making your own feed

[Sucker#1]

Does anybody make their own feed? Any ideas on what is a good mix of ingredients?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I do- see my BYC page if you wish!

Here are some links if you are interested:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4477&p=1

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/2/2-3/Harvey_Ussery.html

http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/poultry/bba01s20.html

http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feed_ingredients/Grains.html

http://www.canadianpoultry.ca/chapter_ii.htm

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-5/Lisa_Jansen_Mathews.html

 

[Sucker#1]

Thanks for the info. Was have a hard time getting the search to give me what i wanted.

 

[bcboy]

http://www.lionsgrip.com/recipes.html

 

[Erica]

Yes, I do, and have been doing now for at least 5 years. The basis for all my diets are sprouts with protein meal, alfalfa, milk (soured with probiotics) and minerals. I raise birds from start to finish on variations of the diet. With day old chicks I whiz everything to a crumble so the grains aren't too large.

Basic sprouted grains I use are wheat (60-70% of the diet can be sprouted wheat), corn, sunflower (black) and peas. These are soaked overnight, drained and hung in a bag to be fed out over the next 3-4 days.

To this mixture in a bucket daily I add soy meal (over here still not GM; when it becomes GM I'll change); alfalfa (lucerne chaff), soured milk, then the minerals (shell grit, salt, seaweed meal) according to what age and type of chicken I'm feeding. They get fresh greens daily (either hanging kale/spinach or chopped grass).

It sounds convoluted, I know, but for 15 chickens today I spent the glorious sum of 10 minutes getting them fed. I'll spend 5 minutes later in the day chopping them some wheatgrass or other greens. Their feathers are beautifully shiny, they grow well, fatten quickly, and lay at the right age.

Most people like the convenience of bagged formulated feed. Good for them. I just like learning how to do things with natural ingredients instead of synthetic ones (like the artificial methionine—an important amino acid to build protein—in chicken feed).

More on my blog if you're curious.

cheers
Erica