Homemade Feed Recipe

[U_Stormcrow]

I can do pH testing myself although I haven't because I am 100% sure I am dealing with acidic soils, so am slowly treating as such. I should do some tests to monitor progress over time though. I would love to get a soil test but there aren't any affordable testing options here for a garden-level test, they run over $150 for one basic test and $150 is a lot of fish emulsion or bags of gypsum for my 1/3 acre! I suspect my lawn has phosphorus issues (perhaps less now than before the chicken-poop saturation) but my gardens have had years of animal manures applied in large quantities (horse and chicken, plus a lot of blood and bone) and I don't have any plant growth or productivity issues in most of them. I'm pretty sure my gardens are less acidic than the rest of my yard too.
I plan on getting extensive testing done when we finally move to our new property. Luckily I've lived around here all my life and have a good amount of experience with the soil types likely to be found and what's wrong and right with them all, from an observational perspective. Gives me a little bit of a leg-up!

Yeah, that's crazy expensive. pool test kit strips or even the red cabbage test are good for pH, and low cost, too. $150 would cover my lime needs for 1/3 acre. I see your point. We have a county agricultural extension office, sends the samples to the local university for testing at a discount. $12 for the first sample, $ 8 for each additional sample. That was much more palatable.

Good luck in the new place. This was virgin ground when we began clearing two years ago, so there's hope for it - eventually.

 

[saysfaa]

... there aren't any affordable testing options here for a garden-level test, they run over $150 for one basic test ...

Wow, that is crazy.

The feed store here does an extensive panel for $15 per sample. The extension office might be a little less but it isn't worth the extra miles to go there.

 

[Zeoliter]

Thanks for all the ideas! I have a hand miller and might get a few more as I'll need help with milling hundreds of pounds of grain and corn. I'm not going to be able to do any aquaculture as the water system that feeds all paddies is turned on on June 1st and turned off mid-October when everyone has finished harvesting. This is standard across all Japan except in a few places where they eek out 2 harvests, but not here.

I live an hour away from the sea. I see no reason why we couldn't take a truck up to the coast and go seaweed hunting. Although we don't typically see a lot of seaweed on the beaches here. This could be a fun project for this summer.

@U_Stormcrow was hoping you'd chime in. I know you're not a pro animal nutritionist but you seem to have a great understanding on this topic. I'm surprised to see you mention I could use rice as the main base. This year I hope to have about 200kg surplus rice. It comes out of the harvester with the husk on. What we do is take it to one of the many dehusking machines we have around here as and when we need it. So the rice sits in 30kg sacks fully husked until we need it.​

(not sure why I can't unbold the above)

I could crack the rice in the miller with the husk on. Would that improve the fiber numbers?

The wheat would be winter wheat so all good there.

Other people have mentioned animal protein and sourcing this is one of the main issues. What kind of animal protein is usually used in chicken feed?

Calcium is another issue but there are plenty of oyster shells on the beach here in southern Kyushu. I could just collect up a bunch, pound them with a hammer and run them through the mill? Not sure my mill will appreciate that so could get an extra one I only use for that purpose.

Last question is on the soybean heat treating. From what I've read roasting can be hit or miss when using a home oven. I was thinking to boil the soybeans then dry them out in the sun.

Thank you all!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thanks for all the ideas! I have a hand miller and might get a few more as I'll need help with milling hundreds of pounds of grain and corn. I'm not going to be able to do any aquaculture as the water system that feeds all paddies is turned on on June 1st and turned off mid-October when everyone has finished harvesting. This is standard across all Japan except in a few places where they eek out 2 harvests, but not here.

I live an hour away from the sea. I see no reason why we couldn't take a truck up to the coast and go seaweed hunting. Although we don't typically see a lot of seaweed on the beaches here. This could be a fun project for this summer.

@U_Stormcrow was hoping you'd chime in. I know you're not a pro animal nutritionist but you seem to have a great understanding on this topic. I'm surprised to see you mention I could use rice as the main base. This year I hope to have about 200kg surplus rice. It comes out of the harvester with the husk on. What we do is take it to one of the many dehusking machines we have around here as and when we need it. So the rice sits in 30kg sacks fully husked until we need it.​

(not sure why I can't unbold the above)

I could crack the rice in the miller with the husk on. Would that improve the fiber numbers?

The wheat would be winter wheat so all good there.

Other people have mentioned animal protein and sourcing this is one of the main issues. What kind of animal protein is usually used in chicken feed?

Calcium is another issue but there are plenty of oyster shells on the beach here in southern Kyushu. I could just collect up a bunch, pound them with a hammer and run them through the mill? Not sure my mill will appreciate that so could get an extra one I only use for that purpose.

