homemade protein supplements

[showingpoultry]

So I am showing meat chickens for the first time ever and am loving it. I really want to do well at county show so I work with my chicks every chance I get. I want my birds to get as big breasted as possible so I am looking for any advice on homemade protein supplements or anything else that you think might help.I would love any advise. Thanks!

 

[fintuckyfarms]

Barley fodder sprouts at about 21 to 22% protein and is cheaper then the grower feed you can buy. You will still need to feed them some sort of feed be it all purpose poultry, grower or something you make yourself but will be able to cut way back on the amount because they will eat the barley first. A 50lb bag of whole barley is about 15 dollars and will last about 3 times as long as 50lbs of grower. 1lb of barley seeds will sprout to 6 to 8lbs of fodder in 6 to 7 days and the chickens LOVE it. Best of all it is really easy and only takes about 10 minutes extra a day and you can get started for about 15$ plus grain. You just need some containers and some sort of rack system which you can use recycle stuff. I found a storage rack on clearance at Home Depot and I use the plastic shoe storage boxes from Wal-Mart which are 97 cents each. For my 12 chickens I feed 3 a day so I have 21 containers. I did start with the plastic containers I had saved from salads and fruit but found they were not sturdy enough and I wanted everything the same size. I only use 1 heaping cup of seeds to each container so about 1 1/4 cup? I also use 3 mason jars to soak the barley for 12 hours before I put it in the containers. If you want more info, I have been planning to finish a PowerPoint presentation on how I do it and will post it to my Facebook at fintucky farms future homestead. Give me a couple of days because my dogs had surgery today and I have 9 sick chicks that I am dealing with. I am not selling anything, just sharing since I get so many questions.
My meat birds, Cornish crosses dressed out at 8.8lbs at 12 weeks and they loved it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I don't know what to tell you but it may be good to look at dried blood meal or calf milk replacer. Mix it up with hot water (don't boil) and pour over their normal ration, mix and let cool for 1 to 2 hours and then feed. Also since most broiler types of chicken's get up and go, got up and left, (all the better to improve weight gain) some Prozac might help them pack the pounds on. Just kidding.

 

[Percheron chick]

Protein levels in fodder don't magically increase.

When you start with 100g of barley seeds, you have about 12g of protein. Another way to look at it is it has 12% protein. When you sprout it, you don't use up or create additional protein it still has 12g of protein in the finished product. The % goes up because the sprouting processes uses starch. If one value goes down the % of the remaining values go up.

 

[fintuckyfarms]

Barley Sprouts Analysis
- Moisture 78 % Calories 339 Kcal/100g Total Fat 2.82 % Sodium 343 mg/100 Total Carbohydrates 54.8 % Total Dietary Fiber 3.7 % Total Sugar 15.9 %
Proteins- 22.8 %
Vitamins: Vitamin A (Beta Carotene 19.7 IU/100g Vitamin BI (Thiamin) 0.8 mg/100g Vitamin 132 (Riboflavin) 1.79 mg/100g Vitamin 136 1.27 mg/100g Vitamin B12 0.77 mg/100g Folic Acid 106 ug/100g Niacin 8.59 mg/100g Pantothenic Acid 2.2 mg/100g Vitamin C 27.8 mg/100g Vitamin E 10.1 IU/100g
Minerals: Calcium 730 mg/100g Chromium 0.22 mg/100g Copper 0.51 mg/100g Iron 14.9 mg/100g Magnesium 220 mg/100g Potassium 4.28 mg/100g Phosphorus 414 mg/100g Zinc 2.27 mg/100g


source http://www.foddersolutions.net/nutrition/

Of course there are several studies out there but they consistently hit barley fodder above 20%

 

[Percheron chick]

3 things make up your feed. Fat, carbohydrates and protein. When you add all the percentage values they will total 100%. Of one value goes down, one or both other values must go up.

Barley grain has 82% carbs, 5% fat and 13% protein for 100%.
barley fodder drops in both carbs to74.4% and fat to 2.8% per that analysis so protein has to go up to 22.8%.

Look at the dry matter values in grams so you are comparing like items. Another part of the equation is the reduction in digestible energy (calories) of 12% from the sprouting process. Isn't that the whole purpose of feeding them?

 

[TwoCrows]

And excellent home protein for birds is ground beef or ground turkey. I cook some up and keep it frozen in the freezer and pull out what I need each time. An 1/2 or 1 ounce per bird 2 times a week really helps with feather growth, glossy feathers and adds muscle. Any type of meat will work. No salt or spices should be added.