I'm getting chickens in August from Meyer hatchery so I made a feed recipe. 30% Wheat Berries 5% Corn 2.5% Oyster shells 5.5% Spice Mix, added after fermentation 20% Scratch and Peck Naturally Free Layer Feed 5% Bugs, added after fermentation 2.5% Fish Oil, added after fermentation 2.5% Kale 10% Chopped Basil 2% Food Grade DE, added after fermentation 15% Oat Groats The feed will hopefully be Organic and fermented, also, spice mix is cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and kelp, all crushed finely. Will this recipe work? If not, how can I improve/fix it?
Amateur is the operative word here. My suggestion would be to let the pros with degrees in nutrition and years of experience help you out of the amateur stage. Feed your birds a good commercial ration according to directions forget the fermenting and organic nonsense and let them have access to green feed. Do this at least a year before you take up with all the fads you seem to have been sucked into.
You can't fix that recipe! Listen to CJ and buy a good balanced chick feed so your new babies can survive and grow. Mary
Feed the Scratch and Peck exclusively to your birds when they arrive, the formula suitable for their age range. IF after some time (and much more research on the SCIENCE of feeding chickens, not holistic hearsay) you still wanted to experiment with making your own feed I would prepare a very small amount and serve it as a treat. Not sure what the high percentage of spices are about as chickens have very few taste buds and are driven mostly by texture. And your homemade recipe doesn't have nearly enough protein in it. The only fish oil you should every consider feeding is cod liver oil, and then sparingly as vitamin a toxicity can happen easily. You need these links in your life: http://www.feedipedia.org/ http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...ltry/nutritional_requirements_of_poultry.html I do make my own feed but I supplement equally with commercial feed, and I did my homework on what chickens require nutritionally to not just survive, but thrive.
I'm feeding the chicks commercial feed, and I heard Scratch and Peck was a good feed and people say it's intended to be fermented, so I pretty much have no choice, also organic eggs are supposed to be healthier and I'm consuming the eggs, combined with me being unable to find other good organic feeds, I'm kind of forced to ferment Scratch and Peck.
I read on the Fresh Eggs Daily blog that black pepper helps absorption of nutrients, is a antioxidant, is antibacterial, is an anti inflammatory, and helps their respiratory system. I thought I read something about cayenne, but it turned out I confused cayenne with black pepper, so that shouldn't be in the actual feed, ginger is gonna be in tiny amounts of the spice feed, and will supposedly produce larger eggs higher in antioxidants and boost egg laying production of chickens, and finally, kelp has tons of minerals.
There's lots of fantasy 'information' on the web, and birds need a balanced base diet above all. Mary
No you're not. Scratch and Peck does bot beed to be fermented and they don't say it should be. What you do need to do is find a way for them to eat the powdery stuff that is left once they picked out all the bigger pieces. You can mix it with a bit if water, milk, yoghurt, whatever and feed it to them in a dish. When they are done with that, refill your feeder. In that reapect I like my homemade feed better... I get the powdery things to stick to the grains with a bit of added molasses and peanut butter. My chicks don't leave those behind!
With help from people on this forum we created this recipe.. I ferment mine cod liver oil included and when serving i add boiled egg or sardines for extra protein.. 7 cups oats 5 cups wheat 3 cups split red lentils 1 cup sunflower seeds/BOSS 1 cup flax seed 1 cup sesame seed 1 cup pumpkin seeds/pepitas 3tbs black strap molasses 1/2 cup kelp 1/2 cup nutritional yeast 1tbs dried oregano 1tbs cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp pink rock My chicks have had this since i got them at 1 week old they are now 4-5weeks and griwing like weeds feathering out nicely
