Question about mixing my own chicken feed

[tnmcampbell]

Hi All-
Currently I use organic and GMO free Dumor pellet feed. I have searched for a feed that is wheat and soy free but haven't found one that I can access easily so I am considering making my own mix. I have found a couple sites with some good information but would love to get some tried and true recipes. Also, the Dumor feed has added vitamins and minerals is this needed in the feed that I mix or would those items be within the ingredients that choose?
I hope I made sense. Please if you do not believe in organic or don't have any answers for this question please do not respond. We all have different opinions and choose to care for our animals differently. Thank you in advance.

 

[Folly's place]

I do have opinions about making chicken feed at home, organic or not. It's difficult and expensive! You do need that added vitamin/ mineral mix, which comes in large amounts and ages out pretty fast. Then, getting the ingredients that fit with a good recipe (you can also discuss this with a poultry nutritionist) and storing them, usually they will all be in 50 lb. bags. Mixing the right quantities by weight, with the right amount of vitamin premix, and having it all stay mixed for feeding.
Will you buy a grinder, or feed whole grains? The vitamin mix will sink to the bottom, not stay mixed. Some birds will eat the yummiest parts and leave the rest, unless it's all ground up first.
I had poultry nutrition and livestock nutrition classes in college, and am delighted to buy the feed store offerings, always checking each bag for a fresh mill date. It's easier and less expensive, and much more likely to be the best for my birds.
If you do it, all the best, I hope it works out well for you.
Mary

 

[PirateGirl]

I have not seen a recipe without wheat, however, if you have not tried, do a search on Pinterest, you may find some good leads there. Some recipes call for additional vitamins/minerals depending how complete the recipe is. This feed calculator might help you out as well when looking at the nutritional content of your mixture.

https://www.gardenbetty.com/garden-...culator-for-determining-your-protein-content/

Also you could compare the values in your mixture to those of popular commercial feeds by looking at this feed comparison chart.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1upDVFXEQPK8PUIF6Sj3Bt5CUQfX1PlTEhg799sDT-qM/edit