CHICKEN FEED FACTS AND SECRETS
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- OFF GRID with DOUG and STACY: Stacy and Doug are always looking how to get the best eggs and the most production from the hens. This chicken feed is protien rich and GMO free and that always matters. Stacy gives you several ideas on what you can mix and match just so you know what the minimum amount of protien needed to satisfy your hens =)
Hope you enjoy the information and put it to use and also SHARE THIS VIDEO with fellow flock raisers
*follow us on Instagram:
/ off_grid_with_doug_and...
*follow us on Twitter :
/ 2_off_the_grid
growinginfaithfarm.com
growinginfaithfarm@gmail.com
Send Mail to:
po box 141
Bowling Green, MO 63334
This video should be re-aired right now! Awesome...thank you!
Hi Doug & Stacy. I enjoy your channel. I have watched this video many times. For my backyard hens I just went with a high quality pellet and mix the other stuff you listed in as i get it. I feed table and garden scraps too. There is no way for me to calculate scraps protein. Anyway, my hens lay great eggs regularly, the shells are super hard & yolks are deep orange. Their feathering is so shiny and soft. I do randomly use DE in their dust bath, run, and coop area. So far, 6 years in, no internal or external bugs yet. My 6 year old brabanter still lays eggs 6 days a week! There is no comparison between the taste of a store egg and a yummy fresh egg!!!
Thanks so much for sharing. Blessings to you.
One of our chickens (we have silkies) stopped laying after hatching her chicks. Months went by and even after she wasn’t raising her chicks anymore, she still wasn’t laying. They were on store bought feed. Then our other hen stopped laying. I decided to make our own feed (I used from this list whole corn, Milo, brewers yeast, and whole oats) and they’re both laying again every single day so far.
Interesting how relevant this is to today.
My silkie used to come in the house to dust behind the furniture and scoop up stray pieces of scratch. It left chicken 'seeds' every 10 feet or so, so the dusting duty was seldom.
@@SJ-re6et yes it is...weird
Where do you get your milo ? We used to grow it in Arkansas when I was younger and I would grab stalks of it and throw it in the yard . Chics loved it . Rolled oats, milo , and corn is all they need and table greens all I raise is silkies . But mine laid eggs a month after hatching chics. I usually take chics fro, them . But not this yr my hens are HATCHING out chics as we speak 1/29/23
@@jenniferlawson9132 we have only Silkies too❣️ I grow sprouts for them and they are super healthy 🥰 squash 1X a week, home made food is a MUST! My rooster started “spuring” at me today and that’s really odd! He lets me pet him so idk why he’s off🤷♀️ I also bathe my silkies in the summer (just something I do and they love) and yes they dust all the time too~I absolutely LOVE & adore them so much 🥰
thanks for this! All my chickens stopped laying for the last 5 months now on tractor supply feed. time to make my own.
Thank you for all your videos! I've been sending this one to all my chicken friends. I love that I can always trust Doug & Stacy to give us the best information! Love you guys!
Good info!! How much does your home mix cost per 100lbs? We could really use this recipe for our birds, but it has to be cost effective.
You do realize that chickens are raptors right, they eat meat, so while they can get the protein from grains and seeds, if they were to forage for themselves they would eat bugs and other forms of meat. We use whole oats, but we give them meats too as part of their regular diet. They also are allowed to forage, which we can do, where we live they can roam free, but they should have some type of protein from meat. Many growers I have talked to use meal worms, because they can be grown in simple trays, and their waste is excellent compost, so we are considering that as well in the future. Just remember they are part of the raptor family, and they need some of the enzymes that are only available through meats. As long as they can forage some they will get the meats themselves, otherwise it is best to include some type of meat protein in their diet.
Just some food for thought... so to speak.
Oh yea I forgot, they also need a fairly regular supply of calcium as well, to build good shells. We feed them their shells back, and supplement with crushed oyster shell (it also helps their crop to have grit), and this gives their eggs a good strong shell. It is good that you are feeding them the diatomaceous earth though, that is important if you do not live where they have a good source of clay. They will often eat clay too, which will help with parasites, but also with other digestive disorders. Remember to always have some charcoal as well, if a chicken seems off, feed it some powdered charcoal, and very often that will put them right again. We have a small clay pit they go to on a regular basis, take dust baths, and we provide a dish with charcoal in it, and they use it as they need to, I rarely ever have issues with them, except for the occasional neighbor who feels it is necessary to shoot a chicken because they are bored.
