Is there anyone who is able to review the feed I have created-soy, wheat, corn, and dairy free due t

[Percheron chick]

Find a friend that feeds alfalfa hay or buy a small square (about 60#) of dairy quality 3rd or higher cutting hay. You want it to have fine stems and lots of leaves. You can take a flake (2-3# section) and shake out the leaves and fines. That's what they want. It has a good complete protein profile (great lysine value), good vit A and a super Ca source (all things you need for milk production) low P which you need to balance out the high P in grains plus it gives them something green in their diet and the seeds will not.

You've actually got me thinking about this. If you have a small feed mill close by, call them up and talk to the nutritionist on staff. A small mill will do a custom blend for you in batches as small as 500# but might require up to 1 ton. That's a boat load for only 6 but you might be on to something. You might be able to find a co-op of people that have the same dietary restrictions and would be willing to go in on a batch. Sell the extra bags. Put an ad up on CL and test the water. If the mill can pelletize the feed better yet. That way they don't pick out their favorite parts and leave the rest for the birds.

I would do a taste test on your birds. Test the individual grains and see what they will eat. 10% flax is too high for both the taste it imparts on the egg (fishy taste) plus mine barely touch the stuff. Mine don't like millet either. You have a lot of fine seeds that are going to settle down at the bottom and not get eaten.

 

[susienoe]

Okay, seeds that are meant for animals not plants! Never would have thought of that! Thanks!!

I like the idea about the mill. I have already talked to one woman at a mill about 20 minutes away, She was very enthusiastic and helpful, but I do think the smallest amount was 500#. I bet there would be interest here, so many people are gluten, soy, and dairy free. I will have to give her a call back on Monday. Such great info about the alfalfa!

I recalculated a little and lowered the flax to 4%. It is so hard to keep the protein up! I think that lowered the total protein to 15.5%.

How much will 4 chicks and two ducks eat? Was it about a lb a week? I think I might need to figure out how much extra there would be!

And can I test it on the chicks, or do I need to wait until they are full grown to give them seeds? They are on a locally mixed feed for starters right now. I know its main ingredient is wheat though, and I want that out once they are ready to lay! It is giving me time to figure all of this out though

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Percheron chick]

You really have to add calcium carbonate to the blend to get the Ca up. Alfalfa is considered high but it's only 1.2% and grains are extremely low at less the .1%. Are they going to eat enough oyster shells or egg shells to get enough? You want 6 to 8 times more Ca than P in the diet for good shell development. Depending upon the mill, you might need to provide some of the components of the mix or adjust the blend to where you use whatever minimum they must buy. Start with getting a list of what they can buy in bulk. She will have a program that she can plug in values and it will spit out the analysis and then you can tweek it from there.

An adult chicken will eat between 2-4# of feed a week depending upon size, freeranging and weather.

There is a farm locally that sells a soyfree and non GMO chicken feed. They have a big hopper set up and you fill a 5 gal pail (about 18#) for $10. It's a on your honor system and it must work because they've been doing it for years.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Okay, seeds that are meant for animals not plants! Never would have thought of that! Thanks!!

I like the idea about the mill. I have already talked to one woman at a mill about 20 minutes away, She was very enthusiastic and helpful, but I do think the smallest amount was 500#. I bet there would be interest here, so many people are gluten, soy, and dairy free. I will have to give her a call back on Monday. Such great info about the alfalfa!

I recalculated a little and lowered the flax to 4%. It is so hard to keep the protein up! I think that lowered the total protein to 15.5%.

How much will 4 chicks and two ducks eat? Was it about a lb a week? I think I might need to figure out how much extra there would be!

And can I test it on the chicks, or do I need to wait until they are full grown to give them seeds? They are on a locally mixed feed for starters right now. I know its main ingredient is wheat though, and I want that out once they are ready to lay! It is giving me time to figure all of this out though

Thanks again everyone!

