Home Made feed mix and supplemental feed.

[K813ZRA]

Hello again everyone, I have a few questions as a newbie. I have done some research both on here and on the net in general but the vast ocean of information can be overwhelming. For me the main selling point of raising chickens is for meat and egg production. More than that I want to know what goes into what I am eating. As such I have been wondering what is the best way to go with feed. There are plenty of commercial foods out there pumped up with antibiotics and god knows what else but I'd like to take at least a somewhat more holistic approach. Having said that, I do have a few specific questions which I will list below.

#1 I have read pros and cons to feeding your birds wheat but it seems that there is a faction that is heavily anti wheat but I have no idea why. So is there anything wrong with feeding my chickens wheat?

#2 Are there any well known recipes for mixing your own feed? I have found a few links to sites here on old posts but most of them are no longer operational sites. Good old error 404.

#3 It seems a lot of people feed their chickens table scraps, is there anything in specific I should avoid? I have also read that feeding them crushed eggshells has a dual-purpose effect. Giving them grit and calcium, is this okay? (I believe what we have now is oyster shell. I bought it at a feed store.)

#4 Supplementing their food with things such as fresh grass clippings. Yes, my chickens will get some free range time outside of their run but maybe not as much as I would like. As such, I have a lot of grass to clip and was wondering if things such as grass clippings and or raked leaves would be a good supplement to their diet. Not only would there be grass and leaves but what comes with it, bugs for them to munch on.

Anyway, I know I am a bit of a worry wort but I want to make sure that I have healthy birds! As of right now they are only chicks and are getting chick starter which probably has some of those things I wish to avoid but I don't know of anything else at this point.

Any info that anyone has to share would be much appreciated.

 

[0wen]

Hello again everyone, I have a few questions as a newbie. I have done some research both on here and on the net in general but the vast ocean of information can be overwhelming. For me the main selling point of raising chickens is for meat and egg production. More than that I want to know what goes into what I am eating. As such I have been wondering what is the best way to go with feed. There are plenty of commercial foods out there pumped up with antibiotics and god knows what else but I'd like to take at least a somewhat more holistic approach. Having said that, I do have a few specific questions which I will list below.

#1 I have read pros and cons to feeding your birds wheat but it seems that there is a faction that is heavily anti wheat but I have no idea why. So is there anything wrong with feeding my chickens wheat?

#2 Are there any well known recipes for mixing your own feed? I have found a few links to sites here on old posts but most of them are no longer operational sites. Good old error 404.

I can make this organic feed for about the same price as readily available organic chicken feeds (purina, etc). If the shipping is reasonable, I may switch to this organic feed. I ferment my feed and mix in various herbs & flowers.

#3 It seems a lot of people feed their chickens table scraps, is there anything in specific I should avoid? I have also read that feeding them crushed eggshells has a dual-purpose effect. Giving them grit and calcium, is this okay? (I believe what we have now is oyster shell. I bought it at a feed store.)

Chicken Treat Chart & a corresponding article. Grit & calcium are good. I'd offer them both in separate containers and not mixed with their food so that they can pick what they need, when they need it. If they have daily access to their run and occasional access to your yard where they can pick up dirt/sand/pebbles from the ground, they may not need grit but I leave a dish of grit & calcium material out anyway just to be cautious and because a bag of each lasts forever anyway...

#4 Supplementing their food with things such as fresh grass clippings. Yes, my chickens will get some free range time outside of their run but maybe not as much as I would like. As such, I have a lot of grass to clip and was wondering if things such as grass clippings and or raked leaves would be a good supplement to their diet. Not only would there be grass and leaves but what comes with it, bugs for them to munch on.

Grass clipping and raked leaves are fine. Many people (myself included) compost inside of their chicken runs and have a lot of these as ground cover inside their run. I have grass clippings, dried leaves, old pine needles, etc. I also add food & garden scraps which the chickens kick around and gets eaten and/or composted along with everything else. I also rake my DLM bedding from my coop into the run every now and then and it breaks down pretty quick with the active composting and chickens kicking it around.

Anyway, I know I am a bit of a worry wort but I want to make sure that I have healthy birds! As of right now they are only chicks and are getting chick starter which probably has some of those things I wish to avoid but I don't know of anything else at this point.

Any info that anyone has to share would be much appreciated.

 

[K813ZRA]

Thank you for all of the information and for the links, I have some reading to do!

 

[K813ZRA]

Hum...does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the individual items to mix for the chicken feed? I looked at the above links carefully and added it up and it comes to about $100 to make a 50 pound bag from Azure standard. That is about $75 more than I am willing to spend when I can buy feed for $15-$25 per 50 pound bag. I would like to buy in bulk online.

As always, any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[0wen]

Yellow page (or google) custom mixing and grinding (or milling services) in your area. I live rural in an agricultural area of the country and we have a few options - I don't really know how common or uncommon feed milling businesses are in general though..

 

[K813ZRA]

Yellow page (or google) custom mixing and grinding (or milling services) in your area. I live rural in an agricultural area of the country and we have a few options - I don't really know how common or uncommon feed milling businesses are in general though..

Thank you, I will do that. I too live in a rural area but it is small and our mill is closed down. There may be one in a surrounding town. I don't know why that had slipped my mind. I guess I am on information overload at the moment.