Last question is on the soybean heat treating. From what I've read roasting can be hit or miss when using a home oven. I was thinking to boil the soybeans then dry them out in the sun.

Thank you all!

Oyster shell is fantastic. Popular animal protein sources are fish meal, crab meal, pig blood meal. Depending on the composition of what is being ground up, it can be an important mineral and calcium source as well. Such as when anchovies and other tiny bait firsh are sun dried then ground whole.

As long as you wear some eye protection, a hammer and oyster shell is fine - no need to run it thru the mill after that.

and yes, home roasting unreliable. I read something in a developing company about steaming and sun drying, I'll see if I can find it again, since you are already researching. Here it is. There are others, several are linked in this study, but for home based, small scale processing, this is steaming in a pressure cooker. 102 degrees celsius, 40 minutes. That's a pretty small weight on a pressure cooker. 16 psi, not the typical 18.

Looks like I blurred two studies together. I'll look later for the sun drying one.

 

[saysfaa]

Thanks for all the ideas! I have a hand miller and might get a few more as I'll need help with milling hundreds of pounds of grain and corn. ...

Could you attach a picture of your hand mill?

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Could you attach a picture of your hand mill?

I haven't got this yet but in future I am going to get this mill:
https://flour-power-mills.co.nz/our-grain-mills-and-flakers/widu-universal-mill-iii/

I want it because it is electric, plus you can get a hand crank for it and also a bicycle gear to mill with a stationary bike.

 

[Zeoliter]

Oyster shell is fantastic. Popular animal protein sources are fish meal, crab meal, pig blood meal. Depending on the composition of what is being ground up, it can be an important mineral and calcium source as well. Such as when anchovies and other tiny bait firsh are sun dried then ground whole.

As long as you wear some eye protection, a hammer and oyster shell is fine - no need to run it thru the mill after that.

and yes, home roasting unreliable. I read something in a developing company about steaming and sun drying, I'll see if I can find it again, since you are already researching. Here it is. There are others, several are linked in this study, but for home based, small scale processing, this is steaming in a pressure cooker. 102 degrees celsius, 40 minutes. That's a pretty small weight on a pressure cooker. 16 psi, not the typical 18.

Looks like I blurred two studies together. I'll look later for the sun drying one.

In a SHTF situation I can see animal proteins being a problem. We're not right next to the sea and I have no fishing gear. Anyone have any suggestions here?

Thanks for a link to that study. I don't have a pressure cooker but I've seen people just boil the soybeans for 20-30 mins. Was hoping to do that.

 

[Zeoliter]

Could you attach a picture of your hand mill?

I bought this one off Amazon. Haven't used it yet. When I put it together the head of one of the screws that fixes the tightening bracket to the mill piece won't sit all the way in. The body is cast iron and some metal must have leaked out of the mold so the hole it sits in is smaller than it should be. It's just a small lip of excess iron that I need to file down. Bought the file today. Cheap Chinese knock-off of another brand that is more than twice as expensive so you get what you pay for.

 

[saysfaa]

I haven't got this yet but in future I am going to get this mill:
https://flour-power-mills.co.nz/our-grain-mills-and-flakers/widu-universal-mill-iii/

I want it because it is electric, plus you can get a hand crank for it and also a bicycle gear to mill with a stationary bike.

I bought this one off Amazon. Haven't used it yet. ...

Just something to think about .... I asked because I have two mills.
First, the Country Living mill which was one of the best two hand-cranked mills on the market at the time - over twenty years ago. It is still one of the best but there may be more top notch options now; I haven't looked thoroughly recently.

I've used it twice. It is smooth and obviously well made. It just takes an enormous amount of cranking to get even coarse flour. I bought an electric mill that I actually use.

I kept the hand crank mill because it can be used without electricity so I feel safer. And it is quite cool. If I ever use it again for anything other than letting my grandkids learn how hard it is the mill flour (I don't have grandchildren yet) - I will set up a belt to a bicycle at least. Possibly to a windmill or watermill or some sort of devise to use draft animal power.

Hand cranking to just crack wheat rather than make flour is much easier. You wouldn't need grain ground much finer than cracked for chicken feed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

In a SHTF situation I can see animal proteins being a problem. We're not right next to the sea and I have no fishing gear. Anyone have any suggestions here?

Thanks for a link to that study. I don't have a pressure cooker but I've seen people just boil the soybeans for 20-30 mins. Was hoping to do that.

If you are preparing for a SHTF situation, BUY A PRESSURE COOKER. You need it for canning.

and since you already have rice paddies, you should be able to do aquaculture - raising small fish in/around the plants. I suggested that earlier with the mention of carp or freshwater shrimp. Read up!