Looking for a source for homemade feed recipes

[tab]

Been searching for a bit for some recipes for home grown and made chicken feed. Did a search here on the poultry board and must not have used the correct terms because I know there have been some. I have found some but most of them list soybeans. I am trying to do this without soy. Been reading a bit about sprouting grain such as buckwheat which sounds pretty interesting. As I have continued with this search it has lead me to wonder if there is a book with such info for not just chickens but other birds, cows and goats. Basically looking to be as self sustaining as possible. Winter is long in NNY so it adds to the difficulty of this.

[goatlady]

Soy is used in most premixed feeds as it is the high protein source. Corn alone only has about 7%-8% protein, other grains vary and to regularly produce eggs hens must consume at least 17% protein. You may just have to make a list of the protein content of grains you can grow in your area and see what you can come up with. In the spring and summer and early fall when the chickens can free range they get lots of protein from the bugs, etc. they scrounge.

[texican]

Look into free ranging your birds... they gather their own protein. Of course, if you live in blizzard country, can't imagine free ranging.

Growing feed? Grow as much grain as you possibly can... and feed as much variety as you can. Supplement their food in the winter with table scraps. When you don't have enough, cook rice and throw your excess green scraps in for vitamins.

Meat scraps and table scraps have fed mine in the past, outside of their free rangeing.

[oneokie]

"Feeds and Feeding" by Morrison is a good book to find information.

[Parttimefarmer]

"Pastured Poultry for Profits" (salatin) has a couple homemade formulas plus some info on substitutions. You may be able to get it from the library.

Homegrown pumpkin is a nice winter feed boost.

[tab]

Gah! I have Salatin's book, I knew there were recipes somewhere, in ONE of the books on the shelves! I will check on Amazon for the book by Morrison. Never hurts to have multiple sources and since the animal poulation is growing here, the wider range of animals covered, the better.
Free ranging has to be limited here due to dogs, foxes, coyotes, fisher, hawks and even eagles. Am working on a moveable pen but it is not the same as free ranging but will have to do.
One of the problems with soy is the need to cook it before incorporating it into feed. Not sure how to store it either.
One of my hopes in a book with multiple recipes is the hopes of incorporating things like squash, mangels, sprouts, etc. Want to grow some sourghum as an expirement. Chickens are one of the easier animals to feed since they eat such a variety.

[olivehill]

Not only do you have to provide enough quantity of protein -- your crude protein -- you must provide a quality protein, made up of the appropriate amounts of amino acids.

[Spinner]

I've read things like people buying a bag of bird seed and planting the seeds. I've been to seed sites where they have a section of seeds that are recommended to grow your own chicken feed.

Most cover crops are good chicken feed. Chickens will eat just about anything. They love pumpkins and most things from the garden.

I ordered some blue hubbard squash to grow for my chickens and goats this year. It's a great keeper so can be fed all winter until spring green up. I'm growing several other grains for them too, but will turn them in to eat it when ready instead of harvesting it for them.

[Whisperwindkat]

Some things we grow for our critters feed are: black oil sunflower seeds, corn, field peas (blackeyes, pink eyes, purple hulls, etc.), okra, squash (different varieties), mangle beets, and chickory. The sunflower seeds can be dried on the head and a head tossed to either chickens or rabbits and they will pick the seeds out. The corn can be cracked along with the field peas (protein). Okra seeds are loaded with protein and I just slice the okra for them to eat fresh or you can dry it and then crack open the pod when you get ready to feed it. The chickens will peck at the mangle beets but they have to be chopped or shredded for the other critters. Most everyone will eat squash and we grow extra of everything for everyone. They also love the squash seeds which can be dried for later. Blessings, Kat

[Lizza]

I know you were looking for chicken mixes but you may be able to adapt these goat mixes, lots of good info on this page and she has a link to help figure out the protein percentage of your homemade mixes. I especially liked the ideas on sprouting.

http://landofhavilahfarm.com/loh-feed-regimen.htm

Peaceful Valley Organics has a chicken seed pasture mix that you may be able to use as a guide for your own planting:
http://www.groworganic.com/omega-3-c...irrigated.html

[Mutti]

Check out Carla Emery's Old Fashioned Recipe Book....our go to book for anything farm-related. She has lots of ideas for feeding inexpensively. Besides, everyone needs this book on their survival bookshelf! We have three signed copies...including her very first done on a mimeograph machine!!! DEE

[tab]

Have the ninth edition of Carla's book. It is a wonderful primer but need more specifics. It is usually my first stop for most questions.
Those links look interesting. The more animals that can be fed the better. I have really considered getting goats for a very long time.
One of my concerns with this very wet season so far, is if traditional grains don't produce well, what other foods can be substituted. The same could be said in a very hot, dry year. Just trying to cover as many bases as possible. I really think there may be a time when the net is not accessible. Books are wonderful. It just isn't the same, curling up ith my smart phone as opposed to a good reference book!

[windblown]

google make your own poultry feed comes up with bunches for you to look through good luck

[FunnyRiverFarm]

I find that my free-ranging chickens do just fine on plain oats or barley and some black oil sunflower seeds. I also give them goat's milk--I put out about 1/4 cup per bird. In the winter, I supplement them with dairy-quality alfalfa and worms. Worms are extremely prolific and easy to raise year-round indoors.

Most of the recipes for chicken feed I have found online are waaaayyyy more complicated than they need to be.

[AgrarianDr]

Duckweed and Red Wigglers.
Neither take up a great deal of space and both fill a huge void in feestock for chix. Duckweed is by far one of the easiest "crops" to grow - 24/7/365 and provides a HUGE nutritional niche. Duckweed can be fed either fresh or dried, which means when you have several huge bins and have too much, just dry and store. And Yes, you CAN find yourself with too much if you aren't careful - it doubles in volume every 24-36 hours (given the right conditions)
Also, potatoes are cheap, easy to grow and extremely filling. We boil, smash (skins on), cool and feed. Potatoes also keep extremely well