Homemade whole grain feed enough?

[The rooster mom]

I was thinking of making my own organic whole grain feed. Since it is whole grain I was thinking fermenting it to help with digestion. I was also going to do sprouts and meal worms. Since my chickens will not be free roam. And yes I will be giving a grit. My mom says that a whole grain diet is not enough so I'm going to post the recipe I have come up with. If everyone could please tell me what they think about it.
12 cups rolled oats
8 cups soft white wheat
8 cups hard red wheat
4 cups lentils
4 cups field peas
2 cups flax seed
1 cup kelp granules
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons cod liver oil
1/2 cup brewers yeast
8 cups barley
4 cups sunflower seed
1 cup sesame seed
1 cup millet
1 cup sorghum
And maybe 3 cups cracked corn

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I happen to agree with your mom. Aside from thinking it isn't that easy to get all those ingredients.

What you need to know is the nutritional break down of your recipe regardless of what you put in it, what counts is the numbers. Which includes vitamins and minerals, in addition to protein, fat, fiber, calcium, and some amino acids type stuff. Do you know what you are aiming for? What breeds and age will your birds be?

Unless you are an avian nutritional expert, I would leave it to them. Buy a good formulated ration and do your sprouting and mealies (hopefully live) because both are a lot of fun!

I have mixed feeling about fermenting... reason is, I just don't see how you get something for nothing. Yes some nutrients increase but others decrease. And chicken feed is formulated to meet the needs of chickens in captivity. I fermented for over a year and decided not to any more. Go organic if you want. And remember to have fun!

 

[The rooster mom]

Thank you. Maybe I'll just make them nice treats with some of the ingredients. And yes I was wanting to do live mealies. I'm sure my sons would have fun with them too. I know I incorporated all the nutrients just have no idea if it's enough or too much of any one thing. And also thank you about the fermenting. I was planning for this feed to be for layers.

 

[chickens really]

Hello...
Layers require total balance in nutrition in order to produce great eggs and if not balanced they develop behavioural issues..Certain breeds require higher protein Diets no less than 18%...I feed grower here all year to my Hens and supply oyster shell in separate dish...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I was thinking of making my own organic whole grain feed. Since it is whole grain I was thinking fermenting it to help with digestion. I was also going to do sprouts and meal worms. Since my chickens will not be free roam. And yes I will be giving a grit. My mom says that a whole grain diet is not enough so I'm going to post the recipe I have come up with. If everyone could please tell me what they think about it.
12 cups rolled oats
8 cups soft white wheat
8 cups hard red wheat
4 cups lentils
4 cups field peas
2 cups flax seed
1 cup kelp granules
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons cod liver oil
1/2 cup brewers yeast
8 cups barley
4 cups sunflower seed
1 cup sesame seed
1 cup millet
1 cup sorghum
And maybe 3 cups cracked corn

I don't recommend rolled oats, they are a processed food, use whole or racehorse oats instead.
Hard or red wheat is a better feed.
Chickens seldom relish raw peas and beans or any other legume like raw soybeans and peanuts.
I am unfamiliar with kelp granules as a chicken feed.
Olive oil and cod liver oil poured over a dry chicken ration is inviting rancid chicken food. Only feed oils with a wet ration.
Barley is a very good chicken food.
Do what you want but IMHO sunflower seeds are a standin for olive, & cod liver oil (IOW) sunflower seeds are empty or mostly empty calories.
Sesame seeds are likely just as bad as sunflower seeds but I don't know.
When using feed grains like millet & sorghum be advised that many of these feed grains are bird resistant. In other words they contain enough natural acids to render them unpalatable to black birds and other avian pests. This allows the farmer and not the black birds and the crows to harvest the crop. So chickens wont eat these feed grains because.... well because chickens are birds. I don't know but maybe adding a cup of Tums for your chickens' tummies may help.
Cracked corn is a poor chicken feed. It often contains the dust, fractured kernels, and sweepings found in the nooks and crannies of grain elevators, barges, silos, and ships' hulls. Whole or shelled corn is a much more natural and a better chicken food, besides shelled or whole grain or whole kernel corn is.... well it's whole grain and has not lost any of its vital nutrition like little broken kernels and dried out bits and pieces of corn has.
Lastly it seems to me that the ration in question is seriously deficient in protein. Maybe adding some calf manna, pig chow, cat food, or a good meat by products based dog food will help, as will adding soybean meal.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you. Maybe I'll just make them nice treats with some of the ingredients. And yes I was wanting to do live mealies. I'm sure my sons would have fun with them too. I know I incorporated all the nutrients just have no idea if it's enough or too much of any one thing. And also thank you about the fermenting. I was planning for this feed to be for layers.

