homemade scratch?

[La Banan]

Quote:
I do not entirely agree with this - I understand what you are saying and I don't feel the need to swallow whole what the industrial food system tells us. Sometimes the industrial food system likes us to be scared about our own intelligence because it benefits them for us to trust their work. I am not paranoid - I use commercial feed and I know I'm doing it because it is not of benefit to the planet or me to run all over the province in my car searching out organic growers - however I think if there are those out there who want to make their own scratch - why ever not? Here's a site - Greener Pastures Farm - with good recipes: http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/ChickenFeedRecipe.html

They have some great recipes and good links.

Have fun you all!

 

[HennysMom]

Is it really more cost beneficial to make your own scratch vs. buying it?

I get my scratch for .20 a lb....from my co-op and I usually buy it in 10 lb increments (only having 6 birds I dont like it to sit)

I can get homemade organic scratch from a supplier for about .50 a lb...

To make it myself would cost me quite a bit more right now that what I pay for it already made.

 

[patandchickens]

Fava beans should be roasted or precooked just like soybeans, for the same reasons. (ALL dried beans, really).

I've never actually bought scratch. I always seem to have something on hand to toss 'em instead (and it's not like they NEED scratch anyhow). At the moment I am finishing off a 25 lb bag of whole (hulls still on) barley that was given to me by someone who was gonna make a bunch of those microwaveable warming packs for your neck and then apparently changed her mind. Before that I had a big sack o' rather old tired unpopped popcorn, and the bottom of a sack of rice that had gotten weevils in it but was otherwise fine. Sometimes I use bits of the horses' sweet feed, in moderation. Got a good deal on some wheat grains once. Etcetera.

Truthfully, scratch (or cracked corn, wheat, etc) are so cheap that I am not sure how much sense it makes to grow and hand-harvest hand-process your own, when you COULD be using that land and energy to grow something more useful. Of course if you just want to do it for kicks that's great, I'm just saying, I don't think it's really an economy measure.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[HennysMom]

I agree Pat..

I'd rather use that land for planting wildflowers

and harvesting those seeds - I love wildflowers!

 

[EliteTempleton]

Quote:
I took the corn I grew this year, that did not turn out favorably, shucked it, and then took the green parts and cut it up a bit, then I put them in quartish bags and tossed into the freezer, they quite liked that pile of greens while it lasted. I would give them a bag about every week or so.

 

[EliteTempleton]

Quote:
I do not entirely agree with this - I understand what you are saying and I don't feel the need to swallow whole what the industrial food system tells us. Sometimes the industrial food system likes us to be scared about our own intelligence because it benefits them for us to trust their work. I am not paranoid - I use commercial feed and I know I'm doing it because it is not of benefit to the planet or me to run all over the province in my car searching out organic growers - however I think if there are those out there who want to make their own scratch - why ever not? Here's a site - Greener Pastures Farm - with good recipes: http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/ChickenFeedRecipe.html

They have some great recipes and good links.

Have fun you all!

What she said. I give mine commercial feed too. BUT, chickens lived just fine for centuries without the advice of universities.

 

[jhm47]

Yes, you are correct. Chickens lived for centuries without the "help" of universities and commercial feed companies. No doubt about it. However, in our incredibly complex and competitive society today, we must make the best use of our resources, time and labor.

I am privileged to have observed the chicken raising methods that my grandmother (may she forever rest in peace) employed. She raised almost all her birds herself, and didn't purchase them from hatcheries. She didn't use commercial feeds either, because they were not as readily available as today. I can tell you that her birds were healthy and produced well for her at that time. However, in this highly competitive day and age, her methods would put her out of business quickly.

She utilized the ultimate "free range" system of raising her chicks. She would allow them to free range about the farm till fall. They were basically "on their own" as far as finding feed. They would glean feed from the cow pies that had some undigested kernels that passed through the dairy cows. They would get a bit of feed from the hog pen (pigs are notoriously wasteful), and also they would pick up a lot of grain from spills around the farm. Of course, they ate a LOT of bugs and worms from wherever they found them.

In the fall, she would round up all these young chickens and pen them up to fatten the ones that she planned to butcher. The young leghorn cockerels and many of the white rocks that she planned to butcher would be placed in a pen and fed buttermilk, ground corn and oats, and whatever kitchen scraps she had from day to day.

Her future laying hens were penned in the chicken house, and prepared to start producing eggs. These eggs were traded in town for groceries and occasionally some cash for the household. These birds were fed basically the same as the dairy cows (corn and oats). The protein was not very well balanced, and these birds were forced to eat a lot of extra feed in order to obtain the required amino acids that are necessary to produce well. Since grain was very cheap in those days, it worked out financially for her, but with today's high grain prices, it would be prohibitively expensive.

Now, this may sound like an idyllic lifestyle for the chickens, but bear in mind that there were many that didn't live till fall. My younger cousin and I were in charge of predator control. We routinely shot hawks and owls (it was perfectly legal at that time), trapped rats and mice, and killed every other predator that we could. Still, many birds were killed each summer by various predators, including the voracious pigs.

