Making our own food, how much of each ingredient should we add for a balanced diet?

Your local feed store may have a store brand for the chain or they may carry feed from a local mill that's less expensive than the Purina.

I'm not convinced that I'd save any money by feeding layer rather than all-flock because they always eat the bag several days faster if I have to buy layer since the all-flock isn't available.

This is not something you'd want to hear, but one of the best ways to save money feeding your chickens is to reduce your flock to the ones you REALLY want to keep.

Unless, of course, you're successfully selling eggs so that they earn their own feed.
Murdering our chickens is NOT an option and never was. We saw some cheaper feeds that were under $20/50lbs in nutrena brand and Tucker Milling. I'll try to see if we can go back and look at what feeds are available. Would a layer feed without the added calcium be alright for roos if I put some oyster shells separately for the girls? And my mother says that we are overfeeding our chickens by leaving our feeder in the coop full of food. I read from multiple different sources that they eat 1/2 cup food each day which would mean that they would finish a 50lb bag in approximately 13 days so I dont think they are overfed unless 1/2 cup is incorrect. We ran out of food about 2 days ago so they haven't had food for a couple days except the bag of peas I gave them yesterday.

I tried to explain to my parents how malnutritional homeade food is going to be and how they are not going to lay well (she only cares about the number of eggs they produce). I said that we should have researched the nutritional value of everything and learned about what chickens need in their diet BEFORE we went and bought a bunch of stuff. Looking into it, I realized how badly making homeade food is going to be for them. Many websites I looked at said that those ingredients should only be given as treats and not as a main part of their diet. They are full of carbs and don't have a lot of nutritional value (which I tried to explain to my parents). I looked at adding that fertrell nutribalancer and fish meal but they were very expensive and would have not made it cheaper. My mother responded with saying that they are my chickens so I should just go get a job to pay for all their stuff myself since she was apparently always wrong about everything. (I can't get a job and she knows that bcs I dont have my license yet) She told me that she watched a whole 5 videos and I didnt actually look into how we are overfeeding our chickens and we shouldn't keep the feeder out there for them because I just wanted to see how bad homeade food was for them. She said that I was just looking for how bad doing this was going to be for them (I was looking up the nutritional value of each ingredient, not how is making homeade chicken food bad)
 
Murdering our chickens is NOT an option and never was. We saw some cheaper feeds that were under $20/50lbs in nutrena brand and Tucker Milling. I'll try to see if we can go back and look at what feeds are available. Would a layer feed without the added calcium be alright for roos if I put some oyster shells separately for the girls? And my mother says that we are overfeeding our chickens by leaving our feeder in the coop full of food. I read from multiple different sources that they eat 1/2 cup food each day which would mean that they would finish a 50lb bag in approximately 13 days so I dont think they are overfed unless 1/2 cup is incorrect. We ran out of food about 2 days ago so they haven't had food for a couple days except the bag of peas I gave them yesterday.

I tried to explain to my parents how malnutritional homeade food is going to be and how they are not going to lay well (she only cares about the number of eggs they produce). I said that we should have researched the nutritional value of everything and learned about what chickens need in their diet BEFORE we went and bought a bunch of stuff. Looking into it, I realized how badly making homeade food is going to be for them. Many websites I looked at said that those ingredients should only be given as treats and not as a main part of their diet. They are full of carbs and don't have a lot of nutritional value (which I tried to explain to my parents). I looked at adding that fertrell nutribalancer and fish meal but they were very expensive and would have not made it cheaper. My mother responded with saying that they are my chickens so I should just go get a job to pay for all their stuff myself since she was apparently always wrong about everything. (I can't get a job and she knows that bcs I dont have my license yet) She told me that she watched a whole 5 videos and I didnt actually look into how we are overfeeding our chickens and we shouldn't keep the feeder out there for them because I just wanted to see how bad homeade food was for them. She said that I was just looking for how bad doing this was going to be for them (I was looking up the nutritional value of each ingredient, not how is making homeade chicken food bad)
Most chickens won’t over feed with a hanging feeder. They will eat as much as they need. If your mom is really worried about that you could try fermenting feed, and dishing it out. It doesn’t decrease the amount of feed you need for them, but the bacteria in the fermented feed makes it more digestible.

