Homemade chicken feed recipes please

[Chris09]

Hello and hi, to my fellow backyard chicken family. I have 6 hens and I am not a big fan of GMO so over the last several years and with some old days common since lol I've come up with a very sound chicken feed.
First of all I did awsy with buying "grit"
Many items work just as well such as raw rice or regular everyday bugs consumed over time.
Every state in america has a feed store, you might have to drive a small distance but it is worth the trip.
The mix is not rocket science, mixing the right amount is based on what the chickens like
Any left over bread works as well
My basic feed:
Sorghum(Milo)
Whole oats
Wheat
Yeast(optional)
Black oil sunflower (optional)

Quote: mixing the right amount is based on what the chickens like
What a chicken "likes" has nothing to do with what you use or how much you use.
What you use and the amount you use is based on the nutritional needs of the fowl.

Your mix is a ok scratch grain but it is far from a poultry feed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hello and hi, to my fellow backyard chicken family. I have 6 hens and I am not a big fan of GMO so over the last several years and with some old days common since lol I've come up with a very sound chicken feed.
First of all I did awsy with buying "grit"
Many items work just as well such as raw rice or regular everyday bugs consumed over time.
Every state in america has a feed store, you might have to drive a small distance but it is worth the trip.
The mix is not rocket science, mixing the right amount is based on what the chickens like
Any left over bread works as well
My basic feed:
Sorghum(Milo)
Whole oats
Wheat
Yeast(optional)
Black oil sunflower (optional)

Rice and bugs won't work as grit. It needs to be insoluble stones that your birds may be picking up if they are foraging on soil with some.
Making a mix of scratch isn't rocket science but providing the nearly 40 nutrients known to be absolutely essential in the poultry diet at the appropriate level and balance is rocket science if you want to do so at anywhere close to the price of a bag of chicken feed.
Bread is a poor choice for feeding chickens, too high in salt and very low in protein.
The 3 primary ingredients you list are all woefully low in crude protein and almost devoid of methionine, cystine and lysine. There are 9 amino acids that are essential in human diets, 14 are essential to chickens.

http://www.veeru.reading.ac.uk/comp2/Poultryweb/disease/nutri/nutri1.htm

One can't count on foraging to provide an appreciable nutrient level unless it is large and pristine. At this latitude, there's little out there for almost half the year.

In order to get a proper mix you need to know what you are doing if you don't then your going to end you with problems.
Just mixing grains together with out the proper proteins, fat, energy, vitamins, minerals etc. is not making a feed. It is however a very expensive scratch grain.

Just example,
If you have mix that is high in energy your will eat less but they my not be getting all the nutrients they need, on the other hand a feed that is low in energy leads to over eating.

Your birds will be far better off on a commercial type feed if you do not know what you are doing and or cant get the proper ingredients.

X2

What a chicken "likes" has nothing to do with what you use or how much you use.
What you use and the amount you use is based on the nutritional needs of the fowl.

Your mix is a ok scratch grain but it is far from a poultry feed.

That mix is pretty much what I use for scratch grains.
Oat groats and BOSS in summer, Wheat, Barley and BOSS in winter.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Free range or pastured chickens will have a lot less need for special mixes. Mine are fed from the yard, garden, and kitchen, and i have had not problems. I just give them the garden trimmings, some oats, corn, wheat, sunflower seeds, and millet (whatever grains i have on hand, usually over the winter), and any leftover kitchen scraps. The egg production is high, and the yolks are richer and tastier. Been doing it for years and my birds live for a long time. Cooped birds are the only ones who would need a specially mixed diet since they don't get the benefit of finding their own food.

 

[r-dale]

I think you really need to look at what is avialable in your area and at what price, and also what you can produce. My feed mixes change over the year, depending on what we are producing and the CMP, which is what we would sell at for human consumption, or to others raising livestock in out area.

