Made my own feed

[Alyooo14]

I made my own feed, the list of ingredients is below. Does any one have any suggestions of things I should add? Or proportions suggestions?
Whole corn kernels 25lbs
Whole grain soft winter wheat 25lbs
Seed mix 2lbs
Shelled hemp seeds 1.5lbs
Whole grain oats 1lb ( meant to have more of this but I ordered the wrong bag size)
Moringa leaf powder 1lb
Ground flax seed 1.5lb
Kelp powder 1lb
Split green peas 2lbs ( meant to have more of this but I ordered the wrong bag size)
Pumpkin seeds 1lb
Dried hibiscus flowers 16oz

 

[nuthatched]

My chicks are 8 & 10 weeks old. There's 10 of them. I used chick starter feed until yesterday. Yesterday I put them in the coop & run and started giving them the feed I made. I knew they needed lots of protein but that's about it.

Keep them on grower until they're full grown (35 weeks), for this stage of growth it's essential that they have the proper nutrition. Then you can work of a formula if you want.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'll have to add a few of those ingredients to my spreadsheet, and some of those protein numbers look high - as if they aren't corrected for moisture content. and while that only makes about a 10% difference +/- with dried grains, which are usually reduced to 10% water content or less, it makes a huge difference with things like fish, BSFL, and mealworms.

I'll also ignore the last half part, since that's both not a recipe, and because the combined ingredients in that half part total less than 1/80th the total recipe.

This weekend.

It also looks expensive.

 

[SourRoses]

First time making feed... What do you mean by no nutritional target? I researched things that are nutritional for chickens had them shipped to me and mixed them together. I have little knowledge over this that's why I asked on here.

I knew they needed lots of protein but that's about it.

I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but that's a sign you shouldn't be doing this.

A nutritional target is what you want your final nutrition results to be. I wasn't even mentioning whether you got to it, but just aiming for it. You've shot blindly into the dark and it's not safe for your birds.

How is this mix on B vitamins? A deficiency here will leave your chicks with severe leg problems, making it hard for them to walk.

What is the final, moisture adjusted protein level? I don't think it's going to work out as high as they need. Without enough protein, birds grow weak, dull, and even patchy feathers, and grow slowly or stunted themselves.
Because of the uniquely isolated nature of our hobby, people don't often get to see their same breeds / lines in person as raised by someone else. It's common for people to not even realize their feathers look like poo.

I won't touch on the other essential nutrients because our humble expert Stormcrow is the best one to explain that when he has the time.

I understand wanting to be self-sufficient or to do things more wholesomely... I once wanted to as well, or at least know how to feed the birds in some dystopian scenario, lol.
But the scientists who study this stuff know more than you or I do, and the feed companies can put that balanced mix in a bag cheaper than we can buy the ingredients.

 

[Brooks_]

What do you mean by no nutritional target?

You did not state a nutritional target. And if the target was achieved? Also final price per pound? Just curious on that last one.

 

[Perris]

But the scientists who study this stuff know more than you or I do, and the feed companies can put that balanced mix in a bag cheaper than we can buy the ingredients.

you mean like the scientists who add melamine to poultry feed? Boosts the protein figures. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119420221?via=ihub

 

[Perris]

‘Melamine is used in the production of resins and has numerous industrial uses. It is also a metabolite of a pesticide called cyromazine. Cyromazine is used in various countries and is sprayed on various crops. Cyromazine has also been used in poultry farms, particularly as a larvicide additive in laying hen feed.’
growing your own everything is the only way to avoid this sort of thing. Shocking.

It also highlights the problem with looking only at the numbers on the feed label, and not the ingredients. Anyone using commercial feed should ask themselves whether they really know - in terms of actual foodstuffs, not chemical compounds - what their chickens are eating.

 

[Perris]

growing your own everything is the only way to avoid this sort of thing.

I don't think that's necessary. Just buy minimally processed feeds, like whole wheat grains, dried peas, sunflower seeds and so on. It's cheaper too.

 

[LaurenRitz]

@Perris Even buying organic doesn’t preclude the possibility of unknowingly ingesting genetically edited plants. I suspect that the increased gluten intolerance in humans is a result of whatever was done with oats and wheat to increase pest/disease resistance and yield after the war, they probably pre soaked it with colchicine.
The following is from my grain suppliers website.

‘Many people prefer Spelt to ‘modern’ wheat because its DNA has not been changed by farming methods and it has a more extensive nutritional profile.
Some people who cannot tolerate wheat find spelt does not cause them problems because the gluten is water soluble and more easily broken down.’

It's also a matter of overdose. Modern wheat has up to 6x as much gluten as its ancestors. It was crossed with various wild grains to make a perfect wheat for modern agriculture.

Our digestive systems are not designed to handle that much. So a food that provides much of what we need, and used to be a staple, is now on the restricted list for many people.

 

[Flock of Buttons]

Hi @Alyooo14, I’m also putting together a recipe, it’s for quail so the protein levels might be a bit different to yours but similar ingredients maybe other than the oats and wheat which I have to avoid.
I like the idea of moringa and haven’t looked into pumpkin yet. Is there a particular reason for using the hibiscus? I like it in tea but don’t know much else about it.
These are my current recipe ideas but it’s a work in progress, methionine seems to be an important factor I hadn’t considered, cannabis seeds and seaweed contain high levels of it.

Chick starter 27.27% total protein

1 part flax (13% protein)
3 parts peas (26% protein)
1 part polenta (7.5% protein)
1 part quinoa (13.8% protein)
1 part buckwheat (9.6% protein)
1 part chia (19% protein)
1 part corn (9.4% protein)
1 part millet (11% protein)
1 part amaranth (14% protein)
1 part teff (9.6% protein)
1 part dried fish (63% protein)
2 parts soya flakes (41% protein)
1 part sunflower seeds (15% protein)
3 parts mealworms (53% protein)
1 part black soldier flies (41% protein)
3 parts cannabis seeds (32% protein)
1/2 a part in combined total of Seaweed, oregano, fine oyster shell, garlic, meridian yeast extract, raw honey, kefir grains.

Breeder mash 19.48% total protein

2 parts flax (13% protein)
2 parts peas (26% protein)
2 parts polenta (7.5% protein)
3 parts quinoa (13.8% protein)
2 parts buckwheat (9.6% protein)
1 part chia (19% protein)
1 part corn (9.4% protein)
2 parts millet (11% protein)
3 parts amaranth (14% protein)
3 parts teff (9.6% protein)
1 part dried fish (63% protein)
1 part soya flakes (41% protein)
3 parts sunflower seeds (15% protein)
1 part mealworms (53% protein)
1 part black soldier flies (41% protein)
3 parts cannabis seeds (32% protein)
1/2 a part in combined total of Seaweed, oregano, fine oyster shell, garlic, meridian yeast extract, raw honey, kefir grains.