Nutrition especially for your Peas

[destinduck]

Me and my birds are gonna die much younger than we should. We both eat way too many treats. But what a way to go

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Destinduck,,as we all get older in most cases extra pounds are easily added to our bodies,as evidenced here too.I have a very,very week spot for chocolate ice cream,with crushed up Keebler Coconut Chocolate Drop cookies and a banana sliced on top,,then 2-3 ounces of Hersheys chocolate syrup on it.But my real spot is Oberweise Chocolate milk,with Meatloaf and green onions for a main course.
They say(who is they?) that life is like a roll of toilet paper,life goes faster towards the end,just as a roll of tp unrolls very fast as it gets smaller and to the end. Seems like when we were all younger,we always wanted time to speed up so we would be old enough to drive,then go into bars,,ect,,it seems like it was 2 weeks ago and it was summertime here with 100 degree days,,and last x-mas was a few months ago.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Probably not many pea lovers have their own feed custom mixed.I don't know how many of you know how to achieve certain protein levels either. I will use some easy numbers so the computations are easy to follow. There are several ways to compute your needed protein levels,,in this example I will show how diffrent ingredients combined arrive at your total protein levels.
You can use any number for your "Total" amount,,such as 1000 pounds,or 2000 pounds. It is important to keep the number of units,and the known protein levels in seperate columns, I will use 1000 pounds in the example. I will use 50 pounds as the "unit" since many bagged ingredients comes in 50 pound bags.

Ingredient Number of Units Known Protein level

Milo 2 (100 pounds) 9% x2= 18
Red Millet 2 (100 pounds) 9% x2= 18
Fish meal 8 (400 pounds) 60% x8= 480
Yellow Corn 8 (400 pounds) 12% x 8= 96

Total number of 50 pound units 20 Total of all protein levels 612%

612% total protein divided by 20 "units" gives you a 30.6% total protein level for this 1000 pounds of feed.This works well when several diffrent ingredients are used.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

In this example I will show how to know how much of the needed ingredients it takes to arrive at a certain protein level. For mixing a GRAIN and a PROTEIN CONCENTRATE to get a desired protein percentage

Draw a square and put the desired protein percentage in the center. Example: "finished feed 16%".

Put the grain in the upper left corner as a protein percentage .
Example: "wheat 12.5%".

Put the grain in the upper right corner as parts to mix .
Example: "wheat_________ parts".

Put the protein concentrate in the lower left corner, as a protein percentage.
Example: "soybeans 37%".

Put the protein concentrate in the lower right corner as parts to mix.
Example, "soybeans ________ parts".
Grain======================================Grain
Wheat 12.5% --------------Parts
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
Desired Protein amount?
16%
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
ProteinConcentrate=======================Protein Concentrate
Roasted Soybeans =37% --------Parts

Now subtract diagonally through the center, from corner to corner. Ignore changes of sign.

Going from top left to bottom right, 12.5 minus 16 equals 3.5. This number goes in the lower right corner.

Going from bottom left to top right, 37 minus 16 equals 21. This goes in the upper right corner.

The result is 21 parts of wheat to 3.5 parts of soybeans.

This works well if your only using one ingredient,with one source of known protein level.

 

[destinduck]

In all seriousness it is a great topic you started. .Very nice of you on these last two posts to break it all down and to put it all in laymens terms as well. Unfortunately here I am very limited on getting my feed. As in what I can get AND how far I have to travel to pick it up. One of the joys of living in a small city and not near the country, I really do try to give my few peafowl (4) the best varied diet that I can. My only advise I can really add at all is some of what you already mentioned. My number one factor for knowing I am doing feed right is egg and/or baby production. I think I failed miserably on my only hens first time. I only had three eggs . they were all fertile and very due to hatch. It was totally my fault and lost those and all the eggs in one incubator in the last final days. I accidently bumped my temp knob on top by taking off the lid to another bator and set it on top to pull babies out of that one. First time doing that mistake Needless to say Ill be careful that wont happen again. I will try and do even better for my only green hen. I dont really want any babies from neither and will try to find some nice homes for them if I do have some.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Got and paid for this custom made ton of my feed today,cost was $408.27.Was in the ag store last weekend and noticed 16% layer crumbles was now down to $11.88 per 50lb bag,,equalling $475.20 per ton. To accomplish a 16% ration using just corn and soybean meal alone,corn being 8% protein,soybean meal being 44% protein,close to 1500 lbs of corn,500 lbs of soybean mealare used
Corn sells now for $4.75 per bushel (which weighs 56lbs) equals 27 bushels,costing $128,,soybean meal worth $447 per ton,only needing 1/4 ton,$111.75,,$239.75 actual cost of 95% of the bagged ingredients equals $5.90 per bag,,giving them a markup of $5.98 per 50 lb bag since they sell it for $11.88
So in summary here,,my cost for a custom made feed,especially blended for peafowl was $408.27
Commercial 16% layer crumbles per ton at this weeks prices($11.88 per 50 lb. bag),used for laying hens mainly was $475.20
Actual ingredient costs with the above crumbles per ton $239.75>>>>>>> $235 PROFIT per ton,
My custom mix did cost about $170 more,than the actual ingredient cost above for the 16% commercial bagged Layer crumbles.My protein level was about 2% higher.Mine had milo and red millet seeds in the mix,100lbs of each.I also added Alfalfa meal,200 pounds worth. I added 5 lbs of trace minerals,,plus my other ingredient. My next ton the alfalfa meal will be cut to about 100 pounds,100% fish meal will be used instead of soybean meal. My peas will select larger pieces of cracked corn,as well as the milo and red millet seeds.Sometimes in the bottom of the feed bowl,you can see green which is the alfalfa meal,and I'm sure soybean meal. I'm guessing using fish meal instead for protein will change this. I'm thinking of keeping the feed level around 18% until the end of February,then raise it to the 22-26% range and upping the alfalfa meal again for the added B vitamins it provides.Fish meal alone contains many valuable trace minerals not found in soybean meal. It is very easy to drive to town,pay double what it costs to actually make feed,and that feed is not anywhere the quality,freshness,or feed value what I have made.My feed ingredients can be individually "spec'ed" for the many phases of peafowl growth,be it maintaining,breeding and laying eggs,or adding weight. If anyone can buy commercial bagged feed with some of my ingredients used such as milo and red millet,alfalfa meal,ect,,please let me know what the protein level is,and cost. My 18% ration above comes to about $10.20 per 50 pounds with all the added extras.

