Green liquidish poop with white particles.

[MysteryChicken]

I'll pop back here in a little while when I get the picture of the ingredient label.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

As for the diet I them a mixture of Barley, Millet and crashed corn as their main feed. While I give them watermelon (too hot here ,so a bit chilled in the fridge) in the evening, green leaves etc.
Plus I also give them broken coats of wheat, rye or any cereal grain mixed with small portion of Mustard straw.

A store bought feed is going to be the most nutritious, and accurate food you can give them. While the foods you are feeding your hens are safe for them, the diet is extremely limited, and low in fat and protein. Plus, while millet is higher in protein, it is not a complete protein. It does not contain lysine, which is a critical protein component for hens. Honestly, you'd be saving money in feed buy buying layer or all-flock feed, and you'll have healthier chickens overall. Healthier eggs, too. I can go on and on about mixing your own feed, so much so that I've spent months compiling a blog post about it to record some of my experiences. (https://humble-hills-farm.com/2020/...nd-cost-calculator-for-homemade-chicken-feed/) but even that post is not comprehensive. In my opinion, store bought feed is going to be the easiest, safest, cheapest, and most nutritious feed you can give your flock.

Edit: I calculated approximate ratios for your feed. If you did 3 pounds millet, 3 pounds barley, and 3 pounds of corn, you're giving them only 10% protein (and an incomplete protein at that) and 3% fat. The need a diet of 17% protein and 4% fat.

Lots of fat in those grains. Switch to a Feed with at least 20% protein, & 3% fat like flock raiser? You'll see improvements. Not sure about the mustard straw.

Actually, those grains are high in carbs, very little fat, and millet is not a complete protein either.

 

[MysteryChicken]

A store bought feed is going to be the most nutritious, and accurate food you can give them. While the foods you are feeding your hens are safe for them, the diet is extremely limited, and low in fat and protein. Plus, while millet is higher in protien, it is not a complete protien. It does not contain lysine, which is a critical protein component for hens. Honestly, you'd be saving money in feed buy buying layer or all-flock feed, and you'll have healthier chickens overall. Healthier eggs, too. I can go on and on about mixing your own feed, so much so that I've spent months compiling a blog post about it to record some of my experiences. (https://humble-hills-farm.com/2020/...nd-cost-calculator-for-homemade-chicken-feed/) but even that post is not comprehensive. In my opinion, store bought feed is going to be the easiest, safest, cheapest, and most nutritious feed you can give your flock.


Actually, those grains are high in carbs, very little fat, and millet is not a complete protein either.

Carbs is a type of sugar, & they're also high in fat.
Sugars create fat, which is stored in the body for energy.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Carbs is a type of sugar, & they're also high in fat.
Sugars create fat, which is stored in the body for energy.

Yes, sugar does turn into fat. But you need to eat both fat and sugar, not just eat sugar and hope it turns to fat. That is not healthy for you or for your birds. That's why high-fat diets work better than fat-free diets in losing weight. Nutrition is an incredibly complicated topic to discuss on a forum, but corn, barley, and millet by themselves are only 4.1%, 1.9%, and 3% fat, respectively, and 8.8%, 11%, and 11% protein respectively. They are high energy foods, but not highly nutritious foods. Just like people can't survive and be very healthy eating only three foods, neither can chickens. Chickens need foods containing a variety of protein, fiber, fat, carbs, and vitamins. These chickens are not eating enough protein and fat to even build proper muscle and bone structure, let alone lay a nutritious high protein egg.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Here's what a nutritionally balanced feed could look like if you made your own:
For 30 pounds:
4 pounds barley (energy/carb)
0.5 pounds Brewer's Yeast (very important for key B vitamins)
3 pounds cracked corn (energy/carb)
4 pounds lentils(protein source)
2 pounds millet (energy/carb)
2 pounds oats (energy/carb)
4.5 pounds field peas (protein source)
1 pounds black oil sunflower seeds (protein and fat source)
5 pounds DURUM wheat (protein source; durum wheat & buckwheat contains the highest amount of Lysine among grains)
4 pounds soft wheat (energy/carb, plus a little protein)

This equals 16.1% protein and 3.8% fat, right in the target range for laying hens and it provides nutritional variety. I chose this blend because these are the most affordable grains you can buy and have a variety. Some of the bulk grains were priced from Tractor Supply, and others from organic sources. This would cost about $21 to make a 30 pound blend.

Put into perspective, a 50 pound bag of layer pellets at Tractor Supply with 16% protein costs $12.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Yes, sugar does turn into fat. But you need to eat both fat and sugar, not just eat sugar and hope it turns to fat. That is not healthy for you or for your birds. That's why high-fat diets work better than fat-free diets in losing weight. Nutrition is an incredibly complicated topic to discuss on a forum, but corn, barley, and millet by themselves are only 4.1%, 1.9%, and 3% fat, respectively, and 8.8%, 11%, and 11% protein respectively. They are high energy foods, but not highly nutritious foods. Just like people can't survive and be very healthy eating only three foods, neither can chickens. Chickens need foods containing a variety of protein, fiber, fat, carbs, and vitamins. These chickens are not eating enough protein and fat to even build proper muscle and bone structure, let alone lay a nutritious high protein egg.

"
Are carbs sugar the same thing?
Carbohydrates are an essential macronutrient the body requires in large amounts to run smoothly, but not all carbs are created equal. Sugars mostly make up carbohydrates. They get their name from their chemical composition: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (thus carbo-hydrate).Aug 30, 2019"

https://atlasbiomed.com › blog › car...
Carbs vs sugar: what's the difference and why it matters - Atlas Biomed

"
Do carbs turn into sugar?
The body breaks down or converts most carbohydrates into the sugar glucose. Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream, and with the help of a hormone called insulin it travels into the cells of the body where it can be used for energy."

https://kidshealth.org › carbs-diabetes
Carbohydrates and Diabetes (for Teens) - Nemours KidsHealth


My phone doesn't have Screenshot.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Not arguing, just sharing what I know. Hope you understand?

 

[MysteryChicken]

"
How is sugar stored as fat?
Any excess glucose ends up being stored as glycogen in the muscles, and it can also be stored as lipid in the fat tissue. Fructose is also taken up into the blood from the gut, but in this case, the liver serves as a pre-processing organ that can convert fructose to glucose or fat."

https://sugarscience.ucsf.edu › sugar...
Metabolizing Sugar - SugarScience.UCSF.edu

 

[MysteryChicken]

I'm gonna go for now, & get the picture of the ingredients on the flock raiser bag.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I understand and I don't, and haven't, disagreed with you that carbs/sugars are an energy source. They are very important for the diet of both people and chickens, but you can't just live off of that food macros and be healthy. So are you trying to say that a diet of just carbs is sufficient? No fat or protein? I'm failing to understand what point you are trying to make.