Urgent advice on chicken feed

[U_Stormcrow]

peanuts (shelled) are given averages of (roughly) 27% protein, 4% fiber, 44% fat. They are surprisingly LOW in Methionine, very good for lysive, decent for threonine, and good tor Tryp. Most grains are also low in Met, so they are about the worst of the common legumes to pair with grains in making a chicken diet.

If you can get peanut MEAL (byproduct of peanut oil production) it should be both cheaper than raw peanuts AND more nutritionally concentrated - since much of the fats/oils have been extracted - making the met level 2 - 2.5% higher than in raw peanuts, pound per pound.

 

[orelsi]

My holy grail is mixed chicken feed + wheat grain + whole corn. The mixed feed has crushed corn as well. Chickens love corn, especially when it's cold. If you can't get some bags of mixed feed get them some sacks of corn. They'll love it!

 

[nuthatched]

My holy grail is mixed chicken feed + wheat grain + whole corn. The mixed feed has crushed corn as well. Chickens love corn, especially when it's cold. If you can't get some bags of mixed feed get them some sacks of corn. They'll love it!

Mixing corn and wheat (fillers) into the formulated feed actually takes away from nutrition in the feed. The corn = warmth thing is a bit of a myth, protein is actually better for chickens in winter.

 

[NatJ]

Where I live, things are often backwards. Not sure if you're familiar with the term '' squatter camps'' but look it up, especially south African squatter camps. That's generally the way a lot of people raise chickens, but not everyone but alot. Hence unconventional foods being somewhat cheaper for the average Joe.' I am fortunate enough to live in a more upscale rural area. Farm, equine estate... Fortunate is an understatement. 'Real Deal' ' types of animal feeds are incredibly highly priced and mostly targeted at large scale farmers. We used to live and work on an ostrich ranch, you will not believe the price of a 50kg bag of feed.

That's why I'm really eager to look at a fresh, non-commercial diet for these chickens. I'll go bankrupt honestly any tips, tricks and treats will be so helpful. I will, however, invest in a bag of feed. Crickets are even cheaper than peanuts so I'll be grabbing those too as a snack for the ladies and gent.

That is definitely different!

If the crickets are cheaper than peanuts, maybe start with them. (That "cheaper" is on a per-pound basis, right? Because if it is per bag, you will want to check the size of each the bag.) From what I can find, it looks like they are a good source of protein, and don't have enough fat to cause problems.

I see U_Stormcrow chimed in about the nutrients of the peanuts, and they may not be the best choice:

peanuts (shelled) are given averages of (roughly) 27% protein, 4% fiber, 44% fat. They are surprisingly LOW in Methionine, very good for lysive, decent for threonine, and good tor Tryp. Most grains are also low in Met, so they are about the worst of the common legumes to pair with grains in making a chicken diet.

If you can get peanut MEAL (byproduct of peanut oil production) it should be both cheaper than raw peanuts AND more nutritionally concentrated - since much of the fats/oils have been extracted - making the met level 2 - 2.5% higher than in raw peanuts, pound per pound.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My holy grail is mixed chicken feed + wheat grain + whole corn. The mixed feed has crushed corn as well. Chickens love corn, especially when it's cold. If you can't get some bags of mixed feed get them some sacks of corn. They'll love it!

Not to pile on, but yeah. Nothing about that makes a lick of sense except for your entertainment value. Its the equivalent of sitting your (human) children down to a balanced menu, plus a couple pieces of corn bread. Every meal.

It made sense (sometimes) 150+ years ago, when the flock was culled to minimum number as winter approached, and people were trying to keep a couple prime breeders alive to start the spring chickens, but for the vast majority of us, those conditions are no longer applicable.

 

[orelsi]

Mixing corn and wheat (fillers) into the formulated feed actually takes away from nutrition in the feed. The corn = warmth thing is a bit of a myth, protein is actually better for chickens in winter.

The are not mixed together, they are given to the chickens in separate containers. They usually finish the mix first then go after the wheat and finish it off with a helping of corn. Myth or not it works very well, my hens produce eggs without breaks even in winter and everyone is beautiful and healthy. If it works it works

Not to pile on, but yeah. Nothing about that makes a lick of sense except for your entertainment value. Its the equivalent of sitting your (human) children down to a balanced menu, plus a couple pieces of corn bread. Every meal.

It made sense (sometimes) 150+ years ago, when the flock was culled to minimum number as winter approached, and people were trying to keep a couple prime breeders alive to start the spring chickens, but for the vast majority of us, those conditions are no longer applicable.

I don't understand. Is your argument that feed only is better than feed and grain? You can't beat eggs that have been produced by hens eating wheat grain (in addition to the feed) in my experience.

 

[NatJ]

I don't understand. Is your argument that feed only is better than feed and grain?

Yes, I think that was what @U_Stormcrow meant. IF the feed is made to be complete (with the right amount of grain in the recipe), that should be true.

Of course that is a big "if" in that sentence.

You can't beat eggs that have been produced by hens eating wheat grain (in addition to the feed) in my experience.

It probably depends on the feed. So it could work well in your case, but not for someone else using a different feed. As we have already seen in this thread, the kinds of feed that are available can vary a lot from country to country, and even from one part of a country to another part.

 

[orelsi]

It probably depends on the feed. So it could work well in your case, but not for someone else using a different feed. As we have already seen in this thread, the kinds of feed that are available can vary a lot from country to country, and even from one part of a country to another part.

That's a fair point. Always should aim for the best one. It took me some time to find it. There was one that I thought would be great, had all the right ingredients and promises by the company, but the flock hated it, they were barely eating and making faces every time.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don't understand. Is your argument that feed only is better than feed and grain? You can't beat eggs that have been produced by hens eating wheat grain (in addition to the feed) in my experience.

Feed is made with grain (and other ingredients). Properly constitued, it meets all your chicken's nutritional needs with a minimum of excess.

Taking a properly consititued feed, and then adding low protein, high fat, high carb, relatively low vitamin/mineral corn to it does nothing to improve the diet. It only enourages fat chickens. Adding wheat to the diet with a properly constituted feed has lesser affect on total crude protein levels (and is less calorie dense than corn), but negatively impacts the amino acid profile, particularly methionine and lysine, to the extent that wheat displaces properly constituted feed they would otherwise be eating.

If they eat their normal feed ration, meeting all their dietary needs, and then eat corn and wheat in addition, you have done nothing but increase your feed costs, increase your waste, and promoted fat chickens.

If you don't have a properly constitued, nutritionally balanced feed ration, the first thing to do is replace it with one that is properly constitued and nutritionally balanced. If you can't do that, you need to find out what the feed is lacking, and supliment with a source of the needed nutritional element.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and to be clear, I am not talking about partially formulated pre-mixes here - nutrient dense incomplete feeds intended to be mixed with low cost bulk grains by the farmer at the point of use in a specific ratio. I am onl;y speaking of adding additional corn or wheat to a "complete" feed.