In the winter, grandmother would baby her hens a lot. They received all the ground corn and oats they could eat, and sometimes she would place a bale of green, leafy alfalfa in the coop. Again, at today's prices, this would be very expensive, because the birds were not getting the correct amount of amino acids. Therefore they had to eat more feed in order to get the amount of amino acids that are required. The rest of the feed was essentially wasted.

What I'm trying to convey to you is that well balanced, scientifically blended feed is cheaper in the long run than trying to blend feed yourself. Granted, there is a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing exactly what ingredients are going into your feed, but most of us are not nutritionists, and could easily short change our birds on a necessary mineral or vitamin. This would likely make our birds have to eat more total feed in order to supply themselves with whatever is missing. Again, at today's grain prices, it would add up quickly.

Since many of us are hobbyist poultry magnates and have low numbers of chickens, price is not a big issue, and whatever makes you happy is fine. However, with the economic downturn, saving a $ here and there is important to some, and feeding the best-balanced feed makes the most sense in the long run.

Just my opinion!

 

[EliteTempleton]

That makes sense.

Particularly in reference to their feed, which I provide in a gravity fed bin free choice. As Pellets to further avoid waste.

But for scratch, which I think of as that cup of dried seeds really(corn, sunflower seeds, etc). What do you think?

Here is my take/experience; I've only had mine for a year, I saw no need to buy scratch as I had a full bucket of wild bird seed already, so I gave them that through the summer, I'd give them a handful every day when I went to check for eggs, or I'd toss some into the coop when I wanted to lock them all in there for a bit to move them to a new patch of grass(mine cannot free range as my dogs would surely eat them, so they get a large attached run and thru the summer they are moved around to fresh patches of grass, especially when I see an ant hill or a large concentration of grubs, etc.).

Then in the fall the feed store had a sale on whole corn, so I bought that and mixed it in with what I had left of bird seed. Besides the sale I had read on here the corn helps keep them warmer, myth or not, it can't hurt. Now that it's winter and they don't have bugs to scratch for and need extra feed to stay warm, I try to give them a full cup(about 16oz) of scratch every couple of days. I figure this cuts down on my feed costs.

I don't know about the OP, but I figured to just grow some sunflowers, and would probably dry the heads in the fall, then toss one of them in there every few days next year to pick out seeds from in the winter.

Otherwise I will probably buy whatever is cheapest when I reach the bottom of my current scratch supply. Be that bulk bird seed, actual scratch, or something else I come across. But I'll keep adding to it when I see a cheap(sale, etc) way to do so, so it could be a while before I see the bottom...

Am I wasting time, money, and effort? Or do you think my strategy and use of scratch is appropriate? As far as the sunflowers go, I would like to know if you think I would be better of financially just buying some, but either way I will grow some for kicks.

 

[rooster0209]

I buy some commercial feed and sometimes not. I understand there are people who live without the resources to grow their own feed. We farm and have cows. Not all years do we have a box full of corn screenings.

I hardly fed my birds (chickens and guineas) all summer. They were not hungry, the feeders stayed full for weeks with out me adding anything to them. I do have 7 acres on the home place and they free range all day, all over the place. I will practice the same methods again this year. I had no trouble with chickens coming in to roost at night. The egg yolks were so bright yellow, it turned my white frosting yellow.

Not everyone has the same 'set up' or methods. Each one of us must decide what works best for our birds, our wallet and our selves.

 

[Beekissed]

I too am not impressed with the "scientific" nutritionally balanced processed feeds on the market. These feeds were designed to fatten commercially grown layers and broilers as cheaply as possible. They were not designed for the backyard setup, where we aren't trying to produce something really fast and cheap.

We are, hopefully, trying to develop a flock that has a natural resistance to disease(and doesn't need medication in their feed to stay healthy), are able to adapt to a changing and varied diet of more natural foods(greens, grains, bugs, worms) and are not required to produce continually or gain wt exponentially to satisfy a certain time frame or egg laying amount.

I've found that everyone's flock is different when you aren't raising commercial birds. What works for one backyard flock doesn't work for mine, so giving a standard, scientifically superior(or so the manufacturer~who pays for the data~maintains) feed is not always the best approach. Sure, it can keep them alive and they may possibly thrive on it. But there are alternatives that are far more nutritious and healthier for your flock that don't costs an arm and a leg to produce.

When in doubt, trust your birds. If they seem to have good, formed stool that isn't runny, this is good. If their feathers are shiney and the eyes are bright, if the birds are energetic and active, if they are maturing and laying when they are supposed to, if they aren't continually sick with one thing and then another~you must be doing something right with your feed and care.

I don't let anyone tell me what is "best" for my flock, I just watch the results of what I am doing and improve with as natural and cheap feed as I can grow or obtain, to suit mine~and their~ lifestyle.