how to make gamebird feed

[therandomhatcher]

I was wondering how I could make 30% protein feed out of an assortment of... well, anything I can find. The feed costs in our local tsc just went up to $28 a 40 pound bag which is taking a toll on even my small flock of about 40 birds. My uncle owns a dairy farm and he grows his own crops. He told me he has to waste a bunch because he grows more than enough feed. I'm okay with buying some things to make it.
Any recipes?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@007Sean @Kiki

 

[Kiki]

It will cost you way more ,than purchasing a $30 bag of feed at the store, to make on your own.

 

[therandomhatcher]

okay

 

[BlueBaby]

Maybe you could read the ingredient's on the label of the bag, and see if your uncle has room enough to grow some of those?

 

[therandomhatcher]

good idea. I'll have to see. He said he would give me a 30-acre piece of land to build a pasture (not for quail, or any gamebird for that matter) I could probably use some of that for growing stuff.
I could use a non-GMO recipe such as this:
Ingredients:
Non-GMO Roasted Soybeans, Non-GMO Corn, Non-GMO Wheat, Non-GMO Alfalfa, Non-GMO Black Oil Sunflowers, Ernst Grain Mineral, and Vitamin Premix, Oyster Shells, Kelp, Salt, Non-GMO Linseed Oil, Diatomaceous Earth, Probiotics: Safmannan & Integral, Natural Essential Oil & Herbal Supplement

All I would have to buy is the supplement, diatomaceous earth, and kelp and be good
I got to somehow find the amounts too .

 

[NatJ]

Soybeans are one protein source, but fish or meat or even insects can also be good sources of protein. (Soybeans are probably cheaper, but it depends on what you have access to.)

 

[therandomhatcher]

Soybeans are probably cheaper, but it depends on what you have access to.)

My uncle grows soybeans

 

[Butchers Wife]

I was wondering how I could make 30% protein feed out of an assortment of... well, anything I can find. The feed costs in our local tsc just went up to $28 a 40 pound bag which is taking a toll on even my small flock of about 40 birds. My uncle owns a dairy farm and he grows his own crops. He told me he has to waste a bunch because he grows more than enough feed. I'm okay with buying some things to make it.
Any recipes?

I don't have a recipe yet but calling every feed mill for 150 miles around is my #1 priority this week. Being frugal I refused to bulk purchase anything before my new homemade cabinet incubator hatched even a single egg. And being a commodity no one could quote me anything worth writing down. My first batch of 84 pheasant chicks popped yesterday. I'm just feeding them a 40 pound bag of Purina Gamebird and Turkey Starter/30% protein, purchased 3 days ago at Tractor Supply for $19 (this is Not the brown bag Purina Gamebird Startena for $28! or any of the other Purina brown bag Gamebird variations) but the nutrition labels are almost identical. you can look up most nutrition labels online. I'm also shopping for a 20% ration to feed my pheasants beyond 6 weeks. Two retail options for that are:
Purina Flock Raiser/20% protein/$19 for 50 pound bag (.38¢ a pound) from Tractor Supply. I've been feeding this to my brood stock since March plus free choice oyster shell once the hens began laying. I only kept 25 hens and just enough cocks to knock their boots and I mostly fed them scratch grains and corn and pumpkins through the winter.
Or-
Kreamer Feed Conventional Chick Starter/21% protein/$460 for 2,000 pound tote (.23¢ a pound) from Tractor Supply. I know it's a chicken chick starter but the nutrition label looks sufficient for flighty young pheasants.
The cost difference works out to $500 per ton, something to consider if you need to build something to keep a 1 ton package dry.

I still have 300 pheasant eggs in the incubator & I'm trying to decide if I want to put 200 more in the incubator today or just put them in the fridge. Scrambled eggs were the only chick starter available in olden times. I guess I'm getting cold feet. I know I qualify for some bulk discounts at several feed mills and they won't even charge me for a custom mix, but I feel I'm barely literate in what I'm shopping for. I've got an investment in effort and knowledge that I don't want to lose but I feel like I'm reinventing the wheel. I mean, how is this still a secret formula? I know my real problem is trying to start something from scratch with minimum cash, hoping to expand as I grow, hoping it pays for itself. I'm certain there's an .18¢ a pound recipe out there. And I bet the first ingredient is soy beans. I'll post back if I find something good.

 

[therandomhatcher]

That is very helpful