JJ,
I'll confess I started skimming at about page 5. First and most importantly, you have resources available to you that you may not realize. You buy Fertrell, as a fertrell customer you have access to their nutritional staff and they'll be happy to help you develop recipes that work for your location. Odds are they can tell you which mills are closest to you who will either make you a custom blend or produce a blend that is already solid. I truest Fertrell. They won't sell it if it doesn't meet their quality and cleanliness standards.
I'll try to address some highlights:
Cherry picking feed: Birds if given an endless supply of grain based feed will cherry pick and not do well for themselves for the most part. Commercial Grass Based growers feed 4 1/2 ounces per bird divided into two feedings per day. Generally less in the morning and more in the evening. Studies of residual feed left in trays has shown limited quantities of grain meals. No nutri-balancer, fish or crab meal was left behind. And very little grain meal was left behind.
Flavor & tenderness: Regardless of breed, birds fed a good clean ration and provided fresh grass taste far better to me, than anything in the store. That said, you get a LOT more flavor in the 2 year old bird than the 8 week old bird. The older the bird the tougher the bird. So it's a trade off to find the right balance for application.
My Values: My customers and I just want clean, good tasting food. Once they understand the Organic game, they're generally not hard over about it. Clean, means no pesticides and no herbicides and no genetically modified proteins (and fish that comes from clean water). I'm trying to work out logistics to get my feed from a Mennonite family in VA. The feed is $14 - $18 per bag, is clean but costs $200 to ship 10-50 bags here. But it's really good and proven feed. You're a lot closer to Fertrell than I am, so I'd recommend reaching out to them. I can run a nutritional analysis of the recipes you've presented but they will as well and are far better educated on the subject than I am.
Price: If you can find an Amish mill near you, that grows their own grains and uses Fertrell recipes and ingredients, it's not uncommon to find really fresh feed for $11-$14 for 50#s.
The biggest problem I have with making my own feed is volume and storage capacity. Depending on oil content in the grains, storing in a cool dark place can give you extended shelf life. But I still don't have the capacity to store or mill what I use. I have a known good quality source of feed 7 hours round trip south from me and a likely good quality feed 4 hours round trip north of me.
I've enjoyed your thread and have been in many like this one, but this one seems to stay on the high road better. Best of luck to you.
I'll confess I started skimming at about page 5. First and most importantly, you have resources available to you that you may not realize. You buy Fertrell, as a fertrell customer you have access to their nutritional staff and they'll be happy to help you develop recipes that work for your location. Odds are they can tell you which mills are closest to you who will either make you a custom blend or produce a blend that is already solid. I truest Fertrell. They won't sell it if it doesn't meet their quality and cleanliness standards.
I'll try to address some highlights:
Cherry picking feed: Birds if given an endless supply of grain based feed will cherry pick and not do well for themselves for the most part. Commercial Grass Based growers feed 4 1/2 ounces per bird divided into two feedings per day. Generally less in the morning and more in the evening. Studies of residual feed left in trays has shown limited quantities of grain meals. No nutri-balancer, fish or crab meal was left behind. And very little grain meal was left behind.
Flavor & tenderness: Regardless of breed, birds fed a good clean ration and provided fresh grass taste far better to me, than anything in the store. That said, you get a LOT more flavor in the 2 year old bird than the 8 week old bird. The older the bird the tougher the bird. So it's a trade off to find the right balance for application.
My Values: My customers and I just want clean, good tasting food. Once they understand the Organic game, they're generally not hard over about it. Clean, means no pesticides and no herbicides and no genetically modified proteins (and fish that comes from clean water). I'm trying to work out logistics to get my feed from a Mennonite family in VA. The feed is $14 - $18 per bag, is clean but costs $200 to ship 10-50 bags here. But it's really good and proven feed. You're a lot closer to Fertrell than I am, so I'd recommend reaching out to them. I can run a nutritional analysis of the recipes you've presented but they will as well and are far better educated on the subject than I am.
Price: If you can find an Amish mill near you, that grows their own grains and uses Fertrell recipes and ingredients, it's not uncommon to find really fresh feed for $11-$14 for 50#s.
The biggest problem I have with making my own feed is volume and storage capacity. Depending on oil content in the grains, storing in a cool dark place can give you extended shelf life. But I still don't have the capacity to store or mill what I use. I have a known good quality source of feed 7 hours round trip south from me and a likely good quality feed 4 hours round trip north of me.
I've enjoyed your thread and have been in many like this one, but this one seems to stay on the high road better. Best of luck to you.