I got more knowledge from it
i heard my hen make a noise like the raptors from Jurassic park it was so cool.so know i have a baby cam and record everything they do and say.
You might want to check out black soldier flies instead of meal worms. They are higher in both calcium and protein and will go nuts with your compost. My birds treat them like they are crack! Also, concerning calcium, it's good you feed them back their eggshells because they are probably one of the most bio available forms of calcium. However, (while I still feed it to them) oyster shell is questionable as to how much is actually bio available. My girls were having trouble with thin egg shells and the vet recommended a powder form given to reptiles. After a week I noticed the issue improved. I mix the powder in with their drained feed (which is wet because I ferment it for two days and then strain it so the powder sticks well.) I like your idea of the charcoal and the clay. Going to have to give that a try! One of my concerns in all this is what sort of vitamins and minerals they need and if what I am feeding them provides that. I've seen pictures of birds who were deficient with certain vitamins/minerals and the effects were awful! I broke down and got a commercial vitamin supplement and mix that up with their fermented feed so it sticks as well and they actually eat it. The supplement is by a company called "Fertrell" and I only need to give my 10 chickens an ounce and a half per day. It took some math to figure that one out as the are assuming you are mixing very LARGE quantities at a time.ua-cam.com/video/ycl3B6-y73I/v-deo.html www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/outdoor-garden/animal-supplements/poultry/poultry-nutri-balancer-regular/13782?package=GP039
James Doud can I feed my hens smooked grind fish as a form protein
It’s that bad neighbors that make the good ones really stand out.
Thank you both soooo much. I’m starting my own backyard chicken coop. Could you tell me what size I should build nesting boxes?
I’m hearing a lot about feeding the chicks a medicated feed for some disease, is this necessary?
How much does each chicken need per day? I am getting chickens for the first time and I bought the ingredients to make my own chicken feed so they are healthy.
I know it's not popular with homesteaders but I would use soy and ferment it with natto. Fermentation is said to remove phytoestrogens. I assume the chickens need vitamin k2 and they probably don't get enough of it. It's such an important vitamin. The more vitamin k2 that animal get, the better its bone density is going to be. It's just as important as calcium and vitamin d.
We also need it and don't get enough of it. Perhaps their eggs will have a greater concentration of vitamin k2. It's a fat soluble vitamin, so don't waste any of its fat. Take all of it, including the organs. Or at the very least get your other animals to consume it.
I found a study on this. Apparently it depresses ammonia concentrations in the blood.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12160875
Solar pressure cooker I guess, to make your chickens happy.
ua-cam.com/video/K2vUEWZBXIU/v-deo.html
Is that why Doug said to stay away from soy: phytoestrogens? Any thing else that they see problematic that comes from soy? Any recommended links Doug or anyone else has that bolsters their position?
Thanks for the ncbi link
Found another chicken study on ncbi, performed on broilers. the study compared synbiotic and probiotic enhanced diets to a number of randomized broiler chicken groups for different legnths of times. The results showed greater body mass, organ growth and other histological changes (eg., bigger villi in chicken GI tracts in supplemented groups. This would probably effect layers in the same way.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19096056
Ahhhh this is good stuff! Thank you!!!!
Question1: Do you think this seed would be safe for humans?( bought at feed store), I'm thinking flax, sunflower or others for sprouts? - Q 2 Do you ever feed them meat? Fruit ,vegetables and Greens? or does the free ranging take care of that?
Q#3 - What about the GMO Corn? Saw Doug on "Brads Full Spectrum".
My son had chickens and told us that since chickens are omnivores, you can feed them meat and vegetable table scraps (even chicken). After dinner, they'd throw the leftovers out to the chickens and watch them fight over it like the Rafters in Jurassic Park.
Thank you!!
awesome information
Nice variety. I don't use legumes. I grow Russian Comfrey. It's perennial and is 20-30% protein. My chickens and ducks love it. I think you should check it out. Harvesting the leaf 3 or 4 times per growing season. An acre of Comfrey will yield at least 10 tons of fresh leaf. My eggs are spectacular. Oh yeah, I raise mealworms to provide fat and protein for my birds. No Soy and they only get whole corn in the winter. All my "girls" lay eggs year round.
Just curious do u dry comfrey for winter feeding or only feed it in season?
