Trying to figure out ingredients for chicken feed

[hckyguy77]

I plan on getting some Buff Orpington chickens to lay eggs this year and would like to get the best feed for them. there are a couple options and i need to figure out the best way to go. on craigslist there is a local man with ingredients for sale as follows

Cracked Corn $8.50
Whole Corn $8.00
Wheat $8.00
Wheat Screenings $7.00
Cracked Barley $7.50
Whole Barley $7.00
Red Wheat $9.00
Whole Oats $9.00
Whole or Cracked Roasted Soybeans $16.00
Peas $8.00


now can i make feed out of this or what else do i need to be getting? there is a man selling organic feed for $25 for #50 lbs all prices above are per 50 lbs also.

and then there is this guy

Fresh ground chicken feed 16.00 for 50 lbs bags.fresh ground on the farm no animal bi-product Chicken will love this mix, and your layering hens will give firmer eggs as well as better tasting eggs.



so any suggestions would be awesome thanks guys.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Yes you can make a cheaper feed from the list of ingredients at top. If your concern is health of the feed then ask if the soy or corn is GMO. At those prices they may not be GMO but certainly grown as any commercial feed i.e. chemical fertilizer and pesticides.

If mixing your own take into account the protein content of each ingredient then with a bit of algebra figure the mixed protein content. 18% is good for growing them out and 16% for laying or just stick with a 16% mix all the time.

Example: roasted soy 35% protein, corn 8%, red wheat 16% and barley 12% protein.

Soy=S Corn=C=1-S

.35S +.08(1-S)= 0.16
solving for S= 0.296 or 30% of that mix would be soy, 70% corn for 16% Protein.did

or say you make an equal mix of all 4 of those ingredients:

(35+8+16+12)/4= 17.75% protein

The last feed that states "firmer" eggs is probably implying a calcium is add for strength of egg shells. You can add calcium to their diet when they are at laying age by providing oyster shells in a side container. They'll eat what they need of it and is available in bulk from your local feed store.

 

[chad-o]

I am curious does it really pay to make your own food for a small flock ( 40 or 50 ). I believe that most quality food has vitamins and minerals. By the time you buy all the ingredients it would seem you spent more time, effort and money?

 

[hckyguy77]

Chad-o I might agree that with a bigger flock it would be more time and effort to do the above. Luckily for me I am only looking into 10 chickens max as I still live in a residential community vs farm land.

Egghead
thanks for that , that does help alot and I will be able to move forward with that. Also thanks for the math example, im a pro in math but that usually seems to be at best if im not putting together word problems haha.