Thoughts on organic chicken feed. What is your opinion?

[Lilchix]

I find it cheaper to mix my own feed, since I buy grains in bulk, and only add pellets for extra vitamins and minerals. That’s my main concern. When I look for pellets, not the ingredients, but the nutrition label.

The mix of grains I make are split peas, oats, barley, millet, flaxseed, sunflower hearts, wheat. (Not in that order) I ferment for 3days then feed with soaked alfalfa. Also grain free dog food for animal protein/fats. The pellets I have in a hanging feeder they barely touch. Also cabbage, and other veggies as well.

Hello- can you sharein more detail how you mix your own feed - with grains purchased in bulk? What brand grain free dog food do you use? I want to switch from the "organic" crumbles i'm feeding (with soy) now that my chicks (and 1 rooster) are over 6 months old... THANK YOU!

 

[SeaCity]

Hello- can you sharein more detail how you mix your own feed - with grains purchased in bulk? What brand grain free dog food do you use? I want to switch from the "organic" crumbles i'm feeding (with soy) now that my chicks (and 1 rooster) are over 6 months old... THANK YOU!

I would like to know also!

 

[Peter_Rabbit_Farm]

Hello- can you sharein more detail how you mix your own feed - with grains purchased in bulk? What brand grain free dog food do you use? I want to switch from the "organic" crumbles i'm feeding (with soy) now that my chicks (and 1 rooster) are over 6 months old... THANK YOU!

use a 3 quart feed scoop

I recently changed the recipe a bit so this is what I do now. The only reason it is cheaper for me to do this recipe is because I have farmer friends that discounts grains for me. It would be a lot more expensive if I bought at full price. I also look for damaged bags at stores on the other ingredients. I would say if you don’t have access to the ingredients for cheap I would just do the all flock pellets.

• Three scoops Nutrena all flock pellets
• One scoop oats
• Half scoop barely
• Half scoop split peas
• Half scoop sunflower seeds
• Half scoop millet
• Half scoop flaxseed
• Half scoop wheat ( when I can afford to buy the extra bag)
• I kind of eyeball the amount of alfalfa

I ferment this for 3 days. I then put it in a flat feeder.
As for the dog food I use whatever grain free food the local pet store can’t sell ( opened returns, damaged bags, or expired, as long as it is not moldy.) i also use cat food or catfish food. I treat the dog food like a scratch grain.

I also love to give dried minnows, and friskys salmon pate cat food as a treat.

Whenever I can get reduced veggies from the grocery store I’ll get them and feed that as well.
I have oyster shells and grit in a small hanging feeder a they eat that as needed.
Every few days I will add vitamins to their water.

I have ducks, chickens and turkeys on this food. My biggest nutrients I look for are methionine, lysine, and protein.
I have had good luck with my recipe, and my hens lay great. Since changing the recipe they eat it all in a day.

 

[SeaCity]

use a 3 quart feed scoop

I recently changed the recipe a bit so this is what I do now. The only reason it is cheaper for me to do this recipe is because I have farmer friends that discounts grains for me. It would be a lot more expensive if I bought at full price. I also look for damaged bags at stores on the other ingredients. I would say if you don’t have access to the ingredients for cheap I would just do the all flock pellets.

• Three scoops Nutrena all flock pellets
• One scoop oats
• Half scoop barely
• Half scoop split peas
• Half scoop sunflower seeds
• Half scoop millet
• Half scoop flaxseed
• Half scoop wheat ( when I can afford to buy the extra bag)
• I kind of eyeball the amount of alfalfa

I ferment this for 3 days. I then put it in a flat feeder.
As for the dog food I use whatever grain free food the local pet store can’t sell ( opened returns, damaged bags, or expired, as long as it is not moldy.) i also use cat food or catfish food. I treat the dog food like a scratch grain.

I also love to give dried minnows, and friskys salmon pate cat food as a treat.

Whenever I can get reduced veggies from the grocery store I’ll get them and feed that as well.
I have oyster shells and grit in a small hanging feeder a they eat that as needed.
Every few days I will add vitamins to their water.

