The Frugal Small Flock SOP Breeder

[3riverschick]

Wow, very educational, thank you! I am currently talking to Cargill. I think they make Agway Meatbird crumbles.
My Light Sussex do great on it. Cargill has a great informational website.
Best,
Karen

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Wow, very educational, thank you! I am currently talking to Cargill. I think they make Agway Meatbird crumbles.
My Light Sussex do great on it. Cargill has a great informational website.
 Best,
 Karen

I'll have to check the Cargill site. It seems I'm never done looking up info on feed.

 

[Fentress]

I use Purina all flock (20%) until the cockerels grow out, with some shell on the side for the laywers. I don't worry too much about feed details, I let the pasture even out the nutrional requirements. But, if I had my choice I would like a higher protien feed with some animal protien. The BR I have grow slow and I wonder if some additional protien would help to push them along. I wish I had a partner in the area that I could split a pallet of feed with or a local mill would be even better. How long do you all keep feed? Have you ever ordered in bulk and had it shipped to your house?

Thanks Mark

 

[3riverschick]

Well I am in western PA, nuts, don't think sharing would work out. What do ya'll think of this feed?
It's a Meatbird crumble to feed from hatch to market weight. I am thinking of switching my Light Sussex
to it. It is very close to the Agway Meatbird, but, I am told, more accessible.
NATUREWISE MEATBIRD 22% CRUMBLE (WO)
This product is for meatbirds including broilers, turkeys, ducks, geese and pheasant.
91585-40 WO 1306
NET WEIGHT 40 LB (18.14 kg)
7 22304 27575 4
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein......................................................min...22.0
Lysine.................................................................. min. 1.0
Methionine..............................................................min. 0.3
Crude Fat...............................................................min. 2.5
Crude Fiber............................................................ max 6.0
Calcium...............................................Min. 0.9 %...max 1.4%
Phosphorus..............................................................min .06%
Salt....................................................Min. 0.25 %...max .65%
Sodium..............................................Min. 0.15 %...max .22%

INGREDIENTS:
Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Wheat Middlings, Corn
Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles, Colored with Tagetes (Aztec
Marigold) Extract, Yeast Culture, Lactobacillus acidophilus
Fermentation Product dehydrated, Lactobacillus casei Fermentation
Product dehydrated, Bifidobacterium thermophilum Fermentation
Product dehydrated, Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product
dehydrated, Pichia pastoris Fermentation Extract Dehydrated, Yucca
Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement,
Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin
Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine
Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite
Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Biotin, DLMethionine,
Dried L-Lysine Fermentation Product, Choline Chloride,
Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate,
Salt, Manganous Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate,
Copper Chloride, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfate,
Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Lignin Sulfonate, Sodium Selenite,
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Oil, Soybean Oil, Citric Acid (a preservative).
FEEDING DIRECTIONS: Feed as the sole ration from hatch to market weight. Provide birds continuous access to clean, cool water. It
is important to store feed in a cool, dry location free of insects, rodents and other pests. Do not feed if mold or infestation occurs.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Very cool that you got an ingredients list! The only thing I see with that feed is the lack of animal protein ... my theory is birds do better with a little animal protein.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Most companies make an all vegetable feed and add supplemental amino acids like methionine and lysine to make up what's missing. You'll always see those in the ingredient list.

 

[MrsBrooke]

We are having a time find some reasonable corn-free and soy-free feed that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get.

My husband brought home some H&H Feed the other day... They have it at Livengoods, so we'll see. Apparently, he had a conversation with a guy who feeds several hundred chickens this stuff, and the guy said you'll be able to immediately taste the difference in the eggs.

http://handhsoyfreenongmofeed.com/ <-- There is the link. About to check it out myself!

The one downside, the guy said, is that your chickens won't want any other feed. I opened the bag, and it looks like a cross between breakfast granola and tail mix. I almost had some today to test it out! It's 19%. We're working through our last bag of whatever we got from TSC before switching.

Our girls also get regular servings of squash, pumpkin and various gourds as well as whatever "chicken salad" - the name my husband has lovingly given the huge green bowl where I toss all my green tops and veggie garbage - has accrued from meal prep. Spoiled things!!!

MrsB

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You just won't find a corn free, soy free, gmo free feed at a reasonable cost. That's just reality. It is the economy of scale.

 

[MrsBrooke]

You just won't find a corn free, soy free, gmo free feed at a reasonable cost. That's just reality. It is the economy of scale.

I agree with that. It's like they want to punish us for trying to be healthy...... Imagine that.

Guess after this go-around it will be time to mix their own feed!

MrsB

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

You just won't find a corn free, soy free, gmo free feed at a reasonable cost. That's just reality. It is the economy of scale.

For sure cost is a HUGE consideration, especially if one has to pay shipping.

My current price for my custom feed, which is an all purpose feed, for all life stages including chicks and breeding birds, contains fishmeal, contains yeast supplements, is made from local grains & seeds, and is Corn/Soy/Canola/GMO free is about $5 more per 50# than Flock Raiser (or the price we eventually worked out for the Payback all purpose poultry pellet). That sure makes a difference over all, especially considering that Flock Raiser is like $5 more than Layena (though the bags of Layena are smaller).

But our custom feed is WAY less expensive than commercial boutique feeds ... and that's before shipping.

Ordering through Azure Standard (there are some Corn & Soy free choices available through them, some Organic choices, etc.) could shave shipping costs, but the custom blend is still less expensive than anything currently available through Azure Standard.

I had a bit of hard time getting the boutique feed companies to give me prices for larger quantities of feed. I gather there is a lot of paranoia in the feed industry about competitors poaching information about prices and recipes. And many of the people I called at the boutique companies had no clue about the sourcing of their ingredients. They tend to rely on the certification system, which doesn't always test. I did find a company somewhere (Texas?) whose website claims they test every batch of ingredients themselves ... too bad it was so far away.

What clinched it for me was how the commercial feed companies I called couldn't answer detailed questions about the unlisted nutrients of their feeds -- at first I was asking questions about the niacin for our ducks (Flock Raiser claims enough niacin for ducks, other companies pretty much choked on that question). Now I know those extra little details about nutrition can be critical for feeding breeders, where you really need to make sure the birds are getting plenty of vitamins and minerals for fertility and hatchability.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1657/investigating-hatchery-practice-effects-of-nutrition

and

http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/76/1/134.full.pdf

Another consideration about working with a mill on a custom recipe: I found it challenging to get myself educated enough so I could even have a productive conversation with a mill. And I found not every mill was willing to talk to me. And smaller mills can be disorganized and unresponsive. I probably would have given up if I weren't so stubborn.