Contact your State University, or State Ag Dept. They will give you a few good home mixes that work in your area. The basics are energy, protien, and then trace vits and mins. Sources for these components can change over the year or as price fluxs. Corn or milo can be interchanged as energy you just have to adjust the mix in that they have similar engry, but milo is lower in protien, so again you just need to research what you are putting in. Getting the vits and mins correct is most important. I agree with the last poster, if your animals have access to pasture, or are free ranged part of the day they will balance their own diet, as far as the trace components they need. In the open the animal's body tells them what they need, so they khow by insticnt what they need to look for and eat more of.

Don't be intimidated about mixing your own feed, but do your research. We mix 95% of all the feed injested on the farm. Almost never buy pre-mix, for the same reasons your had, Save money and I want to know exactly, what goes into them because, that is what we eat and is what I'm selling. I couldn't feel right about selling you something that I don't know what I put into it.

 

[Baby Chick Farm]

Will this work? This is the simple but I am worried it is not sufficient for a chicken's diet. Any tips or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Chick Starter Feed:

Wheat 2 parts
Whole Corn 2 parts
Milo 2 parts
Peas dried 1/2 parts
Soybeans dried & roasted 4 parts

Protein Percentage = 20%


Basic Chicken Laying Feed:

Wheat 3 parts
Whole Corn 3 parts
Milo 3 parts
Soybeans dried & roasted 2 parts

Protein Percentage = 17%

Chicken Feed Additions:

Egg Shells, alfalfa hay, etc. for calcium
Scraps (can be meat and veggies, but no avocados or ingredients listed in this link: http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/04/7-things-you-shouldnt-feed-your-chickens.html
Bread
Mealworms, just treat (optional), only once a month

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Those are vegetative sources of protein so even though the crude protein percentage is high, you're deficient in lysine and methionine and possibly other essential amino acids.
Your feed is also going to be deficient in a significant number of vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
Peas are expensive. Can't you find a complete feed for less money?
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/58/2/376.full.pdf

Gallus gallus aren't entirely seed eaters. They're omnivores.

 

[Baby Chick Farm]

I am sorry about my lack of clarity in the previous post. I added 'scraps' to my list, and I am an omnivore, so I will feed them some meat, etc. rather than entire veggie diet.

I understand my recipe lacks many items, so may I ask, what is lysine and methionine? And how can I feed the chickens it, through what kinds of food?

I guess I should go buy feed before doing anything, you are absolutely right. I can always substitute peas for soybean, but the vitamins and nutrients ...

Thanks for your feedback, ChickenCanoe!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No problem.
Crude protein is made up of amino acids. Lysine, methionine are amino acids.
Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body so therefor must come from food. Different species of animals are able to use some amino acids (essential) to make up the rest of the amino acids (non-essential).
One thing to consider is that to make non-essential amino acids, the body must use up some of the essential ones, possibly rendering them deficient.
In humans there are 9 amino acids that must be provided in the diet.
In chickens, there are 13 essential amino acids including threonine and tryptophan in addition to the aforementioned.
Grains and legumes complement one another in providing amino acids but not completely. To make a complete feed, feed companies either add some animal protein or more commonly, synthetic lysine, methionine and possibly other essential amino acids depending on the analysis of the feedstuffs entering the manufacturing process.

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/~chibale/an12poultryfeeding.pdf
http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Feeding+from+Home+Resources.html
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003011545;view=1up;seq=15
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/58/2/376.full.pdf

This subject isn't a one size fits all. For instance, many backyard keepers in the cities around me are, by statute, limited to 4 or 6 birds regardless of their means to care for them. They may be on 3 acre lots or postage stamp size yards.
I usually keep from 25 too 100 birds depending on the time of year. They pasture in rotating paddocks but that space isn't limitless in its ability to provide sustenance.
If one has 4 chickens in a small backyard consisting of well manicured monoculture grasses, they're kidding themselves if they believe their birds can glean much from that.
If one has a larger flock on perhaps 10 acres of a mix of pasture, woodland and brush, the birds may be able to get more of what they need - but, that depends on where they're located. If they're in Mississippi or Oregon, they may be able to do so for more of the year rather than those in Minnesota, Maine or So. California (drought).
If one has a free ranging flock in Nicaragua, their management and feeding is dramatically different than those in Alaska or Ethiopia.