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

And rations from the same book...
Notice, the layer rations require oyster shell and pasture (or alfalfa) every day.

The advantage it might have, is having wider margins of error than the more precisely dialed in current commercial feeds. They may not have known all the nutrients then, but they could see the results of not having enough of something or having too much of something.

The main disadvantage is that it was intended for chickens expected to lay about 150 eggs per year. Well, that and some of the ingredients may be difficult or expensive for people with backyard flocks to get.

Among other things, it says the difference in production between their better rations and less good rations is "about a dozen more eggs per bird on a year." They did trials of rations with milk instead of meat and with neither milk or meat - the milk and the meat versions both averaged 135 eggs per year. The version with neither milk nor meat averaged 33 eggs per year. Today's commercial feeds often don't have meat or milk. They meet the needs by adding certain amino acids and vitamins directly.

I realize many people with backyard flocks do not care whether their hens lay a few more eggs or not. I don't care either. It is a way to tell if the hens are getting good nutrition, though. If the limiting factor in the number of eggs they lay is genetics and not nutrition then they are getting enough nutrition for all of their other needs too.

Edit to add: about expecting 150 eggs per year. The book has a chart with the total number of eggs produced divided by the total number of layers (both from USDA records, so these are only farms with enough layers for the USDA to track; not all the family-sized flocks. The average in the US in 1948 was 162 - the six regions varied from 133 to 183. Up pretty consistently each year from 1925-1928 when it was 117 with regions varying from 109 to 131.
 

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it costs me ~$20 for a 50lb bag of feed, which lasts me a month in the summer with half the number of chickens you have.

so if you double that, and then tack on another 25% for the winter months, you’re at $50/month in chicken feed. that’s nothing.

so far, the most surprising facet of owning chickens has been how inexpensive they are.

what your mom is also failing to consider is the cost of your time, which seems like it will be sunk into a fruitless endeavor.
A bag of the purina all flock is $27.49 for 50lbs and the layer is $24.49 for 50lbs. We fill our 30lb feeder with all flock because of the roosters and allow everyone access. We give the hens layer feed usually once in the morning and kick the roosters out of the run. They go through a bag of all flock in roughly 2 weeks.
 
A bag of the purina all flock is $27.49 for 50lbs and the layer is $24.49 for 50lbs. We fill our 30lb feeder with all flock because of the roosters and allow everyone access. We give the hens layer feed usually once in the morning and kick the roosters out of the run. They go through a bag of all flock in roughly 2 weeks.
like i said, 100lbs of food lasts you a month and costs $55. and you don’t have to do anything but open the bag.

you’re at ~$1.80/day. i’m not sure how much cheaper you expect to feed 30 birds for.
 
A bag of the purina all flock is $27.49 for 50lbs and the layer is $24.49 for 50lbs. We fill our 30lb feeder with all flock because of the roosters and allow everyone access. We give the hens layer feed usually once in the morning and kick the roosters out of the run. They go through a bag of all flock in roughly 2 weeks.

Every time I've had to buy a bag of layer due to the all-flock being unavailable I've found that my birds go through the bag 2-3 days faster (a bag of all-flock usually lasts me 7-10 days depending on the size and composition of the flock, which ranges from 20-40 older chicks to adults not counting young chicks on starter feed).

Thus I don't believe that buying the lower-protein feed saves any money.
 
I did precisely what you're attempting to do and regretted it! My girls became sickly, nutrient deficient with pale combs and stopped laying. I had firmly believed that my ingredients would not only be more cost efficient but far superior to commercial feed. This is true in the dog world so why not chickens?! Well let me tell you, I will never do that again. It's not even remotely worth the hassle and you will not know if you got it right until you see the results in your chicken's health. There is a very small chance you can get this right if you are educated in animal science, biology bio chemistry. Indeed there are a few people on BYC with this level of knowledge but I've learned that I also can't become a brain surgeon just because I want to..... I'm staying in my lane. I hope you can just use the ingredients you purchased as treats and stick with commercial feed.
 
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