Food Mills

[jjaazzy]

So I am not sure if I posted this in the correct under heading or it should have gone under another but I shall start here. I recently saw a tick tock or some similar video on someone taking hay and an egg and making their own pelleted feed. Now I don't want to completely replace commercial feed as I know there is a science to the formula that they come up with. But, I free feed my birds and they free range daily. I don't want to change that. However I am going through so much of it and would like to supplement them for the adult feed. Not the chicks as I don't want to jeopardize their nutritional intake but I am about to scream uncle here with the prices. Ok who am I kidding I am screaming uncle. The feed has gone up 5.00 a bag and if the Nutrina is not available I have to go with the Purina and it's 7 or 8.00 per bag...... Yikes. Anyone grinding their own feed can point me to a direction. TIA

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hay and an egg is a far cry from what a bird would need

 

[Brooks_]

Purina and it's 7 or 8.00 per bag..

Are you saying it is $7-8 or went up $7-8?

 

[NatJ]

Making your own feed is typically more expensive than buying feed, if you want to actually meet the needs of the chickens. The cheapest ingredients tend to be deficient in some way, or else be things that chickens do not digest.

I would start by making sure feed is not being wasted (spilled on the ground, eaten by wild animals, etc.) Buying feed for your birds to eat is good, but buying feed they do not eat is wasteful.

The next obvious way to reduce food costs is to reduce how many chickens you have (eat them, sell them, give them away.) Think about why you have chickens, and why you have each particular chicken, and decide if any can go.

Depending on how much food they are eating, you may be able to save money by buying the food in bulk (like a whole pallet full at once), or buying directly from a feed mill rather than from a store that has it neatly bagged.

You certainly can offer them other things to eat, like table scraps and vegetable trimmings, and they will balance their own diet (within reason, limited by what is available to them.) That can reduce how much of the purchased feed they eat. But for a large flock, it will not make very much difference unless you have a large area for them range in, or you bring home large amounts of other food.

Chickens like to scratch through compost piles and eat bugs & worms, so if you have a compost pile, letting the chickens have access to it can help a little on the feed bill too.

I've read of people who bring home large amounts of food waste from restaurants or grocery stores. They let the chickens eat what the chickens want, compost the rest, and let the chickens pick through the compost too. It apparently works for them, but I don't know the details. For many people, the work of doing that is more than the work of doing something else to earn money to buy chicken food. (Different things are best for different people, so I can't say what is "best" for you.)

I recently saw a tick tock or some similar video on someone taking hay and an egg and making their own pelleted feed.

If you have more eggs than you need, you might try selling the extras. Using that money to buy chicken food is probably a better financial choice than feeding the eggs directly to the chickens.

Hay is very bulky. Yes, chickens can eat some hay. But they are not able to eat ENOUGH hay each day to get the nutrients they need, even if the hay did contain all the right nutrients (it doesn't.)

Edit to add: you can sometimes save money by buying a "different" chicken food. The chickens do not care whether the label says chick starter, grower, layer, all-flock, flock-raiser, feather-fixer, game bird starter, duck chow, or something of the sort. If it has about the right amount of protein, and is based on grains & soy, it is probably fine to feed to the chickens. Do check the calcium level-- layer has too much calcium for young chicks, and laying hens need a separate source of calcium if they are eating foods that are not labeled "layer." But oyster shell is fairly cheap and does not go bad, so you can sometimes save money by putting out a dish of oyster shell and feeding whichever suitable feed is cheapest each time you buy. (But watch the bag sizes, and be sure you are comparing same-size bags or price-per-pound. You don't want to get tricked by smaller bags.)

 

[sandburRanch]

The wheel has already been invented and i don't recommend attempting to re- invent it . I've tried that several times in life and usually failed miserably .

Read the book " Feeds and Feeding " by Frank Morrison " , then feed leafy Alfalfa hay + the other nutrients suggested in his book .

 

[jjaazzy]

Hay and an egg is a far cry from what a bird would need

I think I explained that above.

 

[jjaazzy]

The wheel has already been invented and i don't recommend attempting to re- invent it . I've tried that several times in life and usually failed miserably .

Read the book " Feeds and Feeding " by Frank Morrison " , then feed leafy Alfalfa hay + the other nutrients suggested in his book .

