Is my feed viable?

[VedTheAmeteur]

I'm getting chickens in August from Meyer hatchery so I made a feed recipe.

30% Wheat Berries
5% Corn
2.5% Oyster shells
5.5% Spice Mix, added after fermentation
20% Scratch and Peck Naturally Free Layer Feed
5% Bugs, added after fermentation
2.5% Fish Oil, added after fermentation
2.5% Kale
10% Chopped Basil
2% Food Grade DE, added after fermentation
15% Oat Groats

The feed will hopefully be Organic and fermented, also, spice mix is cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and kelp, all crushed finely. Will this recipe work? If not, how can I improve/fix it?

I edited my recipe to correct some of the mistakes I found out about


20% Wheat, Whole and Organic
7% Corn
5% Sesame Seeds
11.5% Rye
5% Spice Mix
0.5% Baobab Powder, added after fermentation
20% Scratch and Peck Naturally Free Layer Feed
5% Bugs
2.5% Fish Oil, added after fermentation
2.5% Kale
8% BOSS, added after fermentation
2% Garlic
10% Oats

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How did you come up with this formula?

What are you hoping to accomplish with the DE?

What % calcium will you achieve with 2.5% oyster shell added to the calcium in the other ingredients?

What will the final crude protein % be and do you have sufficient lysine and methionine?

 

[Stephine]

How did you come up with this formula?

What are you hoping to accomplish with the DE?

What % calcium will you achieve with 2.5% oyster shell added to the calcium in the other ingredients?

What will the final crude protein % be and do you have sufficient lysine and methionine?

I think those are the questions the OP wants to answer. I think it would be more helpful to point to some good recipes, or tables to help figure it out...

I suggest keeping the oyster shell separate so the chickens can find the right balance themselves - just make it always available like you do with grit.
A lot of people think DE in the feed is not a good idea, but then it is included in many commercially available feeds.
I actually started mixing my own starter feed after being unable to find a DE free starter locally.

Maybe google some good recipes to compare? Finding out protein levels is relatively easy - just google the particular grain...

You should probably include more seeds (BOSS in particular, flax, sesame...) and I would use a few different grains including oats, not just wheat.

I hope others with much more experience can give you more pointers!

 

[Mosey2003]

I think those are the questions the OP wants to answer. I think it would be more helpful to point to some good recipes, or tables to help figure it out...

I suggest keeping the oyster shell separate so the chickens can find the right balance themselves - just make it always available like you do with grit.
A lot of people think DE in the feed is not a good idea, but then it is included in many commercially available feeds.
I actually started mixing my own starter feed after being unable to find a DE free starter locally.

Maybe google some good recipes to compare? Finding out protein levels is relatively easy - just google the particular grain...

You should probably include more seeds (BOSS in particular, flax, sesame...) and I would use a few different grains including oats, not just wheat.

I hope others with much more experience can give you more pointers!

I wonder if the commercial feeds listing DE are including it on purpose (for the chickens' benefit), or whether it's merely useful for killing weevils or whatever it does, because I know they add it to grains for that purpose.

Would you mind sharing your starter recipe? I'd really like to get away from the commercial feeds too. I'm not afraid of chemicals or GMO's, I just feel like it would be better to mix it myself fresh and not have additives that my birds don't necessarily need. I ferment currently, and have access to a feed grinder.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

DE added to commercial feed is usually as a drying agent.

 

[Stephine]

I used the recipe here http://wholefedhomestead.com/homemade-organic-baby-chick-starter-feed-recipe/
for the basis of my starter (the one with fishmeal) but did my own variations based on this Herbalist's book that we have - Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette de Baïracli-Levy.
I added lots of slippery elm bark powder, started them out on mostly barley as the grain portion ( after the first ten days used a combination of many different grains), added flax, sesame and pumpkin seeds. They got daily scrambled egg treats with chopped weeds, watercress, parsley... and yoghurt and oats.
Added kelp only after they were ten days old. She sometimes says "where prize chickens are wanted..." I followed all the advice for prize chickens... there were lots of raisins... )
It was a bit unnerving not to follow the beaten path but I was not going to feed them a powder from corn, soy, DE and synthetic vitamins...
Oh, I also followed advise from Gail D. book Chicken Health.
Very helpful reading and she also includes a table for mixing your own food.

 

[Kimberly4403]

I used the recipe here http://wholefedhomestead.com/homemade-organic-baby-chick-starter-feed-recipe/
for the basis of my starter (the one with fishmeal) but did my own variations based on this Herbalist's book that we have - Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette de Baïracli-Levy.
I added lots of slippery elm bark powder, started them out on mostly barley as the grain portion ( after the first ten days used a combination of many different grains), added flax, sesame and pumpkin seeds. They got daily scrambled egg treats with chopped weeds, watercress, parsley... and yoghurt and oats.
Added kelp only after they were ten days old. She sometimes says "where prize chickens are wanted..." I followed all the advice for prize chickens... there were lots of raisins... )
It was a bit unnerving not to follow the beaten path but I was not going to feed them a powder from corn, soy, DE and synthetic vitamins...
Oh, I also followed advise from Gail D. book Chicken Health.
Very helpful reading and she also includes a table for mixing your own food.

Sorry to hijack this post im looking at this recipe also did you use the split peas or substitute with something else ive been told the raw split peas are too hard for chicks to digest and thought of changing it to barley or quinoa? Also what do you add to increase amino acid content?

 

[Stephine]

Sorry to hijack this post im looking at this recipe also did you use the split peas or substitute with something else ive been told the raw split peas are too hard for chicks to digest and thought of changing it to barley or quinoa? Also what do you add to increase amino acid content?

I used red (split) lentils instead of peas for the first few weeks than added the dark green lentils to the mix and only added split peas recently (they are ten weeks old now). I put everything through my flaker for the first few weeks which made it into a coarse powder. Once they were a bit older I put things through my mill on a very coarse grind. Now I leave most things whole, as long as they are small enough to swallow.
I added fishmeal to improve amino acid profile, also buckwheat (complete, similar to meat), quinoa....
Barley and quinoa don't have enough protein to substitute for the peas but lentils are comparable.
Also they got cooked egg on a regular basis.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I used red (split) lentils instead of peas for the first few weeks than added the dark green lentils to the mix and only added split peas recently (they are ten weeks old now). I put everything through my flaker for the first few weeks which made it into a coarse powder. Once they were a bit older I put things through my mill on a very coarse grind. Now I leave most things whole, as long as they are small enough to swallow.
I added fishmeal to improve amino acid profile, also buckwheat (complete, similar to meat), quinoa....
Barley and quinoa don't have enough protein to substitute for the peas but lentils are comparable.
Also they got cooked egg on a regular basis.

Peas, beans, and lentils are mildly toxic to chickens. To be palatable they must first be cooked in two waters or else roasted, ground, and pressed to remove the oil. The recipe you posted is way short of the kinds of proteins that chickens need for optimal health. Chickens are not feathered flower children subsisting on Crudité, smoothies, and a vegetarian diet, but rather chickens are unapologetic rip-roaring-meat-eating dinosaurs.

 

[Stephine]

Beans have to be cooked. Peas and lentils are different. Commercial formulas do not contain lots of meat either.