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Substitutes for commercial laying mash? Yes, they exist.
Unfortunately, they are not simple to formulate nor do they usually end up being cheaper.
Poultry nutrition is as complex as it is for anything. You need both information and financial resources to get it right. This is what commercial feed makers offer you. That 10$-15$ bag of feed includes these things.
A harsh surprise many people find is that an egg every other day per hen is normal. They see all the ad hype in poultry catalogs, or hear about others who get an egg a day and they think that will be their situation. What they dont know is that there are so many variables to this equation of egg laying. No one ever tells them this when all they hear is "CHICKENS WHEEEEE!
" and so they find out the hard way.
The fact is, it has a been a long, hard road road for the commercial egg business to develop a 200+ egg/year hen. Can you imagine how that has been in the private sector, with inconsistent breeding and the whims of a fanciers market at play?
You CAN feed chickens from your kitchen and table leftovers, make no mistake. Almost anything you eat, your chickens can eat, too. A bag of grain mix (scratch) and table scraps has been a time honored feed regimen, most often coupled with daily foraging. That doesnt mean it is best, but it has been done. Will it guarantee an egg a day? Unlikely. Feeding for production is an exact thing, requiring strict controls
For you, the answer lies somewhere in between, I suspect. A hybrid plan of supplementing a good commercial ration with "people food" leftovers, greens and foraging comes about as close as you will get. Trimming your flock to keep only the best birds will also help.
Combined, these things will cut down on the feed you have to buy.