@Rhonda Ogles Yes Comfrey is great feed and fertilizer. I started 2 plants they grew slow during winter. Hoping to get more starts.
We also grow comfrey for our girls… not sure why more people don’t.
I will definitely grow comfrey. I use comfrey in my herbals and never thought zbout it. Thx for the info
Where do I get Russian concert seed
For smaller batches you can think of the formula as parts instead of pounds like 30 parts instead of 30 pounds. For instance you could use 30 scoops of this, 20 scoops of that etc., or make one tenth size batch and use 3 scoops of this and 2 scoops of that etc.
Girls of all species also like their veggies, including girls with feathers.
Try sprouting some of those oats. In winter you’ll be surprised at how much they’ll relish sprouts.
And the seeds absorb the water and triple in size, making the price paid for the seed drop.
Came on here after watching your last chicken food from TS video, black oil sunflower seeds are now $33 for 40 pounds, crazy!
Hey there! Love you guys, love your videos! I just wanted to point out that your chicken feed math is off. You need to keep the units of measure whenever you add/subtract/multiply/divide. The .37 in the flax seed equation, for example, is simply .37 lbs of protein, divided by 1 pound of flax seed - pounds being the unit of measure. A percent is not a unit of measure, it is simply a ratio of parts to a whole. So what you're actually getting when you do those equations is pounds, not percent. 5 pounds of flax seed times .37 pounds of protein per pound of flax seed, equals 1.85 pounds of protein per 5 pounds of flax seed. Now, if you had exactly 100 pounds of feed, then the POUNDS of protein would also equal the PERCENTAGE of protein in the feed (like pennies in a dollar). But since you have 105 pounds of feed altogether, it's not that simple. After you know how many pounds of protein you have (16.05) you have to take that and divide it by the number of pounds of feed you have (105). 16.05 divided by 105 is roughly 15.29% total protein, so unfortunately a little lower than you were aiming for. Hope this helps!
Edit: Just as an example of a way that you could bring the total to 100 lbs (which would make your math work the way you want it to), you could keep the 30lbs of oats, make it 25lbs of sunflower seeds, 20lbs of millet, 20lbs of corn, and 5lbs of flax seed, which would give you a total protein content of 16.45%.
Hello dear I have a question about the feed ingredients for fattening poultry 21% protein and 23%
That math is all fucked up 😂😂. Theirs is
Dang girl! Will you help me with all my homestead math? 😄 Well explained. 👏🏻
@@Grognarthebarb filthy language is unnecessary.
@@zepguwlthistle7924 complaining about it on the internet is pretty fucking unnecessary 🙄
Your math is a little off, your technique only works for exactly 100 pounds.What you're actually adding up in the right-hand column is the number of pounds of protein from your ingredients.You then have to divide the total number of pounds of protein by the total weight of all the ingredients.For instance,30LBS ×15% protein =4.5 LBS of protein, not 4.5%.Your way only works because you make 100 pound batches, so 4.5 pounds of protein does equal 4.5%. However, if you were making a 60 pound batch 4.5 pounds of protein would equal 7.5% protein.How to do it:30 LBSx 15% = 4.5 LBS protein25 LBSx 10% = 2.5 LBS protein20 LBSx 17% = 3.4 LBS protein protein+__________________________________75 LBS total ingredient,10.4 LBS protein 10.4 ÷ 75 = 13.9 percent protein.BTW I trade math for fresh eggs :-)
I was totally confused, haha guess I would just feed them oats with a hamburger thrown in. ; /
This is important. People could be very messed up by this.
My head hurts now
Good to know i thought i have a 18.45% protein mix but after checking your formula I only have 16.2%. Thanks for clarifying it.
@@majesticmojo3823 mine too!
Oh, this is AWESOME! Thanks!💓
Hey, you guys looked a little different 6 years ago!! Well, Doug's beard does anyway! Ya'll are such a blessing for all of us!! We're like a big ol' family! ♥️ Much Love and many Blessings from Texas!🤠
🙏✝️🛐💜
good information, terrible math :)
quantity * percentage is not a percentage, it is another quantity
30 lbs Oats * 0.15 (15%) = 4.5 lbs of protein (not 4.5% of protein)
then add up all the lbs of protein and work out what % that is of the total feed
here's the actual maths...16.05 (lbs of protein) / 105 (lbs of total feed) = 15.71% of that feed mix is protein so about right still :)
+OFF GRID with DOUG and STACY ha indeed. Anyway I've subbed and am on the water installation atm. Thanks for the videos :)
They pasture, so will also forage behind their feed.