I have ducks, chickens and turkeys on this food. My biggest nutrients I look for are methionine, lysine, and protein.
I have had good luck with my recipe, and my hens lay great. Since changing the recipe they eat it all in a day.

Thank you!

 

[Peter_Rabbit_Farm]

Thank you!

Out of curiosity what do you feed your birds?

 

[Heirloom Grown]

I think its an absolute must.
Corn and soy are the top two most heavily sprayed crop in the US. They are sprayed with Roundup right before harvest, which as well know, contains Glyphosate. That means that your birds are getting a direct dose of Glyphosate in their feed, which causes cancer.
Its also sprayed with loads of other pesticides.
Non-Organic feeds I find also have lower quality grains.
This is a Purina Flock Raiser ingredient list-

Purina Flock Raiser

INGREDIENTS: Ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, corn distillers, dried grains, monocalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, wheat middlings, salt, magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, L-Lysine, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Vitamin D3 supplement, tagetes extract, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin E supplement, menadione sodium bisulfate complex, calcium supplement, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, calcium lodate and sodium selenite. Animal fat and protein free.

Both are fairly similar in the mineral mix department, but the grains in the Scratch and Peck starter that I feed listed below are much higher quality.

Scratch and Peck Starter

Organic Wheat, Organic Peas, Organic Barley, Organic Flaxseed Meal, Fish Meal, Organic Sesame Meal, Ground Limestone, Organic Flaxseed Oil, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Organic Dehydrated Kelp Meal, Salt, dl-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Organic Wheat Flour, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles Extract, Dried Trichoderma Reesei Fermentation Extract, Silicon Dioxide, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, d-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Active Dry Yeast, Selenium Yeast, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulftate, d-Calcium Panthothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Pryidoxine Hydrocholoride, Biotin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Folic Acid and Sodium Selenite.

What even are the grains in the begging of the Purina list? Certainly doesn't sound like anything you could pick off a plant.

Heres the definition of a few-

Spoiler: Corn Distillers

Corn Distillers-
Corn distillers grain is the main by-product of the distillation of alcohol from maize grain. Distilleries produce alcoholic beverages, industrial ethanol and ethanol biofuel with the following by-products (definitions are given in Processes):

Spoiler: Dehulled Soybean meal

Conventional solvent-extracted dehulled soybean meal is produced by extracting the fat from soy flour with a solvent, and then toasting to deactivate trypsin inhibitors and lectins.

In other words, a grain that has been taken from its natural state, and processed at high heats which removes all nutrients, turning it into simply a filler, with no nutritional value.

Comparing the two labels, I do notice that Scratch and Peck also contained Sesame meal, which would also be heated, but it isn't the first ingredient, and most of the other grains are in a whole, dried form. Rather than dried, heated, and ground into meal form.
A lot of the same principles can be used to ID dog food labels. During my switch to raw, I did a lot of research on that, and I use the same info to direct chicken feed labels as well.

I agree but can’t justify the cost. Could you please let me know the organic feed that you buy. Thanks

 

[SeaCity]

Out of curiosity what do you feed your birds?

I'm starting from scratch (haha) with 4 new chicks in a couple of weeks, so searching for good ways to feed them. I'm planning on Kalmbach organic plus homemade (cooked beans, pasta, .....

 

[arazla]

I'm also trying to make my own feed. Do you use hulled millet and barley and unhulled?

 

[AidKD]

I buy an organic chicken feed from a local feed supplyer near me. He has a large operation, but does not soak or spray anything with chemicals. For a 50 pound bag he charges $14, which is comparable to just the plain cracked corn at the local farm store that sells a 40 pound bag for $12, just corn. My chickens lay 1 egg per day and the yolks are dark orange and the shells hard. I wouldn't consider at this point going back to any commercial feed. Feeding my chickens feed that is truly helping and benefitting their health means alot to me!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm also trying to make my own feed. Do you use hulled millet and barley and unhulled?

Please don't.

and removing the hull increases the price (bad), reduces the fiber (good), and is generally beneficial to the overall nutritional density (good)