I have soaked alfalfa cubes and have fed that, they don't LOVE it. I could try that again, I don't know how much of a cost savings it would be. I have excess hay that is used for bedding and such from each load that is received. I would really like someone here that is doing this already. Again as I mentioned before this is not to replace commercial feed.

 

[sandburRanch]

Ok , so don't read a book compiled by the U.S.A. land grant agriculture universities . Try growing the alfalfa for pasture if free range is possible .

Put a flake of quality alfalfa on the ground for a dozen hens to determine if they like it . They'll pick every leaf off the stems if it's good quality . Nutritional value , it's difficult to beat it .

 

[jjaazzy]

Making your own feed is typically more expensive than buying feed, if you want to actually meet the needs of the chickens. The cheapest ingredients tend to be deficient in some way, or else be things that chickens do not digest.

I would start by making sure feed is not being wasted (spilled on the ground, eaten by wild animals, etc.) Buying feed for your birds to eat is good, but buying feed they do not eat is wasteful.

The next obvious way to reduce food costs is to reduce how many chickens you have (eat them, sell them, give them away.) Think about why you have chickens, and why you have each particular chicken, and decide if any can go.

Depending on how much food they are eating, you may be able to save money by buying the food in bulk (like a whole pallet full at once), or buying directly from a feed mill rather than from a store that has it neatly bagged.

You certainly can offer them other things to eat, like table scraps and vegetable trimmings, and they will balance their own diet (within reason, limited by what is available to them.) That can reduce how much of the purchased feed they eat. But for a large flock, it will not make very much difference unless you have a large area for them range in, or you bring home large amounts of other food.

Chickens like to scratch through compost piles and eat bugs & worms, so if you have a compost pile, letting the chickens have access to it can help a little on the feed bill too.

I've read of people who bring home large amounts of food waste from restaurants or grocery stores. They let the chickens eat what the chickens want, compost the rest, and let the chickens pick through the compost too. It apparently works for them, but I don't know the details. For many people, the work of doing that is more than the work of doing something else to earn money to buy chicken food. (Different things are best for different people, so I can't say what is "best" for you.)


If you have more eggs than you need, you might try selling the extras. Using that money to buy chicken food is probably a better financial choice than feeding the eggs directly to the chickens.

Hay is very bulky. Yes, chickens can eat some hay. But they are not able to eat ENOUGH hay each day to get the nutrients they need, even if the hay did contain all the right nutrients (it doesn't.)

Edit to add: you can sometimes save money by buying a "different" chicken food. The chickens do not care whether the label says chick starter, grower, layer, all-flock, flock-raiser, feather-fixer, game bird starter, duck chow, or something of the sort. If it has about the right amount of protein, and is based on grains & soy, it is probably fine to feed to the chickens. Do check the calcium level-- layer has too much calcium for young chicks, and laying hens need a separate source of calcium if they are eating foods that are not labeled "layer." But oyster shell is fairly cheap and does not go bad, so you can sometimes save money by putting out a dish of oyster shell and feeding whichever suitable feed is cheapest each time you buy. (But watch the bag sizes, and be sure you are comparing same-size bags or price-per-pound. You don't want to get tricked by smaller bags.)

Thank you for the in depth reply, yes I have considered using horse feed, they love that but it is all around the same price. I do already provide calcium for them. All other feed you mentioned is just as expensive. I would not mess with the chick feed as stated before. I planted some potatoes but they didn't develop. Going to try Papaya. I would just like to supplement my feed not replace or stop buying commercial feed. I tried my hand at sprouting but there is no cost savings there. I am paying .44 cents per lb for feed right now which sounds like nothing but the reality is it's 10k per year, thats not baby food or other requirements. I am in the chicken business, I don't have just a few birds. There is a mill in driving distance but after calculating driving there is no cost savings, plus being in a humid state I like my feed fresh. Too much at a time will go moldy.

 

[jjaazzy]

Ok , so don't read a book compiled by the U.S.A. land grant agriculture universities . Try growing the alfalfa for pasture if free range is possible .

Put a flake of quality alfalfa on the ground for a dozen hens to determine if they like it . They'll pick every leaf off the stems if it's good quality . Nutritional value , it's difficult to beat it .

I have to purchase the alfalfa I am in the hot humid state of Florida. I did trying growing perennial peanut and had it roped off, however the horses got to it and ate every single leaf.
Why the snarky reply of not reading the book. Did I object to the book in any of my responses? Why must everything become a confrontation it's just not necessary.