Watched the tractor supply video and now I have a better idea on how to raise my chickens this 2nd round of raising chickens. I appreciate you two tremendously.
I just came here from that video. I just sent this to my sister. We are both planning chickens. I raised them before but my sister is new to it. We have been concerned about the feed due to other videos we have seen. I wish you all the luck with your flock. 🌾🐓
Me too!
I’ve never had chickens before & following this recipe is going to calm my nerves. Good luck to you & your sister!
ME TOO!!! Looks like a lot of us are being enlightened recently!
Thank you Stacy for the list what the chickens need , it is very helpful, we give them also popcorn for Their digestive system
You are so welcome!
Thanks so much for this video D&S. 🙂 My husband and I were feeding our chickens the Purina brand from Tactor Supply (kind of expensive for us). But, after watching your videos on TS, my husbanded decided to get the chicken feed from one of our local feed supply stores, and it seems the chickens like it better. To me, the Purina brand smelled pretty good for chicken feed, but then again, I'm not a chicken. LOL I mix some the items on your list there with their feed, and they just love all that stuff! My husband butchered some of the older girls for a lady from our church, and she loved the way her chicken soup tasted after using one of our chickens! She said those were some well-fed chickens! Right now our younger girls are only about 7 months old. So, they're laying pretty good. Thanks so much for your informative videos. God bless!!!
Your welcome
I prepping for first year of chickens for eggs, till I saw this comment, I had not thought about the Older Girls.. If I'm doing this, I have to learn when is that time. And to do it.. reality. Just had not crossed my mind.. lol
I'm sure I can. But what's a good indicator of that time? Do they stop laying after a couple years? Get tough? And which time is good to incubate someore for another next season.?
I'm thinking maybe 6 girls at a time.
I have the hen house planned out for mobility, roosting, weather coverage, wintering but did not think Future turn over.. lol
@@candygarfield1479 For some people, their hens lay for up to three years. But, that has not been my experience. Usually, they lay well for about 1 year, 1 and half. Hybrids (which I mostly have) start looking a bit scrappy after a while. 🙂 As they get older their combs are not as bright red, and you can check out their vent. If it's dry, most likely they are not laying anymore. I've lost all my roosters to predators. So, I may order another batch of chicks (including two roosters) maybe later this coming summer. Enjoy your backyard chickens AND fresh eggs!
Do you not ferment ur whole seed feed? Increased nutrient value and super probiotic for the chickens gut/intestines. My hens love it.
Also... what a glorious beard!
I just started fermenting chicken and duck feed and love it. Even better chicken eggs. Pay less in feed while stretching it. More nutrients like niacin for duck and no smelly duck poo. Only negative is just keeping the ferment going.
Watching this again so we can learn about making our own non GMO feed and Patrick and I were shocked at how similar our handwriting is (at least when I am taking the time to write neatly! haha). Thanks for this amazing information Stacy!
I have totally copied this down! Especially with what's going on with the feed in the stores, not that we were going to use it anyways. We plan to do free range on our 17 acres and supplement only if needed.
I like what you said, "Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of theirselves." That is wisdom!
allll the smalll things add UP ⚡💖💤🎶🍒
I actually learned that in a restaurant management class. I have used it all my life.
It's an old Scottish saying from the 1800's
Yup got our hens on non gmo layer feed and also I do special mixes just like you guys, corn oats sunflower etc. This warm weather has been nice, the hens are free ranging more and the eggs are awesome. People that are used to nasty store bought eggs always freak out when they try real eggs. We've had people questions the green eggs, I have to chuckle and tell them it's just the color of the shell, whats inside is just as awesome as the brown ones.
Doug and Stacey, I really enjoy your videos and appreciate all you have done for these years off grid and sharing these things with us. My son asked to raise chickens a year and a half ago and we started the adventure. Now we have 60+ chickens of all sorts of varieties, 20 ducks, 2 geese, and plan on getting more this summer (especially meat chickens). My son decided to mix his own feed to save a little money and we actually switched away from Tractor Supply's Dumor brand over 3 months ago and it sounds like that was just in time. I had read that the chickens should also have more minerals, and the feed store I use (a Mennonite one) has a mineral supplement mix. I buy one bag that lasts for 2000 pounds of mixed food. Some day I hope to make it to a homesteading conference and get to meet you.
