- Sep 3, 2012
- 692
- 138
- 195
It wasn't any big problem. There wasn't that much, since they aren't going through too much yet.
The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!
- Thread starter Bulldogma
- Start date
Okay...on the feed...
Because I get mine at a local feed mill made fresh, they require me to get a minimum of 300 lbs. I hear that's good because some require 1000 lbs or even a ton! Because of the minimum, I have to share with another chicken keeper who's close by and I have to do SOME things a little different than I'd do if it were just for myself only. So...that's background you need to know to understand some of the "whys" to this formula.
Right now I purchase a VERY BASIC MIX for their main feed which is all organic. You can also find "non-GMO" grains that are a little less expensive than organic. If you're trying to avoid GMOs, you might want to check around to see if you have a local feed mill where you can purchase the items whole or have them make a mix for you.
My BASIC feed is made by my local feed mill with whole grains, peas and fish meal. Currently I use this mix to ferment as the grains are coarse ground and it is powdery. It's perfect for fermenting as they get all the ingredients mixed in and use them all.
Since it's "powdery", before I began fermenting, I would either soak it over night in water, mix it with whey or raw milk, or mix it with a little melted lard. Any of these ways helps them eat everything in the mix.
Right now my BASIC "All Flock" Feed consists of:
40% Organic Corn
45% Organic Peas
3.6% Organic Alfalfa Pellets
3.6% Organic Fish Meal
2.2% Cal Carb #20
5% Organic Fertrel Nutribalancer
So..if you think in terms of a 100 lb batch, it looks like this (you can divide for smaller poundage):
Organic Corn
TOTAL WEIGHT
Organic Fertrel
Nutribalancer
OVERALL TOTAL
This is about 16% protein and low calcium because it is formulated as "all flock" then I free-feed CalCarb and they also have grit available at all times.
I add extra protein in the form of raw meats. I also sprout various grains and seeds so that basic recipe isn't all they get. In the winter they get various greens like kale as well.
They also get to "range" during the warm months where they also get lots of green grass, bugs, and anything else they can find. They also have access to the compost pile that they forage through!
I know I post this over and over but....you might take a look at this site that has some recipes for various feeds that might be helpful. This article is Part 3 http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Making-Poultry-Feeds-3.html
Check out the other parts too! The site also has lists of feed info that are very interesting!
Because I get mine at a local feed mill made fresh, they require me to get a minimum of 300 lbs. I hear that's good because some require 1000 lbs or even a ton! Because of the minimum, I have to share with another chicken keeper who's close by and I have to do SOME things a little different than I'd do if it were just for myself only. So...that's background you need to know to understand some of the "whys" to this formula.
Right now I purchase a VERY BASIC MIX for their main feed which is all organic. You can also find "non-GMO" grains that are a little less expensive than organic. If you're trying to avoid GMOs, you might want to check around to see if you have a local feed mill where you can purchase the items whole or have them make a mix for you.
My BASIC feed is made by my local feed mill with whole grains, peas and fish meal. Currently I use this mix to ferment as the grains are coarse ground and it is powdery. It's perfect for fermenting as they get all the ingredients mixed in and use them all.
Since it's "powdery", before I began fermenting, I would either soak it over night in water, mix it with whey or raw milk, or mix it with a little melted lard. Any of these ways helps them eat everything in the mix.
Right now my BASIC "All Flock" Feed consists of:
40% Organic Corn
45% Organic Peas
3.6% Organic Alfalfa Pellets
3.6% Organic Fish Meal
2.2% Cal Carb #20
5% Organic Fertrel Nutribalancer
So..if you think in terms of a 100 lb batch, it looks like this (you can divide for smaller poundage):
Organic Corn
40 lbs.
Organic Peas 45 lbs.
Organic Alfalfa Pellets 3.6 lbs.
Organic Fish Meal 3.6 lbs.
Cal Carb #20 2.2 lbs.
TOTAL WEIGHT
95 lbs.
Organic Fertrel
Nutribalancer
5 lbs.
OVERALL TOTAL
100 lbs.
This is about 16% protein and low calcium because it is formulated as "all flock" then I free-feed CalCarb and they also have grit available at all times.
I add extra protein in the form of raw meats. I also sprout various grains and seeds so that basic recipe isn't all they get. In the winter they get various greens like kale as well.
They also get to "range" during the warm months where they also get lots of green grass, bugs, and anything else they can find. They also have access to the compost pile that they forage through!
I know I post this over and over but....you might take a look at this site that has some recipes for various feeds that might be helpful. This article is Part 3 http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Making-Poultry-Feeds-3.html
Check out the other parts too! The site also has lists of feed info that are very interesting!
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will it work to ferment the starter feed or layer feed straight out of the bag from Tractor Supply or the local feed and seed?
Quote:I am, but it is safe. I am in Ohio and She is in AZ. She has a hubby (Who is an Excellent Photographer btw) and I have a significant other that I love dearly.
Y'all are a perceptive bunch, or I ain't nearly as slick as I think I am
Besides, in real life we'd never get along.... she likes Silkies if I am not mistaken.....
Why can't we call someone BM? That's a bunch of... er.... Crap!
It sure will...
thank you!
It sure will...
- Thread starter
- #11,436
Thank you SO much! Great link, too!
Welcome to BYC and to this thread! We're happy to have you here!
- Nov 14, 2012
- 251
- 41
- 141
Just had to share..It's chilly to me!I get cold really easy and I have Raynauds Disease which is why I live in Arizona. I probably would have put the chicks out with the temps, it was just the wind. We had gusts up to 60mph and I didn't really have any windbreak for them. I really thought they would blow away - LOL. Even my big ducks hid out all day with that crazy wind.
