VTM for Poultry Vitamin Premix Opinions

[buckock]

We used bag feed and like so many, felt the crunch of additional cost this year. We decided to switch to a local supplier. It turned out to be less than ideal. The ladies stopped laying and the young chicks slowed down. We switched them back onto commercial feed. It's science and it works but I want to learn more.

I'm getting ready to grind and mix the first test batch of a new recipe. After a bunch of research, I learned that the problem with the bulk feed we got was a lack of key vitamins. It had decent raw ingredients - corn, wheat, peanuts, etc. but I don't think they added a premix for vitamins since it's expensive.

My question is whether anyone on this forum has tried VTM for Poultry from Advanced Biological Concepts (ABC). I have a 30 lb bag (a whopping $107 including shipping) I plan to use. The other portions of the recipe for a 100# test batch are:

58 lbs corn
20 lbs soy meal
2 lbs sunflower seed
20 lbs wheat middlings
100 lbs before supplements

The corn and wheat are from a local farmer so there's no analysis and I'm using a middle estimate for their nutrition. To this, I'll add 1.5 lbs premix (application rate is 30 lbs/ton), 1 1/2 lbs diatomatious earth, and salt (4.8 oz since a 2,000 lb batch would get 6 lbs). The premix has some recipes on their site but I have the midds so I figured I'd use them.

The corn and midds will be processed in a hammer mill but the rest of the ingreds will be mixed in by hand. My estimate is the batch will end up with 17-18% protein and 3-4% fat. I have a mixed flock so oyster shell is on-demand. My goal is to achieve a good all-flock mix that everyone from 8 weeks and up can enjoy. I know the nutritional demands of a 10-week-old are different than a laying hen - but they're together and the eat from the same feeder.

Thoughts on the premix or anything else are welcome!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I think you need your ingredients assayed. I'm curious as to what you are using for numbers.
Using Feedipedia, without correcting for moisture content (which should reduce these 8-10%), I've got 18.65% protein, 4.91% fiber, 4.6% fat, met about 0.38, Lys about 0.9, Threo 0.7 and Tryp 0.2. Tryp is (surprisingly) borderline. And I'd further note that we have some posters on BYC who actually blend feeds for a living, and repeatedly relay that Feedipedia's protein figures for corn are about 2% higher than what they are actually seing in the assays, which is a significant reduction in Met, Lys, Thr, Tryp in a recipe so high in corn content. Feedipedia puts protein in corn at over 9%, commercial assays are close to 7%. Also, I've used the high protein soybean meal (49% protein) in my calculator - if you have a lower protein content (say 44-46%) that will also chip into those numbers, and push Met and Lys closer to minimums while further depressing Thr. Not enough samples to have a great feeling for wheat middlins.

I think you are *potentially* in the right park, but not convinced you are on the right ball field. The assays of your local sources will be critical.

 

[buckock]

Thank you! Unfortunately having the ingredients assayed for such a small batch is not in the cards. I can only add that the soy meal Im using is 47.5% so that will reduce the protein slightly. I estimated the corn at 7%. It’s last years corn and the moisture content is low.

I’m not sure how grinding the corn will impact the values and/or soaking the feed once it’s mixed. I think it may improve the overall digestability without radically changing the nutrition. Anything is probably an improvement over than the 13-14% protein they were getting before?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, better than 13-14% protein previously. Still a long odds draw, but better odds than the hand you were holding

 

[buckock]

Thanks we’ll see how the ladies do! It was a lot of fun hooking up the belt and grinding it with the Ferguson! We ended up with 1200 lbs of corn and about 200 lbs of middlings for $130 so if the chickens don’t like it, the wildlife certainly will.