I started making my own feed last October and I only had a reduction because of 3 hens molting :) we supplement with Layena though, makes me wonder.
Doug and Stacy, do you ferment your animal feed and would you make a video about how you do it? I would be interested in your method-there so many other people doing it.
I would love to learn this too!
Me too!
Ohhh... we're talking chickens! I love it! xoxo
Just starting here. How much feed per chicken? If I have 15 chickens how much a day should they be getting!? Also, when starting chicks, is this the same recipe for babies? How do I make starter feed?
Great information on the types of seeds.
However, I agree with Vernon that the maths is off.
E.g. 15% of 30lb is 4.5lb ... Not 4.5%
You should use PROPORTIONS of the total 105lb to find the average protein level.
E.g. (15% x 30/105) + (26% x 20/105) + etc. (Note lb divided by lb ... Leaves just a proportion)
Your actual AVERAGE protein amount is only 15.29%.
Just use less of the corn and millet (which drags your average down) and more of the higher protein feed instead)
E.g. Using 30lb of sunflower and only 20 of millet would raise your AVERAGE percentage protein to 16.90%
Love the channel though.
This helps, thanks!
Can someone please explain how they are calculating the protein percentage? Most looks normal to me but 37% for flax and 26% for sunflower seeds seems really high. My bag of sunflowers says min 15% protein and the info I find online about flax is 18g per 100g. Weather I calculate that by weight or by calories I don’t get 37% though. Thanks to anyone that can help.
Once again - nice to know - Thank you.... I was raised by my grandparents who were born in 1910 & 1911 so I have been around this life style all my life but most of it was very simple living/ nothing fancy by no means.... Our eggs have always been beautiful but it makes sense to feed them healthy as well.... Granny always just gave them scraps and some scratch etc but I guess when I think about it they got all none GMO , healthy real foods they raised ....
Is this still applicable today or have you changed it?
Thanks for all your truth in your videos
Hemp seed ! High protein Heard it was a complete food. Doing my own list, wish I had watched this first . Would have saved myself several days research. Happily all my findings on protein contents were the same or close. Thankfully Hemp and black sunflower are common in wild bird seed mix here in uk.
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us! Something about the government I just don't trust and like making my own whatever things. 🙏💖
Saving this to my chicken playlist for future reference.. I hope to get a coop built this spring ..idk if chickens will be this season if chicks start selling for $20 a piece ..but the coop will be built !!
I miss these videos. You guys seemed so happy, and I learned so much.
Just watching this in 2023 and wanted to tell you THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO EVER! lol. Timing of watching this is perfect. I keep trying to catch up on older videos and you "pinned" this and I'm so glad I ckicked on it. I love how you figured out how to make a mix and know your protein content. It's not just mix a bunch of good ingredients and feed them. You guys are the best teachers. Thank you
We have raised chickens for over a decade, free range. We have never made our own feed. Thanks for the information. Whole and not cracked corn. ! I have seen some videos on soaking the feed. Do you have an opinion on the soaking / overnight ferment of chicken feed?
Thanks for posting this!! It gives me a better idea of how to make my own feed... something that I'm anxious to do! 🙂
Thank you so much for this video! I've been wanting to make my own mix. I didn't know it was that easy. One quick question, I researched the % of protein in sunflower seeds, and it says 15% to 17% all over the internet. I did find in a chicken feed ingredient chart that had it at 26%, so why is there a difference?
i've been following the chicken story a bit myself and and I'm glad I ran across this article because I will never buy store bought feed and I always thought why can't you make it yourself and now I know how and I'm beginning my journey because in Alaska I heard there is no eggs And if there are they're very expensive so it's time to get my own chickens thanks both of ya down to Earth just like me.
Where do you get your oats and grain in such large amounts?
I "finely crush" the egg shells and give back to chickens, because the calcium is so good for the hardness of the fresh eggs, smiles
Edith
Great ides; I toss about a dozen egg shells into a bullet blender with a little water, then broadcast that over the ground near where my chickens eat.
I have heard you should bake them to 200F to kill bacteria first?
pedro97w it’s fine to feed them directly because any bacteria on the shells would be in the eggs themselves and beneficial to the chicks, unless the flock has an infection like salmonella for example (which is actually very uncommon in small healthy flocks), then you’d want to roast them.