-------------------- i use coconut oil.. in empty honey dispenser ( the one with a flip cap) apply like suntan oil on skin after bathing before towling off. the water droplets.. let it go on thin.. and it will wear like silk underwear.. really works good.
I talked to my neighbor this am.. who said. to her hubby " John that rooster sure sounds big.. today" and he looks out their front window to see My Flash.. roo.. making friendly with their hens.. seems he's been going over to visit over there.. since the missus deemed their 2 roosters as unsociable.. and they went to freezer camp.!
She's excited to have fertel eggs again.. and wants to put them in the incubator.. ( So i guess? she's not up set...?)
I told her.. tho I'll do some thing different.. if she wants.. because I dont want these going to freezer camp..
any way.. pretty boy floyd.. is wooing the neighbor girls..
Love all the pics ESP the "dead" NN & the mooning hen.......but Mumsy those Johnny babies are so cute. So sad to hear its his last batch. He has come so far since you first started posting.
BDM- I have no feed recipe.....I still trying to finish off a 50# bag of layer pellets from last October.........but I am watching what others post and seeing what the local feed stores have. My biggest pet peeve lately when looking at feed bags......they don't list the grains in it just "various grains" UGH !!! But I found some single grains at one feed store......but still no pumpkin seeds :/ One more feed store to go!!!
So I took Mumsys idea for feeding the hens in their new digs.....got 2 drywall pans and made a stand for it out of scrap pieces of wood I have. Hoping since I got the bigger one will be less fighting at meal time. Guess I could always make another stand and by 2 more pans. I did remove the metal edges from the pans though
Today when sun was shining the girls were trying to lay in their mini hawk huts to get out of the sun(there are trees around their fenced in area just no leaves yet for shade) so I decided to make a lean to for the middle of the area so it would give them a shady area to lay, roost, whatever. I threw this together in about a half hour with my Mom helping to hold the pieces (she going to stop walking to my house if I keep putting her to work
)
This is the frame made from wood I had here
And the finished lean to which isn't really but you get the idea Ran out of the camo burlap I had left over so I used the brown tarp I didn't use for the hoop coop and cut it to fit.
Funny thing is as I was walking their fenced in area to pick up trash that had blown in last night I found an egg next to one of the mini hawk huts. I saw her laying in front of it earlier but thought she was just chilling after foraging all morning. I have no idea why she laid it outside but I am guessing someone was in her favorite nesting box......doesn't if figure they have 4 nesting boxes and they all lay in the same one !!!. And they yell at each other if someone is occupying it. I really don't understand their theory behind that....lol
And the funniest thing I heard today was my mom wondering how the girls feet don't hurt after foraging from 630 till 730 every night lol. I told er that's why I keep finding them roosting during the day taking power naps
BDM- I have no feed recipe.....I still trying to finish off a 50# bag of layer pellets from last October.........but I am watching what others post and seeing what the local feed stores have. My biggest pet peeve lately when looking at feed bags......they don't list the grains in it just "various grains" UGH !!! But I found some single grains at one feed store......but still no pumpkin seeds :/ One more feed store to go!!!
So I took Mumsys idea for feeding the hens in their new digs.....got 2 drywall pans and made a stand for it out of scrap pieces of wood I have. Hoping since I got the bigger one will be less fighting at meal time. Guess I could always make another stand and by 2 more pans. I did remove the metal edges from the pans though
Today when sun was shining the girls were trying to lay in their mini hawk huts to get out of the sun(there are trees around their fenced in area just no leaves yet for shade) so I decided to make a lean to for the middle of the area so it would give them a shady area to lay, roost, whatever. I threw this together in about a half hour with my Mom helping to hold the pieces (she going to stop walking to my house if I keep putting her to work
)
This is the frame made from wood I had here
And the finished lean to which isn't really but you get the idea
Ran out of the camo burlap I had left over so I used the brown tarp I didn't use for the hoop coop and cut it to fit. Funny thing is as I was walking their fenced in area to pick up trash that had blown in last night I found an egg next to one of the mini hawk huts. I saw her laying in front of it earlier but thought she was just chilling after foraging all morning. I have no idea why she laid it outside but I am guessing someone was in her favorite nesting box......doesn't if figure they have 4 nesting boxes and they all lay in the same one !!!. And they yell at each other if someone is occupying it. I really don't understand their theory behind that....lol
And the funniest thing I heard today was my mom wondering how the girls feet don't hurt after foraging from 630 till 730 every night lol. I told er that's why I keep finding them roosting during the day taking power naps
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How the heck did I miss THAT!?!?!?!It's chilly to me!I get cold really easy and I have Raynauds Disease which is why I live in Arizona. I probably would have put the chicks out with the temps, it was just the wind. We had gusts up to 60mph and I didn't really have any windbreak for them. I really thought they would blow away - LOL. Even my big ducks hid out all day with that crazy wind.
-------------------- i use coconut oil.. in empty honey dispenser ( the one with a flip cap) apply like suntan oil on skin after bathing before towling off. the water droplets.. let it go on thin.. and it will wear like silk underwear.. really works good.
I could have had SUCH fun with that one..... Y'all should see what I write in the non G rated forums.....
I am so going to use this with my kids.... "You are in Deep Litter!"Sounds like DEEP LITTER to me
I am, but it is safe. I am in Ohio and She is in AZ. She has a hubby (Who is an Excellent Photographer btw) and I have a significant other that I love dearly.
Y'all are a perceptive bunch, or I ain't nearly as slick as I think I am
Besides, in real life we'd never get along.... she likes Silkies if I am not mistaken.....
Why can't we call someone BM? That's a bunch of... er.... Crap!
You guys had me laughing so hard with all this silliness! Yes, I like Silkies so it's over.
If you are talking about the one with her butt facing us, she's a speckled sussex.
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