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.
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