs less, too.

 

[randyandmegs]

When I get home from work today I will put the ration on here. I personally believe in Joel's philosophy. I was already in that mindset before ever hearing about him or seeing Food Inc. I would have to argue the fact that he is a BS artist as most of the points he make are really just common sense and going back to the old (natural) way of doing things and most of what he says is backed up by fact so I would have to disagree with the Salatin haters but that just my opinion.

What protein % should I be using say for started, and grower or do I stick with the same.

Another thing..... I have heard some say to withhold feed. What is that all about.

After week three they are going to a Salatin style pen in the pasture.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

There really isn't much different between a commercial ration and the one that Salatin has published.

They all use a source of energy (corn), a source of protein (soybean meal), have vitamins and trace minerals, and macrominerals.

One must quetions whether the Salatin ration changes as the feedstuffs change. The commercial feeds are formulated using the latest nutritional content of the feedstuffs.

Jim

 

[Buster52]

Here 'tis, as promised...

Corn, 52%
Roasted Soybeans, 29% (may substitute soybean meal or cottonseed meal)
Crimped Oats, 11% (whole oats okay)
Feed Grade Limestone, 1%
Fertrell Nutri-Balancer , 3%
Fish Meal, 3.5% (he likes Sea-Lac)
Kelp Meal, .5% (Icelandic... not exactly local for either Virginia or Oklahoma)
Fastrack Probiotic, .1%

Total: 100.1% (??)

He uses this ration from day one to processing day.

As I mentioned, it is a good template off which to work. I don't know that I will ever go with some of the ingredients, but this formula at least gives you an idea of an option outside of paying outlandish prices of commercially mixed feeds, plus make most of the ingredients more local.

I trust his formula. He raises and sells some 25,000 broilers a year on this feed and has been doing it successfully for many years.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

We fed Purina Poulty Showchow to 25-30 meat birds for 13 yrs. I think it was like 20% protein. We fed this non stop for 8-9 weeks and had 7-9lb. beautiful birds. They were also given broiler booster, which is just vitiamins and electrolytes, in their water. My DD was always in the top three with reserve champion many yrs in a row in 4-H. I think the reason some folks take away the feed is because of the fast growth can cause heart problems. We left fed in front of ours 24/7. We tried one time removing the feed, but it was a feeding frenzy in the morning and one ended up with a broken wing, so we never did it again. I also believe you should always work calmly around them. No sudden movements. They don't like to move much when the get big. That's why I say don't raise them with regular chickens. We also had to raise ours in the heat of the summer for 4-H so we had fans running all day on them to keep them cool. Most of the time we might lose one bird. One year it was so hot, we did lose four that year. I don't know a Salatin style pen is, but we even tried attaching a outside pen and let ours out to move around and they were the toughest meat birds we ever raised. It will be interesting to see the ration on the feed. Good Luck.