what to mix with my feed? totally confused here!

[joe17]

OKAY.......... I have no idea what to feed my silkies now! lol I have chicks right now and plan on putting them on dumor chick starter. What protein percentage should I buy for the adults? I will probably buy the 20% dumor instead of the 16% layer crumble. I hear that the 20% protein instead of the 16% one gives the chickens better feathers and the eggs are healthier. I am also considering the purina flock raiser because its the only purina feed that doesnt have marigold extract which turns the feathers yellow. Does the purina flock raiser have animal proteins? Anyways, once I decide on the main commercial food, I want to mix things in it. For every 50lbs of commercial feed, what do you add? I hear a lot of percentages and how many parts I should have in my feed but I dont understand any of that. I want to know what I should add to 50lbs of feed. I was thinking 1 pound of wheat, corn, alfalfa, flax seed, sunflower seeds, and kelp. Is that too little to add to my feed? I have no idea on what Im doing lol

Bottom line, I want to know your chicken feed recipe preferably in pounds not percentages and parts. Thanks!

 

[newbie coops]

I would think adding all that to your feed might upset the balance of essential nutrients in their main source of food. It's mixed to a particular percentage of calcium/protein/fiber/etc to be the ideal for whatever their purpose. You might consider mixing your own feed instead of buying it, if you want to add all that which is already in the commercial feeds. We use organic, for layers, and have had tremendous results in both the health of the chickens and the nutritious content of their eggs. We supplement their food with plenty of greens (lettuce, kale, chickory, etc.), yogurt (not every day, though) and other assorted table scraps. You don't need to be too scientific. They are, after all, chickens and people have raised them for centuries on very simple diets. The ideal is to free-range them where they can supplement their commercial diet with what they would eat in nature. But if you can't, then do what you think is best. Don't overthink it.

 

[Lollipop]

My experience is that commercial feeds are fine, as is. Free ranging is good, unless your birds are white and you want to show them. It`s the sun that causes "bronzing" of the white feathers. Commercial feed mills spend fortunes creating a balanced diet for your birds. Trying to improve upon it is usually an excercize in futility as well as being time consuming and expensive. All that can be better spent on learning how to improve your stock. Newbie coops is correct in stating that adding a lot of your own idea of what is "better" for them will upset the nutrient balance. So will feeding scraps for anything other than treats. Do what you want, but you are fixing something that isn`t broken.........Pop