Fish "meal"

[zgrower]

I am looking into making up some of my own chicken food. And yes, I do know its a complicated but achievable endeavour. One of the things I am worried about is protein. Does anyone here have any info on the benifits of using fish instead of soybeans? I know soybeans are harmfull if not heated due to some chemical thats in them. But i'm more concerned (and here I might be wrong any input is welcomed) about the Omega 3 and Omega 6 balance in the protein. I also have a ready supply of fish. Not grain fed fish, ones out of an algee based food chain. Which, as I understand it, are chock full of omega 3's.
So now I have to find out how much protein content is in fish. I'm sure it would depend on which parts of the fish I used, however I dont see why I couldnt just go set out a few minnow traps each week, take the few lbs of minnows i get, toss them in the blender, then mix them with my other ingredients. If anyone has any experience with this line of thinking please reply.




ok, i did a search of the archives for fish (yeah I know i should have done that before posting) and it seems lots of you are using minnows and such. So does anyone have any info as to the actual % protein of whole small fish?

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

Dont know about the protein content % but I would think the ground up bones would be good for the calcium.

If you have access to compost worms they contain 82% protein and omega 3.

 

[healingdeva]

The amount of protein depends on the type of fish. I would suggest doing a Google (or other) search for "protein content of x" with x being the type of fish in your pond.

 

[zgrower]

Well, its saturday, my boss is on vacation and it seems he didnt schedule any work for us to do today, so I have been spending my time educating myself on protein in fish, and just about protein in general. If you arent aware of the differences in protein you owe it to yourself and your family to find out more about it. Chances are you (like most other americans) are getting way more omega 6 fatty acids than omega 3's, and since they both compete for the same chemicals to metabolize themselves your overall health suffers.

Anyway, back to the original point. Fish and protein. These are a few of the most helpfull sites I found about fish protein and omega 3/6 balance.

about fish meal
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS007

protein content database
http://www.oliverschneider.com/protein database/searchfrom.asp

omega info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_3
http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html (this site has a ton of great info)

 

[Smoky73]

I mix up a powdered supplement that can be added over the regular layer feed, as most brands do not contain animal protein any more, just the soy ones which I hate.

I mix Kelp Meal, Fish Meal, Bee Pollen, Spirulina (A type of algae), Brewers Yeast, Garlic, Clovite (for horses)and DE. I have also recently added Vitamin E and Selenium instead of Clovite as I ran out. I mix it all with the dry layer feed and add wheat germ oil to stick it all together. I used to have a specific recipe, but now I just eye ball it. I mix the majority of the powder consisting of the Kelp and Fish meal. Only small percentages of the Spirulina (like an ounce or so in ratio to a pound of each of the Kelp and Fish. Smaller bits of the other ingredients.


Oh and I need to add that I do not feed this daily, but about twice a week and only add a Tablespoon of the mixture to a large coffee can full of feed, most of the time with some boiled egg as well. Lasts a really long time.