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

Those chicken feed recipes list pretty high fat content, and the vitamin/ mineral values aren't listed either. They look better than many 'recipies' found on google though.
And buying feed by the bag is so much easier!
Cutting these recipies down to make even 500 lbs at once would be difficult, and buying grains by the bag, not so fun either. Then a home grinder gives mash, more work and dust.
Obviously I'm not a fan of home made!
Good luck to all of you small flock owners who try it...
Mary
 
If you want a recipe I can give you a good one. Let me know if for layer or starter etc.
Thank you. Right now my birds are on starter/grower but many are going to need layer soon. I also have some on half chick and half game bird starter because we have a mixed flock. Thx,
 
Often times people talk about the old days and people not feeding chickens. BUT what they don't realize, is people were feeding other livestock. And chickens cleaned up the wasted feed. They followed the bigger livestock and pecked through their leavings.

I feed every day. I try not to have much left over, if the pans are bare, I feed more. If some is left, I feed less. What is very surprising is the variance in the feed all of the time.

I like to let mine out and about, I think free ranging eggs do taste better, have better color.

But in the spirit of the original post, no feed, I would be processing birds. The easiest way to reduce your feed bill is to reduce your numbers.

Mrs K
 
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.
Do you still use the newest recipe mensioned may I ask? Your recipes look good. I have one question though, is there something I could swap the barley with? This recipe looks well done but I would prefer to swap the barley due to mixed opinions on it. Also, what are the ratios of the second recipe? Thx,
 
Do you still use the newest recipe mensioned may I ask? Your recipes look good. I have one question though, is there something I could swap the barley with? This recipe looks well done but I would prefer to swap the barley due to mixed opinions on it. Also, what are the ratios of the second recipe? Thx,
That user you are talking to hasn't been active since 2018
 

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