Special diet / food recomendations

[Candyhl]

I don't have my chicks yet, but am putting things together and gathering any information I can. I intend to feed them as healthy as I can cost wise, but my husband and I both have dietary issues so I will be looking to avoid wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat and soy. Does anyone have any recomendations?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Well I feed my chickens 5 grains and the ones you haven't mentioned are corn and millet that I feed.

However, for proper weight gain you need either soy or some animal protein in my opinion. So, I would steer you toward a feed with fish meal, corn, and millet. Also peas and black oil sunflower seeds (you should not use just peas for protein). You can mix your own if you can obtain ingredients from a feed store. Make sure that the fish meal is not rancid, and that all ingredients are food-grade. Don't forget the oyster shells and grit.

The wider the variety, the better. I like "Feeding Poultry" by Heuser, a poultry nutrition book. It can get complicated as you must pay attention to protein levels and amino acids.
http://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Poultry-Nutrition-Chickens-Gamebirds/dp/0972177027

Soy free feeds don't give them the nice weight gain like with soy. (I buy organic chick starter that is soy and corn myself and mix it in.)

Also be careful if you use fish meal that you don't use very much or your eggs will taste bad. Flaxseeds are also good, but also will make eggs taste bad if used in too high a quantity.

So if I were mixing up a feed ration with your restrictions for my flock, I'd do something like this:

organic cracked corn
millet
black oil sunflower seeds
small amt. fish meal or meat scraps
split peas
small amt. flaxseeds
oyster shell for layers
grit if not free ranging

quinoa (washed) would be good but cost prohibitive unless you grew your own (amaranth and brown rice good too).

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/chickenfeedrecipe.html

This is the website that started it all for me mixing my chickens' feed.

Lionsgrip is good, too!
http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html

Layer feed is typically 16% protein and chick starter is 20%. Amino acids are very important also.

Scrambled eggs are a GREAT food for chickens and chicks if you need a nice protein boost. This is what they ate in the shell.

 

[Candyhl]

Thank you both very much!