Please ROAST my cheap chicken feed and tell me what to add!

[LizzzyJo]

I use the feed listed in the link below. I've never had any issues with it and my flock free ranges daily. I'm getting more focused on feeding them and I want you all to tell me each and every thing that this feed does wrong so that I can work to supplement. I do have a little banty rooster and I am working on feeding him a separate all-flock food to fix any possible calcium issues (the hens don't allow him to eat with them right away, so feeding him separate is easy). If you could - please let me know what all-flock to give him. It can be more expensive than my layer mash because he only eats a little.

I am open to hearing all thoughts, but the price tag on this local feed will be very hard for me to beat. I am much more interested in adding supplements to improve what they may be lacking. Although, if this feed is horrible, then I will switch. It used to be $9 for 50#, so the price has gone up so much I might as well switch to another $14 one.

Thanks!

https://legacylawnandpet.com/products/legacy-mix-poultry-feed-50-lb

 

[3KillerBs]

I use the feed listed in the link below. I've never had any issues with it and my flock free ranges daily. I'm getting more focused on feeding them and I want you all to tell me each and every thing that this feed does wrong so that I can work to supplement. I do have a little banty rooster and I am working on feeding him a separate all-flock food to fix any possible calcium issues (the hens don't allow him to eat with them right away, so feeding him separate is easy). If you could - please let me know what all-flock to give him. It can be more expensive than my layer mash because he only eats a little.

I am open to hearing all thoughts, but the price tag on this local feed will be very hard for me to beat. I am much more interested in adding supplements to improve what they may be lacking. Although, if this feed is horrible, then I will switch. It used to be $9 for 50#, so the price has gone up so much I might as well switch to another $14 one.

Thanks!

https://legacylawnandpet.com/products/legacy-mix-poultry-feed-50-lb

15% is very low protein. Even the average cheap layer is usually 16% -- which is designed for commercial egg layer breeds, light-bodied, high in egg-production, and culled at their first molt so long-term diet issues don't have time to show.

I personally feed 18-20% All-Flock to all my birds and give the girls oystershell on the side. I have a mixed flock so feeding separately wouldn't work for me and my birds are larger, dual-purpose birds.

 

[SourRoses]

15% is all you need to know.
Commercial OPs feed 16%. That's a bare minimum feed for birds that can barely move their legs to exercise and have terrible feathers.

20% is what people raising chickens they want to look half decent and be relatively healthy should feed. 18% isn't terrible. But 20% is correct.

There isn't anything affordable you can supplement to raise the protein without adding excess fat. The price of stuff that can do that defeats the entire purpose of your cheap feed.

If you have a lot of this protein deficient feed left, buy some 30% Gamebird Grower and mix it in well.
1/4 Gamebird to 3/4 deficient layer will yield an approximately 18% feed.
If you can't find 30% just get the highest you can and do math.

Then in future just buy All Flock 20% ... or what I use is 20% Grower (Dumor: $20 - 50lbs).

 

[Perris]

I know you're looking just to supplement a feed, but if you can access it, this, from 2002, is full of useful information
'Practical and economic advantages of choice feeding systems for laying poultry'
https://doi.org/10.1079/WPS20020018
In particular, the introduction includes the points directly relevant to your post about calcium and cost that
"The basic principle behind practising choice feeding with laying hens is that individual hens are able to select from the various feed ingredients on offer and compose their own diet, according to their actual needs and production capacity." And "A choice-feeding system is of particular importance to small poultry producers ... because it can substantially reduce the cost of feed".

If you supply as a supplement a food that is high in calcium (e.g. canned sardines, mustard seeds, haricot beans, plain yogurt) your roo can avoid eating too much calcium, your non-laying hens and pullets likewise, and those coming into lay can get extra (as they have been shown to want when allowed to choose freely). And those supplementary foods will all supply quite a lot of additional protein too.

Watch how they eat whatever you offer, and adjust accordingly as they wolf something down or reject it or whatever. Expect them to sample any food that's new to them, and keep offering it for a few days, as at the initial sampling they'll probably just take a little to decide whether they consider it food or not, and subsequent consumption will reflect how well it went down with their own individual digestive systems. Some birds will like one thing more than others, and so on, so providing a variety is more likely to satisfy more birds' needs. Reference for all that is Hughes, The Principles Underlying Choice Feeding Behaviour in Fowls-with Special Reference to Production Experiments, again behind a pay wall unfortunately, but if you can access it, it's here
https://doi.org/10.1079/WPS19840012

 

[LizzzyJo]

Ok thank you all! I have some work to do. So maybe there isn’t a cost equalizing protein addition?

 

[Ital]

Ok thank you all! I have some work to do. So maybe there isn’t a cost equalizing protein addition?

Dried nettle powder is 31% protein, low in fat, contains all the amino acids, and free to anyone with a pair of gloves.
Adding 10% nettle to a 15% protein mix would make it 16.6% total protein.
Fish meal is also cheap or free if you live near the sea.

 

[saysfaa]

I am looking for something like

...31% protein, low in fat, contains all the amino acids, and free to anyone with a pair of gloves....

I know where I can gather nettles.

How do I get from the "free ... with a pair of gloves" to the "dried nettle powder"?

Will laying it out whole in the sun dry it enough? Or do I need to chop it? hang it? have heat sources or fans or both?

Which part of the plant? Is there a part of the plant that should not be included?
Does it need to be gathered at a certain stage a maturity?

Do I need to grind it? What kind of grinder is needed?

 

[EddieSalita]

Lucerne/alfalfa chaff is a great supplement imo. Lucerne has good protien (good chaff should be 20%), is cheap and can be blended into a powder to add into existing feed (don't be excessive) and has goodies in it to make eggs great.
You may even be able to get it ready made as alfalfa meal

https://www.thepoultrysite.com/news/2014/07/feeding-hens-with-lucerne-boosts-egg-yolk-quality

 

[Sally PB]

I know where I can gather nettles.

I gathered a bunch of stinging nettles and laid them out on my porch to dry for a few weeks. 4? 5? Don't remember. The stems didn't crumble, but I could strip the leaves off easily. I did it over a big tote to catch the leaves, and crumbled them up as best I could, wearing leather gloves to protect my hands.

I had the idea that I'd sprinkle it over my chickens' feed in the winter, for a green when there's nothing green.

They didn't eat it at all. I ended up tossing the nettles into the compost bin. Maybe I should have put it in mash, to soften them up? I might give this a try again. I have nettles growing already.

 

[Ital]

If you sun dry it looses its colour, it’d be quick in a dehydrator at a low temp but I’ve just been laying them in the bottom of cardboard boxes and that works too. What’s the rh where you are? If it’s humid they might need help.
They’re most nutritious/delicious when they first sprout in spring time with the purple anthocyanin pigment in the leaves before the sting develops but any time will do if you’re making powder.
Wait until crispy/crumbly and then grind them up with the other ingredients. I’ve got a cheap coffee grinder that works well.
All parts are edible but I just harvest the tops.

I am looking for something like

I know where I can gather nettles.

How do I get from the "free ... with a pair of gloves" to the "dried nettle powder"?

Will laying it out whole in the sun dry it enough? Or do I need to chop it? hang it? have heat sources or fans or both?

Which part of the plant? Is there a part of the plant that should not be included?
Does it need to be gathered at a certain stage a maturity?

Do I need to grind it? What kind of grinder is needed?