My layers eat around 15% protein and do very well. I leave my chicks on organic chick starter (which is just soy and corn) until they are 8 weeks old and then I gradually start mixing in seeds and grains to make the protein level around 17% estimated. Also I pay attention to what they seem to crave- if they are gobbling up the chick starter and leaving the grains I increase the starter again. It works well for me- if you are going to feed chicks some feed you mix, I think you will need to grind everything for them. If you see lionsgrip you might get some ideas- please note that I use lbs instead of parts when calculating, as protein in foods is by grams not volume (thanks to Chris09):
http://lionsgrip.com/protein.html


This is just so you know- I know you are trying to stay away from soy and I was too: the soy in my feed makes a huge difference in weight gain and egglaying I have found, FYI- in case you decide to switch to soy later. I only feed organic soy and it must be roasted (all chicken feed is roasted soy). An alternative to soy is some meat scraps. Another thing the old-timers did was to clabber raw (must be raw) milk and give to the chickens. Or you could give them mealworms. There is a "Home Feeding Thread" where you might find addtional ideas for increasing protein in a non-traditional way.

*I apologize for mentioning the soy and dairy but some people stay away from things only temporarily and I thought you might find the information helpful. We ourselves have a soy intolerance in the family and at one time stayed away from dairy. We do not have a soy allergy, we found out, just a "temporary intolerance" as diagnosed by a doctor.

We are staying away from GMO corn and soy.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you want to grow a little alfalfa in the corner of your garden, you can just buy a little bag of alfalfa seeds sold for sprouting. You can also grow some dark leafy greens with it, like chard, kale, etc. They would love all that. Clover, too.

To boost protein, you could also think about raising mealworms, redworms, those tropical cockroaches or soldier fly larva. That last one is only in the warmer parts of the country. The others can be cultured anywhere. I'm not saying you'd want to culture enough to supply their total protein, but it could help supply some of the amino acids that are harder to come by in the plant proteins. Especially with only 6 chickens.

 

[jillstu]

Does anyone have data on what feed proteins actually make it into the eggs? I have gluten, dairy, soy and corn intolerances as well, but was under the impression that feeding wheat didn't mean gluten was going to show up in my eggs, nor feeding dairy meant casein would show up in my eggs. Corn and soy on the other hand are substances that can will affect the protein structure of the egg.

 

[Percheron chick]

Does anyone have data on what feed proteins actually make it into the eggs? I have gluten, dairy, soy and corn intolerances as well, but was under the impression that feeding wheat didn't mean gluten was going to show up in my eggs, nor feeding dairy meant casein would show up in my eggs. Corn and soy on the other hand are substances that can will affect the protein structure of the egg.

This is interesting because soy protein is the one thing I am allergic to and has put me in the hospital but I don't have any problems with eating eggs from soy fed hens. Never thought of that potentially being a problem. Maybe this is where some milk sensitivities come from.

 

[susienoe]

I wish I knew for sure about gluten and dairy in the eggs. My daughter is so sensitve, that she breaks out in huge bumps if she eats eggs with soy in them. Knowing that, and since there is not much research on gluten in eggs, I am trying to be super careful. Also, we just don't want to be handling gluten and have to worry about having it in our house.

This article sums it up perfectly for me, although it seems we are all just guessing!

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreefoodshopping/f/Are-Eggs-Gluten-Free.htm

 

[Percheron chick]

But the flaw there is it doesn't quantify what a "heavy" gluten hen diet is. Is it 50% wheat, is it 50% barley, is it some combination of wheat, barley, oats....? Then the fact that a "heavy" gluten diet can produce an egg with 1 ppm gluten which is less than the marketed "gluten free" products? Sounds like the bigger problem is cross contamination and not the gluten in the eggs.

 

[susienoe]

I think that is the sticking point, right? Here in Oregon, our local farm does created a soy/corn free feed, but the primary ingredient is wheat. It is the number one listed ingredient, though I have no idea at what percentage. Regardless, both the contaimination possibility and the possible inclusion in the eggs, I figure it is better to do without wheat. Besides, I highly doubt that chickens from 100 years ago were fed wheat and soy

Since we have a small flock, and I can try my best to feed them to meet our needs, that is my goal!