@@kathvg I also read that baking them will change the smell and taste so they will less likely eat their own eggs. I just pop the eggshells in the toaster oven for 15 min. It makes them nice and crunchy too.
I do that too. It seems to help!
Thanks for sharing this, do watch your math. Glad some others helped with that. It's such good info, I had to take screen shots for the recipe for the future! Thanks for all the help you provide!
I open range mine (they get to go wherever they want), seems to make for the best eggs.
I let mine out during the day. Have no choice but to lock them up at night. To dangerous with critters around here for them to be in trees at night! Eggs are fine. Only problem we ever have is the hens hide their eggs!
Do you give them apple cider vinegar in their water?
I was told chickens can not eat dry beans, unless they are cooked. Good info , thanks for the breakdown of protein content.
Just watched a video that said no dry beans I’m confused.
Split peas are not the same as beans
my chickens do not seem to eat dry split peas.. but they love roasted or raw shelled peanuts
My ladies also do not like the dry split peas. I haven’t had an issue with them not laying this winter(Praise God) but they do not like Dumor crumbles. I also give them bread which I seen one lady say she gives her chickens and many of the other items listed on the side. I only have 4 very spoiled and loved ladies.
Stacy, very organized and a well done presentation! Thanks a lot, one of the best informative video's on You Tube! Appreciate it. You two are awesome!
-
QUESTIONS: how much apple cider vingar do you add to their water, how many times a week?
also: have you heard of feeding them ground up dried egg shells? Thanks.
I hope this is o.k. with Doug and Stacy as I've been bouncing through answering questions. A couple sources I've read as well as my vet said no more than a tablespoon per gallon of water for ACV. Also, ground up dried egg shells are great! There's a really good book out I recently purchased and am learning LOTS from it. It's called "The Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow. She mentions ACV and that it keeps the chicken's crop (as long as you don't give too much or too little) at a certain pH which most bacteria and viruses don't like. Hence, it helps keep the birds healthy. HOWEVER (and this I don't remember the source) DO NOT give your birds ACV in hot weather. (Here I would say any weather that is prone to making them pant or seek ways to cool down. Some birds I've found are more heat tolerant than others.) What you need to give them in warmer weather is baking soda, a teaspoon per gallon of water. It acts as an electrolyte and it balances your flock's pH, which becomes very acidic in hot weather. When their system's become acidic they are more prone to laying soft shelled eggs.
How many times do you actually feed your flock per day ?
great info... when I do the chickens I want so badly to grow their feed, do not want to have to buy anything. . be great in the future to do a video on harvesting the chicken feed that you grow.
We grew our own oats. It didn't work well for us. The mice population boomed and took over our barn. They pretty much ate our oats. I hope you have better luck!
@@StoneKathryn That's what Barn cats are for. 😺
Can I use wild bird seed instead? Mixed with oats etc
Just wanted to say Stacy you're amazing and your birds always look so nice on all your videos. I've watched a lot of your videos and it is always interesting to see the time lapse years ago and then a recent one and it's just amazing how well you guys have done for yourself and how happy you are. I bless you and your family. Theresa " for the family"
Yeah, you did multiply by a percent but you don't end up with a percentage when you're talking lbs. So, it is a little off as far as percentage at the end. You should divide your total pounds by your protein pounds and that'll give you the percentage.
Anyway, do you really grow oats and flax and corn? I've seen the sunflowers in your garden but not the others.
Good info, I think I'm going to start to do this because the soy in the feed really isn't good for anyone or anything - esp when we know it's GMO and all that stuff is poisoned -- and I really think it'll be easier on my stomach when I eat the eggs and I will also charge more for them so people know they're getting a totally natural egg.
found you guys from Adams homestead videos. I love the channel. you guys seem really positive. i miss my chickens, the police coerced me with threat of violence to get rid of my flock 1 year ago. I'd like to get further from slave neighbors.
That's great but I find the chickens will just pick out their favorites and leave the rest for the lower ranked hens. Unless of course you're grinding?
