Making your own chicken feed
I received some information from a site member about concerns over high soy content in manufactured chicken feed, so I decided to look more into chicken feed ingredients.
As I began to research chicken feed in more detail, I began asking myself a lot of questions. I try to avoid/limit soy in my own diet, so it this something I should limit for my chickens? Is the "ready made" feed healthy for chickens, even if it is organic? I try to limit my own consumption of processed foods, so why should I feed my chickens a processed food? Would it make a difference in their health, egg laying, and longevity? Also, chickens have been around for A LONG TIME, and processed/manufactured feeds have not been around that long. Was the switch to manufactured feeds an improvement in chicken diet? (I highly doubt so.)
Well, from what I have read it is not just soy or organic/non-organic that is an issue, as there are many aspects of manufactured chicken feed that are less than ideal.
Backyard Poultry Magazine has a great article on making your own feed, and talks about manufactured feed vs. fresh homemade feed.
I am going to work on my own formula and phase out the last bag of "processed" feed that I have. I see it as an experiment, and I am curious to see my results from switching them to a less processed diet that I make fresh every few days. I'll be posting some updates periodically on how the process is going.
If you are making your own feed, or have been thinking about trying it, share your thoughts and experiences.
I was thinking about making feed this morning. Currently, in our household we make our own dog food. Every few days we throw store bought chickens (or any other meat I can find for under $1.00 a pound) and a small amount of vegetables into a meat grinder and bake the ground product for about 30 minutes. I do this for my pets health and safety. Doing this for the chickens would not only improve their health and safety but my own.
The response of my chickens between when I throw a hand full of feed vs. a few pieces of fish is amazing. They seem to go nuts over anything that isn't feed.
I'm not sure yet what my feed will consist of but I'll be experimenting. Anyone think of a good source of bugs?
You can purchase live crickets at a pet store. A plant nursery will have other bugs and worms.
I've never tried crickets from the pet store, but our chickens love worms. They love when I turn the compost pile, cause they get a worm feast.
hee-hee:) yeah i made a worm and bug cake 4 their b-day!!
Just found this great article. It's a bit gross but if you can stand it...http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2006/11/free-chicken-feed.html
Thanks Jason- that is a great article!
I've made my own feed successfully (aka- the chickens at it) with whole grains and protein, but it's time consuming.
Since I am too busy to make my own feed, and organic feed is NOW available at local feed stores, I am now just purchasing that. It is a really good product, which resembles the food it was made with, rather than the conventional crumble. It's like comparing whole grain bread to white bread in the look and feel, as well as nutrition.