lets talk serious about meat bird feed

[bigredfeather]

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I can't say for sure, but I wouldn't know why not. Like I said, when I do mix it in with their feed, they seem to want/need less food. I may try something. I just loaded my 6'x10' tractor with 40 three week old birds for our freezer, and I plan on giving them milk since our kids are almost weaned. I'll see if I can think of a way to test my theory. Maybe someone else with some concrete evidence will respond in the mean time.

 

[Bossroo]

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Yup... after you butcher, what you are left over after processing and usually throw out, can be used as feed for the chickens and one's dogs or cats. Just cut up or grind (heads, guts with predigensted feed, legs and ground up carcass bones(calcium) even feathers are protein, ( chickens, dogs and cats normally scavenge them anyway) then freeze in baggies... feed portioned amounts. People fed these to pets and livestock in the good old days and they still do in the third world counties. We feed them leftover table scraps too don't we? Nothing wasted , $$$ saved on commercial feed!

 

[jcatblum]

To get more protein in I have started giving my birds cooked beans as a treat. I give them some each evening they love them. Doubt it is a money saver but they are high in protein & the chicks love them. I buy them dry cook 3 pounds or so in the large crockpot at a time. I divide the beans up in quart size freezer bags & throw them in the freezer. Thaw out a bag each day. DH refuses to let me grow bugs for protein so I have to stick with beans for now!

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

Katy--thanks for starting this thread! So much thinking outside the box. Wish I had some great idea to add--I don't, but I'm looking at all of yours!

 

[gevannos]

My birds are arriving Friday am so I have all my stuff ready to go. I picked up feed at the mill last week and the chick starter they told me everyone swears by is min 19.5% protein. it was $20.50 for a 100 lb sack. Is this enough protein for new meat birds?

Eric

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

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ok then, this is what you DO, but let's talk about the reasoning behind it, or else it's just gossip. What is the percent of protein of the beans you are feeding? What percent of their feed are you supplementing and where does this bring your total? What learning or experience did you base these decisions on? what are your goals based on these decisions? how are you measuring rate of gain etc?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

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check out the stickies at the top of the page.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Mrs. Mucket :

Katy--thanks for starting this thread! So much thinking outside the box. Wish I had some great idea to add--I don't, but I'm looking at all of yours!

your welcome!

if you haven't yet chosen a direction of your own; help me with some research! there is so much out there for poultry but you really have to dig for it . . . for instance I found that turnip greens . . . yes turnip greens are 20% protein! My laying birds eat them, but the CX mostly pass them up . . . sigh . . .​

 

[bigredfeather]

Something that I didn't even think of until you mentioned the turnip greens is the white clover on my pasture. I just checked and it is over 15% protein, which I know would lower the overall protein level of the total food they eat, but at any rate IT'S FREE. Mine love the stuff. When I move the tractor, they will pass up the full feeder for that clover.

How 'bout that Katy? I've been supplementing mine with protein that I didn't even realize was beneficial, and did I say it's free?

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

Quote:
your welcome!

if you haven't yet chosen a direction of your own; help me with some research! there is so much out there for poultry but you really have to dig for it . . . for instance I found that turnip greens . . . yes turnip greens are 20% protein! My laying birds eat them, but the CX mostly pass them up . . . sigh . . .

I will dig into my notes--I have been looking not so much at protein but general chicken feed needs. I have seen feed and local grain prices jump twice in the past several months, and I'm looking ahead to possible shortages in my corner of rural America. One thing I am doing is planning to seed my pasture for chicken food for the next rotations...so turnips go in! Who'd have thunk it? And white clover, like BigRed suggested.

So here's a question... (non-math/engineering brain here)--how do you figure out if they're getting enough protein? Like if your layers were eating lots of turnip greens at 20% or white clover at 15%, and you know they're getting lots of other nutrients, would you feel comfortable not giving them any 16% layer feed at all? Or for meaties eating turnips and clover, how would you figure how much commercial feed they still need to reach the protein goal?

I feel like this is a story problem a grandma should be able to figure out, but my mind just doesn't wrap around it