I remember as a kid we raised chickens in Southern Oregon. We were not scientific or knowledgeable at all! We had a very big chicken yard and they often got out. Real free range. We threw anything we didn't want in the way of food in there--even if was spoiled. If a chicken died and got full of maggots outside the yard I would take the shovel, pick the carcass up, and heave it into the chicken yard. The chickens would go crazy and be all over that carcass! Any bug, or small animal was devoured! We supplemented with some generic chicken scratch. The eggs produced had such hard shells my mother used to complain that she needed a hammer to break the shells. And the yokes were bright orange! When I moved out and bought eggs at a store I thought something was wrong with those store bought eggs!!! I want to get back to those days.
Thanks so much, I no longer trust the big box stores for my feed source 😤
What is this "angel wing" someone was telling me about, when you give them too MUCH protein? How much is too much?
hi. could you forward a copy of this to the guys at Big Family Homestead. They are having some issues with their laying hens and could use some help. Thanks
Phoebe Long
I appreciate all your hard work with education the rest of us folks who are not math wizards. Never have been. But I do come from a long line of farmers, dirt lovers.❤❤❤💪👐. Hugs sent from Bama!
My Chickens haven't laid since August. I just got goat feed today, I will be mixing some other things too. I haven't bought from Tractor Supply since your story about Story Time came out.
I've also bought from 2 different local stores that also carry feed.
I think it's a conspiracy, because the last 2 bags are not from Tractor Supply. I think that they (the government are against us? And don't want us to succeed with us getting eggs
Thank you Stacy and Doug, that was really informative. Appreciate you sharing these valuable facts.
Vernon Woodward is right. You cannot add the protein percentages only. You must add and then divide by the number of grain-bean sources to get the percentage. This will only work if the pounds of the additives are equal ( 20 or 30 or 10 pounds of each)
I've got a question, I don't raise chicks as of yet just gathering as much info as possible because i would love to start... on Justin Rhodes channel he feeds them table scraps, meat scraps and when one dies he puts it in a bucket with holes drilled in it so that when the maggots crawl out the other birds can eat them, what are your thoughts on this? he says he feeds them the meats and such because chickens are not vegetarians... please help me out here.... especially with the feeding them chicken eggs, meat and chicken maggots and cow milk...... thank you
If you ever saw chickens catch a mouse you would know for certain that they are NOT naturally vegetarians!
I feed mine table scraps. They do need the things like Justin Rhodes says. I go more of the worm and fish meal route for animal protein.
I have seen mine catch a mouse, take off running and the others are hot behind wanting to grab it. It's true.
The only downside to Justin's idea of the dead carcass maggot feast is that it's also equivalent to hanging a huge banner that reads: "ATTENTION ALL PREDATORS. OVER HERE, FREE MEAL!". Every coyote, fox and raccoon in the county will be headed that way. BUT...if ya want MORE dead chickens to replace the first one in the bucket, it works just fine (assuming you can catch the coyote and fox running off with them in their mouth).
I know calcium Is cheep to purchase but I was fortunate to get free oyster shells from a local seafood shop. Within 3 weeks I had over 400 lbs of shells . I cooked them to dry them out crush them in a cast iron pot and mix that in my feed. Since I live nowhere near the ocean this was a free source. I have a lifetime supply now. I recently after many many many talks with a local micro brewery was able to get their spent grains from them. My chickens LOVE it. Another free source of feed. It doesn’t last long here at my place. Hard work pays off. I’m looking at every avenue to keep from purchasing feed. I’m not there just yet but very close. Thanks for showing the protein chart. It will be very useful.
great video im growing sun flowers now for the chickens
It's great, cuz dog gets meat scraps ,birds get bread pasta veggies rice anything. Composting yard waste garden clippings chix poop! 🤣 Nothing wasted!
excellent! Ive been trying to find out how to calculate feed, I had question marks in my head!
I love this and I am going to do this for my chickens! Looks so much better than the crumbles from TSC, thanks a bunch!
Very helpful and informative video. I especially liked that y'all broke down the math percentages and how that all worked...thank you so much for sharing this!
Reading Stacy's list and my head is singing Oats, Peas, Beans & Barley grow lol haven't thought of that song since I was a kid...
I missed this video from 6 years ago, so I'm glad to see it now 😉
We "rescued" chickens over the weekend. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
So you can give split peas that are not cooked directly to your chickens?
Walmart had black sunflower seeds in a big 40 or 50 lbs on for 3 or 4 dollars during their black friday sale last year and i bought 2 for my small city size flock. It was the best investment i made on that shopping trip! I always come back to this video, thanks for sharing !