 

[casportpony]

Wow, I really need to figure out a way to do my feed cheaper... My 13.5% TMC gamebird mix is $29 per 70 pound bag, 26.5% crumble is $20 per 50 pound bag, alfalfa hay is $16 per 100 pound bale and oyster shell is $9 per 50 pound bag.

-Kathy

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Kathy,depending on how many peas.,and how much time you have,if you have a small scale and one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Country-Liv...all_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item27dba9a524 you can grind and mix your own. This grinder will work for cracking corn,the main ingredient in feed,,but you would need a flail type,or hammer mill with a screen to chew up alfalfa stems and all. You can get alfalfa meal or alfalfa pellets that can be eaten the way it is. Larger seeds such as corn and sunflower should be cracked or broken because the coating on the individual seed prohibits poultries digestive systems from getting the nutrition-protein-minerals from them. My peas love sunflower seeds that has been "rolled",,this technique is very similar to rolling out noodles between two rollers.The closer the rollers are,the smaller the pieces.Oats are often "rolled" because if they were ground with a hammer type mill like I mentioned above,the result would be like flour. There are Burr Mills,Roller Mills,and Hammer Mills.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Having spent the past 3 weeks heavily investigating meat type rabbits,one very popular way to feed them is by growing your own "fodder". If you want to see some spectacular analysis on feed and a very.very cheap way to sustain livestock,spend some time researching wheatgrass and barleygrass fodder. You grow this sruff basically for no more than the cost of the seed,which anyone can buy at a local grain elecvator,or feed store. You first soak the seeds in a 10% bleachwater solution,killing any mold on the seeds themselves.Times vary but many soak this seed mixture in a 5 gallon bucket for 5-6 hours,then drain the water off. You leave them sit for a day,then add water again for about an hour or so,then drain and spread these swollen,germinated seeds across a plastic pan,or other suitable container that water can be added to several times each day,,and alowed to drain off.It takes roughly 3 days of grwoing before you notice the plants getting green. Most fodder is harvested at between he 6th-8th day.From what I've been reading,2 lbs of seeds will eventually end up becoming a mass weighing about 10-12lbs,and since it is all young shoots,and no dirt in the roots,the entire plant is edible. Protein levels are very high,especially for barley and alfalfa sprouts,about in the 30% range.
This has sparked my interest because feed cost with raising meat rabbits is the manin controlable "imput" cost,,same with Peafowl. And since my peas breeding pens are de-void of much if any green grass after about May10th,,I'm wondering if they would enjoy a block of fodder each night?? Granted,as with anything,there is some costs involved but they are not significant for the amount of feed that can be produced daily.You will need a place that humiditity and tempratures can be controlled,mainly less than 60%rh and temps really not lower than 50 or hotter than 70. You must each day,begin a new batch by soaking,the batch you done the day previously is ready to be spread out on a growing tray,,and the rays that are 6-7-8-9 days old can be taken out and fed.After the 6th day on many seedlings used for fodder feed,the protein levels drops.I've read one instance where a person who owns about 100 meat rabbits has fed his flock a 4"x4" square of barleygrass fodder each day,and has never bought commercial feed. I see another "control" group here at the Palace this spring,living off this and plain ole 16% layer crumbles,,and I bet the results will be very good,and I think the peas will fight for some green feed with the seeds still attached.

 

[BYC-user-174785]

We have a little seed sprouter and when we grew some sprouts (cannot remember what kind), my peas did not eat it. It was during the winter when they would not have access to grass, which is plentiful in the pens for most of the year. I will give it a try this year again. I did not know about the six day thing, and that is helpful to know. Thanks for posting that information.