Raising Meat Birds on Fodder

[madrona888]

I don't know if there is already a thread on this (if so I'd appreciate a redirect), but I want to raise meat birds on fodder. I imagine straight barley fodder isn't high enough in protein and trace minerals, so I am thinking a fodder consisting of barley, BOSS, and peas and supplementation with salt, kelp, and mealworms. How does this sound?

I've been feeding my layers on fodder + pasture + oyster shell but I don't feel like they're thriving as well as they could so I want to make sure when I get meat birds I'm not setting myself up for failure.

Thanks so much!

 

[Bossroo]

Since meat birds require much more protein than layers do, and your experience of feeding the layers on fodder resulting in less than optimum results... your other formula fodder thought will only add to the production costs with no guarantee of a balanced or adequate diet giving you only mixed and / or mediocre results. This should give you a real heads up for setting yourself up for failure.

 

[gus2pp]

I don't know if there is already a thread on this (if so I'd appreciate a redirect), but I want to raise meat birds on fodder. I imagine straight barley fodder isn't high enough in protein and trace minerals, so I am thinking a fodder consisting of barley, BOSS, and peas and supplementation with salt, kelp, and mealworms. How does this sound?

I've been feeding my layers on fodder + pasture + oyster shell but I don't feel like they're thriving as well as they could so I want to make sure when I get meat birds I'm not setting myself up for failure. 

Thanks so much!

I make my own feed for my layers, and they are doing great. Nice big eggs, and pleanty of them. I could tell something was missing, and I was recommended to add brewers yeast for B vits. They are doing awesome now. So I think it is absolutely possible if you hit the right protein balance and B vits.

Also, try fermenting their feed. It add B vits as well, and completely ramps up the nutritional value of their food. It increases vitamins, render the energy more readily available, and provide probiotics for them. And it is super easy to accomplish, even on a higher scale. There is a great thread here in BYC all about it. PM me if you can't find it and I'll explain it.

 

[CrazyTalk]

If you want to raise birds on fodder and pasture alone - chickens probably aren't the right birds. Find something that eats grass naturally - geese are a possibility.