Topic of the Week - "Off-grid" Feeding - Homemade feeds, etc.

[BantyChooks]

the govt has brainwashed people when it comes to protein sources. I'm vegan and people always ask me where I get protein and calcium and i say the same place as you, from my food. for example 6 cups of spinach has the same amount of protein as an egg.. here is a small list of grams of protein per cup of different veggies for an example // http://www.theholykale.com/plant-based-protein-chart/

I don't know about you but there's no way I'm going to down 6 cups of spinach for breakfast.

(Like you said, I'm not trying to start anything... someone eating a plain spinach sandwich just struck me as a funny mental image)

 

[rjohns39]

Sumi, This is an interesting thread. I have two books that I like a lot and constantly reference:

• "Commercial Poultry Nutrition", second edition by S. Leeson and J.D. Summers
• "Feeding Pasture—Raised Poultry" by Jeff Mattocks

I also have a number of different recipes for various types of birds at various stages of development. The biggest challenge is getting all the right ingredients, followed by shelf life. I'm a huge fan of Fertrell products, largely because I know them and their suppliers so I feel their products are safe. I have had to modify an organic grower to make an appropriate blend for my ducklings, until I could get more proper feed. But I also have tools to help me figure this stuff out and since I'm a Fertrell customer, I have access to their nutritionists.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

I've read about supplementing their feed with cat food during molt, so this is definitely great in a pinch, but is this the exclusive feed being used? Is this adequate long term? Does feeding cat food end up being more or less expensive than chicken food?

I add it to their regular feed... but in a pinch I could temporarily give them straight cat food.

 

[Perris]

mine love dried mealworms, which are expensive, but I only give a little per hen per day, and it trains them to come on call

 

[JaeG]

I started out mixing my own feed and I do think my chickens looked and laid better on it. But it was more expensive (because I wasn't buying large quantities) and we can't really afford to feed them that way at present.

I've found some interesting articles about how chickens gizzards are larger and more efficient when fed whole grains.
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/M...r/Summer2003/Chickens/tabid/1481/Default.aspx

This was an interesting view from someone who tried the whole grain diet for their birds:
http://www.sterlingcenterfarm.com/Feeding/Wholegraindiet.htm

I've also read articles where, if given a limited amount of options, chickens will eat what they need when they need it depending on the season.
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd17/4/pous17045.htm

 

[1cock2hens]

I don't know about you but there's no way I'm going to down 6 cups of spinach for breakfast.

(Like you said, I'm not trying to start anything... someone eating a plain spinach sandwich just struck me as a funny mental image)

well 6 cups of raw spinach is roughly 1 cup of cooked spinach so it's really not that much and i do enjoy a spinach salad )

 

[BoyTheRooster]

Ours get table scraps along with sprouted grain and pellets. When we run low on grain and pellets we cook up some cheap rice and give them that, and chopped up dog roll

 

[CannedMonster]

I’m sprouting grains and seeds for them as we speak. (And me too!)
I bought a little canning jar kit at the health food store.
It’s amazing how fast they grow and so easy to do!
Sprouts are supposed to be very nutritious and have a good amount of protein.
I’m doing a mix right now that includes mung beans and several others (can’t remember the names) and I also bought red clover and chia.

 

[Ahavati]

I make our own feed. It's very simple and I make it in big batches so I'd only have to mix every couple of months. What I was mixing before was:

30% Corn
30% Wheat
20% Peas
10% Oats
10% Fish Meal
2% Poultry Nutri–Balancer
Kelp provided free choice

They did great on that. I also fermented it so they ate way less. They also got our daily kitchen and garden scraps and I'd sometimes sprout barley fodder for them.

Now I a trying to streamline as I mix the goats feed too. I also don't want to do much corn. So now I do:

Barley
Oats
Alfalfa
Beet Pulp
BOSS

I'll ferment that for the chickens as well as all the kitchen and garden scraps and occasional fodder. I was raising mealworms too as well. I do add nutri-balancer to their ferment and I still give kelp.

My goats, turkeys, chickens, peafowl, and rabbits all get this feed. Each animal (poultry, caprine, etc) get their own minerals suited to them. Goats get hay and alfalfa hay as well as the rabbits.

I tend to prefer things that aren't so convenient anyway. If SHTF, I don't want to be stuck relying on something I can't get. But that is just me. Plus I know everything that they are eating (aside form their free range stuff, but that's still natural and what they were meant to eat) and I know what we are eating. We have a garden as well and buy bulk grains to mill and turn into flour and such. I think I was born in the worng century LOL.

 

[PirateGirl]

I make our own feed. It's very simple and I make it in big batches so I'd only have to mix every couple of months. What I was mixing before was:

30% Corn
30% Wheat
20% Peas
10% Oats
10% Fish Meal
2% Poultry Nutri–Balancer
Kelp provided free choice

They did great on that. I also fermented it so they ate way less. They also got our daily kitchen and garden scraps and I'd sometimes sprout barley fodder for them.

Now I a trying to streamline as I mix the goats feed too. I also don't want to do much corn. So now I do:

Barley
Oats
Alfalfa
Beet Pulp
BOSS

I'll ferment that for the chickens as well as all the kitchen and garden scraps and occasional fodder. I was raising mealworms too as well. I do add nutri-balancer to their ferment and I still give kelp.

My goats, turkeys, chickens, peafowl, and rabbits all get this feed. Each animal (poultry, caprine, etc) get their own minerals suited to them. Goats get hay and alfalfa hay as well as the rabbits.

I tend to prefer things that aren't so convenient anyway. If SHTF, I don't want to be stuck relying on something I can't get. But that is just me. Plus I know everything that they are eating (aside form their free range stuff, but that's still natural and what they were meant to eat) and I know what we are eating. We have a garden as well and buy bulk grains to mill and turn into flour and such. I think I was born in the worng century LOL.

Why do you provide the kelp free choice? I understand the kelp as it's in many feed recipes I have seen, but why not mix it in?