whole grains?

[AgroUrica]

Yes. I agree AgroUrica. But the protein in wheat means, that you dont need a lot of protein to go along with it. But you do need some, I agree. But some leftover fish, meat and poultry from your household can be enogh. You can also use some dried peas or soybean. Sunflower seed also have a lot of protein (and fat).
I would never feed my chickens mostly corn. But something like this could work nicely :

wheat 20 %
Barley 15 %
Oat 10 %
Corn 10 %
Sunflower seed 5 %
Dried peas 5 %

Sprouted wheat 10 %

Pellets 20 %

Leftover meat/fish/poultry 5 %

Plus free-ranging, oister shells and a little olive oil or cod oil now and then.

(This is very close to what I give my chickens and ducks, but ducks get eggs, not meat).

I'm definitely reconsidering my purely corn-based diet for these birds once they hit 40 days. The fat buildup is amazing and while it makes for a decent-flavored chicken soup (very popular here), there are limits to how much fat the clients will accept. The problem is that both commercial feeds and something as simple as wheat are hard to come by these days. When the bakeries don't have bread because there's no import of flour, you can imagine how everything else is affected.

 

[Kilsharion]

Your close with what you have you just need a little more protien for meaties. Have you looked into hard boiled eggs, distillers grains, algae pellets, duck weed, powdered milk, whey, any freezer burnt meat you have you could cook up, maggots, or just digging some earthworms?

When mixing my own, I use:
Wheat (mids - 17% crude protein / HRW - 13% crude protein)
Buckwheat (18.5% crude protein)
Barley (13.2% crude protein)
Field peas (25% crude protein)
Cracked Corn (8.7% crude protein)
Quinoa (13.8% crude protein)
Molasses (3.2% crude protein but tons of micronutrients and vitamins)

I mix in a ratio that gives me about 22% protein for starter rations and then ferment with Apple Cider Vinegar with mother. The fermentation process increases protein levels and assists in digestibility. The sugars in the molasses aid with the fermentation, as well. Because I run a mixed brooder with keets and chicks, I need a higher starter protein.

I have been considering adding peanut meal to the mix (~52% cp, sometimes down to 46% depending on the processing). Since so little would need to be added, it would not horribly impact the caloric value, and the fermentation process should help in mitigating the non-digestible protein levels of peanut meal. Most of the oils are extruded in the processing of the protein meal I'm looking at, so I'm not too concerned about oil issues.

When I serve, I add:
Powdered Mealworms (56.58% crude protein - doesn't take much to bump that cp through the roof so be careful. I prefer this to fish meal since most fish meal has oils and can go rancid, I don't care to use it in my mix.)
Goats Milk Kefir (~2.69% crude protein - used solely for the benefits to health and as an aid in maximizing protein absorption)
Whatever daily treat - bananas, strawberries, kale, cabbage, etc.

Don't just look at the protein values, though. Your birds need trace minerals, vitamins, etc in their diet as well. Wheat and Corn are very good sources for Niacin, for example. And, quinoa is a great source of magnesium. So on and so forth.

 

[pastryman]

I would love to make som duck weed or perhaps maggots/meal worm. But the problem here is that the temperature would only be right less than half the year.

If you raise meaties like cornis X, I think it would be good to slow them down a bit.

 

[AgroUrica]

I'm seriously looking at producing bulk quantities of field crickets as a boost to protein levels when I'm working with just grains. Frield crickts are on the order of 56% crude protein and, best of all, are loaded with some of the amino acids that are essential to proper digestion on the part of meaties.

Here's a link for those who might be interested in field crickets:

http://www.dellchallenge.org/sites/default/files/groups/307581/documents/Digestibility of insect.pdf

 

[AgroUrica]

The Field cricket had an advantage on composition of amino acids for poultry, especially the percentage of lysine, methionine and cysteine, so it might be a new source of dietary nitrogen for poultry, at least would be extremely beneficial as a complement to a domestic animal diet and could be fitted in to meal patterns in a variety of ways.​

 

[Kilsharion]

The Field cricket had an advantage on composition of amino acids for poultry, especially the percentage of lysine, methionine and cysteine, so it might be a new source of dietary nitrogen for poultry, at least would be extremely beneficial as a complement to a domestic animal diet and could be fitted in to meal patterns in a variety of ways.​

Nice bit of information, that. Thank you for sharing!

 

[vsmenagerie]

My kids LOVE catching crickets and grasshoppers to give the chicks lol Our meaties were pretty spoiled, with garden scraps, kitchen scraps, ect. They foraged really well, and always flocked to the new grass when we moved the tractor.

Thank you guys for all the information! I really appreciate it Im going to talk to the feed mill here to see what other things they have. I gave my layers BOSS, so that could definitely be something I add in. I definitely want to be sure they get the right vitamins and minerals, and used a vitamin/mineral mix in the water, and plan on doing that again.

 

[SJ]

When mixing my own, I use:
Wheat (mids - 17% crude protein / HRW - 13% crude protein)
Buckwheat (18.5% crude protein)
Barley (13.2% crude protein)
Field peas (25% crude protein)
Cracked Corn (8.7% crude protein)
Quinoa (13.8% crude protein)
Molasses (3.2% crude protein but tons of micronutrients and vitamins)

I mix in a ratio that gives me about 22% protein for starter rations and then ferment with Apple Cider Vinegar with mother. The fermentation process increases protein levels and assists in digestibility. The sugars in the molasses aid with the fermentation, as well. Because I run a mixed brooder with keets and chicks, I need a higher starter protein.

I have been considering adding peanut meal to the mix (~52% cp, sometimes down to 46% depending on the processing). Since so little would need to be added, it would not horribly impact the caloric value, and the fermentation process should help in mitigating the non-digestible protein levels of peanut meal. Most of the oils are extruded in the processing of the protein meal I'm looking at, so I'm not too concerned about oil issues.

When I serve, I add:
Powdered Mealworms (56.58% crude protein - doesn't take much to bump that cp through the roof so be careful. I prefer this to fish meal since most fish meal has oils and can go rancid, I don't care to use it in my mix.)
Goats Milk Kefir (~2.69% crude protein - used solely for the benefits to health and as an aid in maximizing protein absorption)
Whatever daily treat - bananas, strawberries, kale, cabbage, etc.

Don't just look at the protein values, though. Your birds need trace minerals, vitamins, etc in their diet as well. Wheat and Corn are very good sources for Niacin, for example. And, quinoa is a great source of magnesium. So on and so forth.

Good call with the quinoa I eat the stuff for the protein it adds to my diet but hadn't put two and two together yet. Thanks.