Home Feeding Ideas and Solutions Discussion Thread

[countrygoddess]

Hi all. I've been mixing my own feed since last summer and my birds are doing great on it. Springtime is approaching, and along with it: CHICKS!!

I need to start thinking about chick starter. I'm working on my recipe now, but I'm also realizing that I'm going to need to purchase a grinder. My question: how fine should chick starter be ground? The grinder I'm interested in is this one: http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=61324&criteria=grinder but its smallest sieve is 4 mm. It does have an optional 1 mm sieve that you can order, but would that be too fine? That's basically flour. Premier1 also has a grinder that comes with a 2 mm sieve, but it's $200 dollars more.

Another option I was thinking for the Bravo is to have a smaller sieve made, if I need to. There's a place in town that can do that, I think.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hi all. I've been mixing my own feed since last summer and my birds are doing great on it. Springtime is approaching, and along with it: CHICKS!!

I need to start thinking about chick starter. I'm working on my recipe now, but I'm also realizing that I'm going to need to purchase a grinder. My question: how fine should chick starter be ground? The grinder I'm interested in is this one: http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=61324&criteria=grinder but its smallest sieve is 4 mm. It does have an optional 1 mm sieve that you can order, but would that be too fine? That's basically flour. Premier1 also has a grinder that comes with a 2 mm sieve, but it's $200 dollars more.

Another option I was thinking for the Bravo is to have a smaller sieve made, if I need to. There's a place in town that can do that, I think.

http://ps.fass.org/content/65/4/636.abstract

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-4/Harvey_Ussery.html
you might like this for entertainment

this quote is from this page (pg. 2 under "birds and diets":
http://www.poultryscience.org/ps/paperpdfs/06/p0650831.pdf
"The coarse mash diet was prepared
by mixing corn and soybean meal ground through
a 5-mm screen with all other ingredients to yield a final
diet particle size of 953 m. Corn and soybean meal were
ground using a 3-mm screen and then mixed with other
dietary ingredients to produce the fine mash diet, the
particle size of which was 594 m. The particle size was
determined by a standard method (American Dairy Science"

I hope this helps. (Please note that I have no idea but just thought these links might help you or give you an idea of what more to search for if needed.)

 

[countrygoddess]

http://ps.fass.org/content/65/4/636.abstract

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-4/Harvey_Ussery.html
you might like this for entertainment

this quote is from this page (pg. 2 under "birds and diets":
http://www.poultryscience.org/ps/paperpdfs/06/p0650831.pdf
"The coarse mash diet was prepared
by mixing corn and soybean meal ground through
a 5-mm screen with all other ingredients to yield a final
diet particle size of 953 m. Corn and soybean meal were
ground using a 3-mm screen and then mixed with other
dietary ingredients to produce the fine mash diet, the
particle size of which was 594 m. The particle size was
determined by a standard method (American Dairy Science"

I hope this helps. (Please note that I have no idea but just thought these links might help you or give you an idea of what more to search for if needed.)

Thanks, PacNW! I laughed at myself for being lazy: I have Harvey's book and I also have that article printed out in my chicken binder. I should have just reread it and I'd have had my answer! =D

Heather
(fellow PacNWerner transplanted to New England)

 

[Lacy Blues]

Hi all. I've been mixing my own feed since last summer and my birds are doing great on it. Springtime is approaching, and along with it: CHICKS!!

I need to start thinking about chick starter. I'm working on my recipe now, but I'm also realizing that I'm going to need to purchase a grinder. My question: how fine should chick starter be ground? The grinder I'm interested in is this one: http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=61324&criteria=grinder but its smallest sieve is 4 mm. It does have an optional 1 mm sieve that you can order, but would that be too fine? That's basically flour. Premier1 also has a grinder that comes with a 2 mm sieve, but it's $200 dollars more.

Another option I was thinking for the Bravo is to have a smaller sieve made, if I need to. There's a place in town that can do that, I think.

Would you mind sharing your recipe for your birds' feed?

 

[HooDoo Mtn Farm]

A local brewery supplies me with spent grain, which I add to the primary feed, which is sprouted wheat, oats and peas (or lentils, depending) toppeds with fish meal and kelp.
In addition to the stuff planted where the run was, I plant clover everywhere, and have take to throwing excess veggie seeds anywhere I think they might grow.

And of course, nature has already provided us with tons of chickweed and dandelions.

And garden/kitchen scraps get thrown in the run as well.

I'd like to hear more about the spent brewery grain; how, how much, benefits, cautions?

I do a lot of sprouts . . .

I bought a bucket for each day of the week from the Dollar store.
Day 1 is a soaker, no holes in bottom, with a pint of whatever seed (currently lentil culls; 100 lb bag for $10!).
Days 2-6 have holes in bottoms, nested into one another.
I cut 4-inch-long sections of 4" dia white plastic pipe, and set one in the bottom of each bucket as spacers, so these buckets stack about 20" high.
Day 6 bucket is at the top of the stack, & is where I run my fresh rinse water into, 2x a day (filtering down thru the stack, all set in the bathtub).
Day 7 bucket has no holes & is in a lighted area, "greening up".

The gals get Day 7 bucket every day; day 6 goes into #7, Day one soaker bucket gets dumped into #6, which then gets rotated to the #1 (bottom) position in the stack.

That 1 pint turns into a gallon & a half of sprouts for my 2 dozen chickens.

Next on the agenda is fermenting a separate batch of seed grains, when my 100 Delaware chicks come in May

 

[Clay Mudd]

I'd like to hear more about the spent brewery grain; how, how much, benefits, cautions?

How: When I get them, I set aside about a week's worth and freeze the rest in quart containers. I dried some once, but wasn't too happy with the finished product.
How much: I'd say no more than maybe 15% of the total feed. It's mostly barley, with all the attendant fiber. (Opinions vary on how much to feed, though.)
Benefits: Free food. Variety.
Cautions: Don't feed too much. Don't let it get moldy. And it takes up effort and space. Lately I haven't felt like it was worth the effort. With a hundred birds coming, though, it might be worth your while.

 

[jdeoliveira74]

I added alfalfa pellets to there feed so far so good they seem to be eating it. Its atleast green... may be dead green but its green
Jon

 

[HooDoo Mtn Farm]

How: When I get them, I set aside about a week's worth and freeze the rest in quart containers. I dried some once, but wasn't too happy with the finished product.
How much: I'd say no more than maybe 15% of the total feed. It's mostly barley, with all the attendant fiber. (Opinions vary on how much to feed, though.)
Benefits: Free food. Variety.
Cautions: Don't feed too much. Don't let it get moldy. And it takes up effort and space. Lately I haven't felt like it was worth the effort. With a hundred birds coming, though, it might be worth your while.

Thanks, Clay!
- R

 

[jdeoliveira74]

home made receipes for feed i am using layer pellets mixed with alafalfa pellets and black oil sunflower seeds. The Alafalfa pellets are expensive at my feed store 20 for 50lbs what else is out there. feed keeps going up and our money doesnt go as far
Jon

 

[ocap]

just found this thread and am enjoying the ideas.

Has anyone mentioned the protein content of different types of grasses? I am still on page 7 of 66