You can definitely supplement with oyster shells for your chickens. For a free calcium source just feed crushed egg shells back to your chickens.
 
If you want to keep trying to use what you have already bought, this may be helpful. It is from a textbook published in 1952 - before all the necessary nutrients were discovered much less minimum amounts were figured out.
would you cite the textbook? I'm looking for a very thorough resource thanks
 

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Would a layer feed without the added calcium be alright for roos if I put some oyster shells separately for the girls?

All feed labeled "layer" has the calcium in it.

I feed all-flock with the oystershell on the side for the laying hens.

And my mother says that we are overfeeding our chickens by leaving our feeder in the coop full of food.

Chickens are very good at eating only what they really need, though some kinds of feeders allow an excessive amount of waste to be knocked out.

They said remove, not butcher

I just halved my flock by selling about 20 hens, keeping only my best over the winter.

(Then I hatched 13 chicks. :lau )
 
...We saw some cheaper feeds that were under $20/50lbs in nutrena brand and Tucker Milling. I'll try to see if we can go back and look at what feeds are available. Would a layer feed without the added calcium be alright for roos if I put some oyster shells separately for the girls?...
Nutrena is a good choice. I think I've seen other people say Tucker Milling is also; I'm less sure because it isn't sold around here so I haven't looked at it..

Yes, the same feed is good for roosters and hens except for the calcium. If if says "layer feed" it is almost certain to have the extra calcium, though.

Hm, feeding a mix of more of the ingredients you have (and can get) is better than just the peas.
 
The protein requirements is a table by itself. The other 2 tables go together. There is an entire chapter devoted to feed but this is the best I can offer in a relatively short reply. These are taken from Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, originally published in 1995. Good luck!
 

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We bought ingredients to make our own chicken feed. Looking at many sites, they all say something different so we're hoping to get advice from anyone else who makes their own feed. Btw they are also free-range and are given egg shells and table scraps. Here's what we got.
1. 25lb of black oil sunflower seeds
2. 50lbs of uncleaned wheat
3. 50lbs of oats
4. Diatomaceous earth
5. Frozen Peas
6. Lentils
7. 50lb cracked corn
8. Oyster Shells
We have roosters, pullets, and laying hens. Our pullets should be laying soon. What kind of mix should be for roosters? Hens? I'll probably feed a rooster mix to the pullets until they start laying. We can also get soybean meal or cottonseed meal at our feed store. Next time we are in the area we will likely get some soybean meal.
I have a friend that raises laying hens and has been mixing her own feed for years, she also free ranges. Her chickens appear to be very healthy and active with little to no issues. She pointed me to "Becky's Homestead" which is the exact recipe she uses. Currently, I feed mine a whole grain organic feed that is uber expensive which is why I have also considered mixing my own. My thought was to use "Becky's Homestead" recipe along with some additional ingredients found in my organic feed and then following the percentages listed on the bag of my feed. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet though. My perception is, as long as you're not starving your chickens, they look happy, active, and they're healthy then you're doing something right. There's nothing wrong with experimenting a little, you're chickens will tell you if you're doing it wrong.
 
Becky lost me completely at "the point I want to make about whole corn is people will say, but I'm already feeding cracked corn. You might as well feed your chickens gravel; there is nothing in cracked corn. Whole corn has all the nutrients in it. It has the little bit of oil. It has everything in the whole corn." in her video about how to feed chickens.

Cracked corn is whole corn that is dried and broken. That is it. It has exactly the same things in it (except the amount of water, at least sometimes - whole corn can be dried and still be whole corn). The same amount of oil, the same amount of everything else.

I'm willing to listen alternative ways of doing things. I'm sure I am wrong about some of the things I think I know and would like to correct them.

But if she has that most basic thing that far wrong.... I don't think she knows what she is talking about on other things either.
 

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