They will love that stuff as treats. Just remember not more than 10% of their total daily ration so it stays balanced. Lots of those things you mentioned are sprout-able. I do barley because it had the least mold and growing troubles during my research and is about 14% protein. Wish I could find field peas to sprout. And instead of regular sunflower seeds have you heard of BOSS, black oil sunflower seed? Seems like people find them more nutritious than standard, but I do know they are high in fat. Millet, sorghum, wheat, sunflower seeds, corn, oats, peas, barley... all sprout-able if bought in the correct form. Remember feed grade not seed grade in order to avoid any pesticide or herbicide they might use on things intended for planting.

All my girls are layers, but some of them are hardier/heftier breeds like Wyandotte, Barred rock, Marans... those that are considered dual purpose breeds are the ones that need not less than 18% protein mentioned. Light bodied layers like leghorn will do OK with 16%.

In order to figure out your nutrient content of you listed recipe, you would look up the individual items and mark down all them numbers and in the end you would would figure what ration of each and do some math. For example if I mix 50/50 gamebird feed at 30% and flock raiser at 20% protein then my actual protein content would be 25%. So add them all up and divide by the number of ingredients type thing. But I think you have already decided to do those things as fun treats, so this is just informational.

Curious, where did you get your recipe? I'm not condoning the following link, but sharing for informational purposes to add to your research. With everything, you MUST use your own judgement with the information you have available at the time. If you learn something new or discover it isn't working for YOU, switch it up! We all have different flocks, set ups, and goals. But most of us do understand that nutrition is KEY to a healthy flock...
https://thefrugalchicken.com/organic-homemade-chicken-feed/

So cool that you are doing research and preparing!

I bet you're gonna have a great flock and a wonderful time!

Here are a couple of links with comparison of different breeds in case you're interested...
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree with most of what has been offered.
Bottom line is that you'll spend a lot more for a potentially inferior product trying to formulate at home. Not to mention the hassle.
The economies of scale predict that. Feed companies buy grains and legumes by the trainload while you buy by the pound.
They buy fats, vitamins and minerals by the ton while you buy by the ounce. Then they have labs that they can assay each batch of feed to insure all the nutrients for the intended recipient are present at the right ratios.
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G8352
It is pretty simple and much less expensive to buy a bag of organic grower or layer feed.

 

[The rooster mom]

They will love that stuff as treats. Just remember not more than 10% of their total daily ration so it stays balanced. Lots of those things you mentioned are sprout-able. I do barley because it had the least mold and growing troubles during my research and is about 14% protein. Wish I could find field peas to sprout. And instead of regular sunflower seeds have you heard of BOSS, black oil sunflower seed? Seems like people find them more nutritious than standard, but I do know they are high in fat. Millet, sorghum, wheat, sunflower seeds, corn, oats, peas, barley... all sprout-able if bought in the correct form. Remember feed grade not seed grade in order to avoid any pesticide or herbicide they might use on things intended for planting.

All my girls are layers, but some of them are hardier/heftier breeds like Wyandotte, Barred rock, Marans... those that are considered dual purpose breeds are the ones that need not less than 18% protein mentioned. Light bodied layers like leghorn will do OK with 16%.

In order to figure out your nutrient content of you listed recipe, you would look up the individual items and mark down all them numbers and in the end you would would figure what ration of each and do some math. For example if I mix 50/50 gamebird feed at 30% and flock raiser at 25% protein then my actual protein content would be 25%. So add them all up and divide by the number of ingredients type thing. But I think you have already decided to do those things as fun treats, so this is just informational.

Curious, where did you get your recipe? I'm not condoning the following link, but sharing for informational purposes to add to your research. With everything, you MUST use your own judgement with the information you have available at the time. If you learn something new or discover it isn't working for YOU, switch it up! We all have different flocks, set ups, and goals. But most of us do understand that nutrition is KEY to a healthy flock...
https://thefrugalchicken.com/organic-homemade-chicken-feed/

So cool that you are doing research and preparing!

I bet you're gonna have a great flock and a wonderful time!

