Gluten Free Homemade Feed Recipe

[Kelsie2290]

So chicken math strikes again, before you even have chickens. Impressed with how that chicken math works. Good luck with the house offer. Don't know if you've seen this blog, but they do have some videos on small scale set ups farther down the page. http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/growing-sprouted-fodder/72618

 

[adalau]

Chicken math! I know!!! My husband is starting to get worried. He's never heard of chicken math. ;-)

 

[adalau]

So I just wanted to update this thread. I am in year three of the gluten free chicken experiment. I have processed some old hens, still have a few almost three year olds and added some new hens. I did get all my birds as chicks and have mixed their feed myself from day 1. I have had two out of nine chicks die, but the one from the first batch I am pretty positive came to me with coccidosis. I currently have 6 hens. They eat about 50% table scraps/food waste from my house and I supplement with my mixed feed (or more likely whatever I have on hand). They get to forage in my yard most days. They will eat up to 50% alfalfa in the winter. Pellets need to be soaked and/or fermented, but recently I’ve been able to source organic alfalfa meal and I can just wet that for them. They do eat it better if I mix a little something in, like meat scraps or bone broth. Sometimes they just get a couple scoops of BOSS or field peas along with the table scraps. They get ground egg shells occasionally for calcium and organic kelp & Redmonds salt occasionally just in case. I am much more careful in mixing the feed to certain specifications when they are chicks. But once they’re grown I really don’t worry about it. I currently have a mixed flock of 6 hens, heritage breeds. My hens do look a bit on the smaller side, but their egg production is good, on par with my neighbors who feed organic corn/soy free feed. And my chickens have literally never been sick. I used to chicken sit for a neighbor with red stars who ate standard organic feed and they were sick all the time! I’ve also not had a hen die. I’ve killed them to eat them, but never had one keel over on me. So I feel like I’m doing ok, and my general conclusion is that we way over think the details of feeding chickens. I am contemplating gluten free quail next. I’ll keep you posted.

 

[RUNuts]

Good to hear and thanks for the update. When you let them out, how big is the yard and is it mostly grass or mixed? When mine get out they go for the clover and broad leaf over the grasses. I'm not saying I have a weedy lawn, I'm saying I don't have a monoculture.

I get the alfalfa blocks for horses and soak those overnight. Mix feed in with it and let them have it. I should compare prices with the pellets. Hmmm. Also harvest yellow dock and let them eat those leaves.

Thought on the quail. You won't be able to let them free range through the yard. They won't go back to the house. But you can bring forage to them.

 

[adalau]

My yard is maybe 2000SF, not huge, mostly grass, definitely weedy! There’s a large strip that’s dirt/fruit trees/mulch, but it’s more than 80% grass.

I know the quail can’t free range per se. I was thinking of making a mini chicken tractor for them, with coop attached, so I could just scoot it over every day. I hear they are not as hard on the grass as the chickens.

Good to hear and thanks for the update. When you let them out, how big is the yard and is it mostly grass or mixed? When mine get out they go for the clover and broad leaf over the grasses. I'm not saying I have a weedy lawn, I'm saying I don't have a monoculture.

I get the alfalfa blocks for horses and soak those overnight. Mix feed in with it and let them have it. I should compare prices with the pellets. Hmmm. Also harvest yellow dock and let them eat those leaves.

Thought on the quail. You won't be able to let them free range through the yard. They won't go back to the house. But you can bring forage to them.

 

[RUNuts]

Agree with the quail tractor. I'm looking at one myself. Maybe future. Trying meat chickens this year. Walk in versus open the top and hope they don't fly out kind.

Trying to understand how much they need to free range to get the bugs and variety. Mine jump at the lizards, skinks and snakes they catch too.

 

[Rhiannon H. Fugatt]

Thanks! Yes, I agree it's limited. I was telling my husband I had not seen any chicken feed recipes with only four ingredients. But for him it was just all about the numbers, cheapest feed at 18% protein! They will get a lot of fruit & veggie peals & scraps from the house & some grass & bugs outside year round since we are in Southern California.

I am hoping to get pullets so I can avoid the chick feeding dilemma.

We need to avoid:
-wheat
-barley
-rye
-oats
-spelt
-einkorn
-triticale
-kamut

Also want to avoid:
-GMOs
-soy

Acceptable grains:
-organic corn
-buckwheat
-millet
-milo/sorghum
-rice
-teff
-amaranth
(though I think teff & amaranth are probably too expensive to feed to chickens!)

I also am interested in possibly sprouting seeds/grains for feed. I saw on this site where someone was sprouting BOSS for their feed. We could definitely do that.

I will look at the links you posted.

Thanks so much.

Hello, my partner has extreme celiac, he can have oats if they come from Scotland and are gluten free oats meaning, the fields they come from do not have any wheat fields near them. His extreme celiac does not allow him to eat chicken or eggs as the protein found in the gluten if it is in their feed gets into the eggs and meat. So thinking of starting some new hatchling chicks completely gluten free and raising them this way to see if he can eat their eggs.

 

[joycee]

Hello, It has been a couple of years since you provided an update but I was thrilled to see a post of success with gluten free chick feed. I have celiacs and also can not eat oats. I would love to know what you decided on for your chick starter. Every source seems to say buy medicated chick starter. I have a mix I am trying on my little flock and I am using buckwheat in place of oats. The chicks do not seem to like it. Love to know your recipe.

 

[TNTamie]

We use the recipe from Sawyer Ridge Farms. Where I live the millet, field peas, and flax are $1+ per pound at the farmers co-op. Buckwheat is also not an inexpensive grain. My Farmer's co-op also has lower prices for the grains right after the late summer and fall harvest. Ultimately my goal is to grow all of my own feed crops for my chickens.

My chickens don't appreciate the alfalfa pellets, so I only add them to the winter feed when there is less grass to free range. I let my chickens free range all year, but there is far less for them to find during the winter months. I am also looking into growing fodder or microgreens for the chickens to enjoy during the winter.

There is a premade gluten free feed made by New Country Organics. You'll have to go to their website to see if there is a local distributor for you.

 

[FBC236]

Ok, first of all, I have no chickens yet. I'm just in the planning phase.

I am only planning on 3-4 chickens.

My husband has celiac disease so I want a gluten free feed (for lots of reasons but mainly so that the kids and I aren't tracking gluten into the house on our hands/clothes/shoes/etc). He also is part of the small percentage of celiacs who don't tolerate oats so those are out as well. As far as I can tell an organic, gluten free feed doesn't exist commercially. Said husband is also an economist and excel spreadsheet wizard and came up with the cheapest possible organic, gluten free feed recipe based on what items are available in bulk from Azure Standard. But I'm not really sure real life chickens will eat his "economical" feed as it's pretty heavy on alfalfa pellets and split peas.

So, for your consideration, the 18% protein, gluten free, organic layer feed recipe from the almighty excel:

5 Parts Organic Alfalfa Pellets
3 Parts Organic Yellow Split Peas
1 Part Organic Corn
1 Part Organic Sunflower Seeds

I am thinking I would also add DE, kelp granules, brewers yeast and will trial fermenting. And offer oyster shell free choice...

So what do you think? Would real live chickens eat this??? They would also get all of our table scraps & get to free range for an hour or two per day in my small backyard.

TIA!

Following this thread. We have 22 chickens and my husband also has celiac, doesn’t tolerate oats, and we want the best feed for the chickens that’s also safe for him to be around.