- Sep 8, 2013
- 35
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Meat birds have different protein requirements than free-range layers do, and their diet needs to be more specially formulated if they don't have access to pasture (most likely a vitamin/mineral supplement). Note that if they do have access to pasture it should be in a trailer that can be moved around, as if you let therm range over a large area they run around a lot and get too muscled, which means less tender meat. The broilers that I grew the first year were extremely good foragers and roamed far and wide, furiously pecking and scratching and digging up worms, etc. The meat was tasty but not as tender as I would have liked.
The thing about commercial feed, especially if it's not certified organic, is that you don't know what they put in it. Usually it has preservatives, medication, chemicals and pesticide residues from when they grew the various ingredients, and sometimes even antibiotics or hormones or both. I don't see much point in raising birds myself using store bought food, when the resulting meat has just as many uncertainties regarding what's in it as the meat you can buy from the supermarket.
I suppose it depends on your goals. I want chicken meat that I can feed to my kids and know that they are eating pure, chemical free and medication/antibiotic/hormone free meat that is actually good for them, and is composed of the same ingredients that my grandparents grew up on prior to the industrialization of farming.
The diet that I describe above for broilers is based on a few years of intense research, a lot of trial and error, and wide consultation with other members on this site and around the country.
This is the same diet I give my layers in the winter when pasture access is limited, along with grated veges from time to time, and then in the summer I just remove the soybean meal and corn (they don't need the additional protein and energy when they are summer-ranging as they catch a lot of insects) and keep everything else the same. Note that I give them on-demand crushed oyster shells too.
Even if cost is the main issue, it really will be cheaper to buy a 100 pound bag of wheat, one of barely and one of oats, and a 50 pound bag of corn, then grind them roughly yourself and buy also a 50 pound bag of organic soybean meal, and then use these ingredients to formulate your own feed.
So long as you or someone you know has a large or medium sized grinder or grain chopper (my very helpful neighbor has one), formulating this feed yourself will be way cheaper than buying pre-made food and requires maybe an hour's work once a month to pre-make the feed in large batches.
The best option, of course, is to grow your own corn and grain, if possible. If this is not possible but one of your neighbors grows grains and corn, you can usually swing a deal to buy a few sacks of grain off them.
The thing about commercial feed, especially if it's not certified organic, is that you don't know what they put in it. Usually it has preservatives, medication, chemicals and pesticide residues from when they grew the various ingredients, and sometimes even antibiotics or hormones or both. I don't see much point in raising birds myself using store bought food, when the resulting meat has just as many uncertainties regarding what's in it as the meat you can buy from the supermarket.
I suppose it depends on your goals. I want chicken meat that I can feed to my kids and know that they are eating pure, chemical free and medication/antibiotic/hormone free meat that is actually good for them, and is composed of the same ingredients that my grandparents grew up on prior to the industrialization of farming.
The diet that I describe above for broilers is based on a few years of intense research, a lot of trial and error, and wide consultation with other members on this site and around the country.
This is the same diet I give my layers in the winter when pasture access is limited, along with grated veges from time to time, and then in the summer I just remove the soybean meal and corn (they don't need the additional protein and energy when they are summer-ranging as they catch a lot of insects) and keep everything else the same. Note that I give them on-demand crushed oyster shells too.
Even if cost is the main issue, it really will be cheaper to buy a 100 pound bag of wheat, one of barely and one of oats, and a 50 pound bag of corn, then grind them roughly yourself and buy also a 50 pound bag of organic soybean meal, and then use these ingredients to formulate your own feed.
So long as you or someone you know has a large or medium sized grinder or grain chopper (my very helpful neighbor has one), formulating this feed yourself will be way cheaper than buying pre-made food and requires maybe an hour's work once a month to pre-make the feed in large batches.
The best option, of course, is to grow your own corn and grain, if possible. If this is not possible but one of your neighbors grows grains and corn, you can usually swing a deal to buy a few sacks of grain off them.