Here are a couple of links with comparison of different breeds in case you're interested...
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf

I was looking at other peoples homemade recipes. Then I looked up what nutrition large layers needed. Then looked up grains and seeds they could or would eat. I also looked up what nutrients those ingredients had. I came across kelp as a way to include vitamins and minerals like salt. And the oils to help and nutrition and help hold the kelp to the other ingredients because I read it's kinda of dusty and found in anouther homemade recipe that is what someone did. I found a computer program I can use to find the nutritional numbers with, but I don't have a computer right now lol. Of course I was most definitely not sure of the portions of each ingredient I was just kind of freed handing that until I c

They will love that stuff as treats. Just remember not more than 10% of their total daily ration so it stays balanced. Lots of those things you mentioned are sprout-able. I do barley because it had the least mold and growing troubles during my research and is about 14% protein. Wish I could find field peas to sprout. And instead of regular sunflower seeds have you heard of BOSS, black oil sunflower seed? Seems like people find them more nutritious than standard, but I do know they are high in fat. Millet, sorghum, wheat, sunflower seeds, corn, oats, peas, barley... all sprout-able if bought in the correct form. Remember feed grade not seed grade in order to avoid any pesticide or herbicide they might use on things intended for planting.

All my girls are layers, but some of them are hardier/heftier breeds like Wyandotte, Barred rock, Marans... those that are considered dual purpose breeds are the ones that need not less than 18% protein mentioned. Light bodied layers like leghorn will do OK with 16%.

In order to figure out your nutrient content of you listed recipe, you would look up the individual items and mark down all them numbers and in the end you would would figure what ration of each and do some math. For example if I mix 50/50 gamebird feed at 30% and flock raiser at 25% protein then my actual protein content would be 25%. So add them all up and divide by the number of ingredients type thing. But I think you have already decided to do those things as fun treats, so this is just informational.

Curious, where did you get your recipe? I'm not condoning the following link, but sharing for informational purposes to add to your research. With everything, you MUST use your own judgement with the information you have available at the time. If you learn something new or discover it isn't working for YOU, switch it up! We all have different flocks, set ups, and goals. But most of us do understand that nutrition is KEY to a healthy flock...
https://thefrugalchicken.com/organic-homemade-chicken-feed/

So cool that you are doing research and preparing!

I bet you're gonna have a great flock and a wonderful time!

Here are a couple of links with comparison of different breeds in case you're interested...
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf

They will love that stuff as treats. Just remember not more than 10% of their total daily ration so it stays balanced. Lots of those things you mentioned are sprout-able. I do barley because it had the least mold and growing troubles during my research and is about 14% protein. Wish I could find field peas to sprout. And instead of regular sunflower seeds have you heard of BOSS, black oil sunflower seed? Seems like people find them more nutritious than standard, but I do know they are high in fat. Millet, sorghum, wheat, sunflower seeds, corn, oats, peas, barley... all sprout-able if bought in the correct form. Remember feed grade not seed grade in order to avoid any pesticide or herbicide they might use on things intended for planting.

All my girls are layers, but some of them are hardier/heftier breeds like Wyandotte, Barred rock, Marans... those that are considered dual purpose breeds are the ones that need not less than 18% protein mentioned. Light bodied layers like leghorn will do OK with 16%.

In order to figure out your nutrient content of you listed recipe, you would look up the individual items and mark down all them numbers and in the end you would would figure what ration of each and do some math. For example if I mix 50/50 gamebird feed at 30% and flock raiser at 25% protein then my actual protein content would be 25%. So add them all up and divide by the number of ingredients type thing. But I think you have already decided to do those things as fun treats, so this is just informational.

Curious, where did you get your recipe? I'm not condoning the following link, but sharing for informational purposes to add to your research. With everything, you MUST use your own judgement with the information you have available at the time. If you learn something new or discover it isn't working for YOU, switch it up! We all have different flocks, set ups, and goals. But most of us do understand that nutrition is KEY to a healthy flock...
https://thefrugalchicken.com/organic-homemade-chicken-feed/

So cool that you are doing research and preparing!

I bet you're gonna have a great flock and a wonderful time!

Here are a couple of links with comparison of different breeds in case you're interested...
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf

I just brain stormed the recipe after looking at oth homemade recipes and looking up what larg layers need and what grains and seeds I could get ahold of and their nutritional benefits. I was not set on the exact amount of each ingredient because I know numbers count and I don't know what those numbers are until I calculate it all. I did find a computer program today to do this, but I don't have a computer lol. Thank you.

 

[The rooster mom]

I agree with most of what has been offered.
Bottom line is that you'll spend a lot more for a potentially inferior product trying to formulate at home. Not to mention the hassle.
The economies of scale predict that. Feed companies buy grains and legumes by the trainload while you buy by the pound.
They by fats, vitamins and minerals by the ton while you buy by the ounce. Then they have labs that they can assay each batch of feed to insure all the nutrients for the intended recipient are present at the right ratios.
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G8352
It is pretty simple and much less expensive to buy a bag of organic grower or layer feed.

I agree lol I would spend more.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Believe me, I've run the numbers many times.
I once worked in the feed industry for large broiler and egg operations that have their own mills. My associates didn't want to hear that I pastured heritage type fowl.