I was going to mix my own feed. However, after finding out the cost cost of paying for each item, it is expensive. I wonder is suppliers have caught on to the idea of making our own and have made the cost so high that someone may either quit raising or just give in to buying premade feed. (?) your opinion. Thx AK
Thank you both for all your helpful videos, you are great at it...I have been feeding my chickens food from many stores, glad I have your recipe now. I will be working on making my own! I like to sprout some of thier whole grain, it makes it 3 times the size and more nutritional...Thank you for caring for us and our feathered family🐓🐤🦃❣
I wondered if they sprout or ferment. Thanks for mentioning this
I sprout in jars in my kitchen...Haven't tried the fermenting. 3 T in quart jar rinse 3 times a day. In 3 days the jar is almost full...I have 7 chickens it is plenty for a day or several as a treat...I also plant the sprouts under wire box so they get greens later...😊
@@kcassil1 thank you!!
I have wondered for years what would be a good, healthy mix for chickens. Thanks for doing the research to figure this out and share with us.
What a wealth of information! I am a new mom to 14 chickens and I am definitely going to be making their feed now! You guys are the best! Thank you!!!
I'm going to start mixing some split peas for my birds thanks for the info you both are grrrreat !!! P.s. CAN I FEED MY CHICKENS RAISINS??
Love this. Great tips and you are what you eat is so true. Glad to see visualization and easy peasy examples
HI DOUG AND STACY, SINCE THEY ARE GOING FOR US ALL, CAN YOU TEACH US HOW TO GROW FOOD FOR OUR CHICKENS? THESE PRICES FOR BLACK OIL SEEDS ARE INSANE !! PLEASE TEACH HOW TO GROW FOOD INDOORS WITH AEROPONICS TILL THEY GET RID OF ALL THE DEMONS !!!
This was very helpful!! I saw soy in organic feed as one of the top ingredients and that’s what made me look up making my own.
This is great info, thank you. I have to ask about the beans, though I have read in several places that cooked beans are fine, but their dried beans contain hemagglutinin which is toxic to chickens.
That's what I was wondering also.
Greetings to both of you! I have watched you for a couple of years now and I think you both are amazing! So I watched your recent video Dough, about the food at Tractor supply. That is such a wake up call! Now I just watched this video on how to make your own chicken food. Excellent!!! The most helpful information was the last part. Much easier to figure out what type of food and then the bag measurements. So I am getting new chicks tomorrow. What would you give new babies if you were mixing your own food? I am wondering if this food you mixed would be called layer food? I am new to chickens! We are only getting around 8-10 birds. It is still cold here, in ( Willamette Valley) Oregon. We are so excited! Thank you for all you do! Praying you have many Blessings coming your way!
stacy here is a 22.3 percent chicken feed mix that you may want to try this farmer said his chickens love it and lay very very well
recipe:
1. 2 (40 lb) bags of black oil sunflower seeds
2. 2 (40 lb) bags of whole corn
3. 2 (40 lb) bags of whole oats
4. 10 lbs whole flax seed
5. 10 lbs white millet
Protein Analysis:
Black Oil Sunflower Seeds - 26% protein (40 lbs = 10.4% protein)
Whole Corn - 9% protein (40 lbs = 3.6% protein)
Whole Oats - 15% protein (40 lbs = 6% protein)
Flax Seed - 37% protein (5 lbs = 1.85% protein)
Millet - 9% protein (5 lbs = .45% protein)
=22.3% protein
I have never see a black oil sunflower seed bag stating more than 16% protein. What brand do you use?
This is our second posting. How my wife and I got the percentage of protein: If I have 5 items of feed, I add up the percentages of the protein content and then divide that total by 5. Ex: If I use flax seed-37, wheat-15, oats-12, barley-12, corn-9 equals 85. 85 divided by 5 equals 17% protein. My wife is a Master herbalist with over 35 years experience. The math seems to work out well. We want to thank you for all the information and hard work you have put into this video. The Lord's blessings always.
how do you measure by weight?
@@farhananyc1963 by protein
I am assuming, since you didn't say, that when you are buying these grains, that they are organic, so you aren't' giving them GMO or sprayed food? Just wondering. I only have 3 chickens, I won't be making their food, but you have presented great info for those who would want to. I give mine organic feed and grasses and weeds , that I glean for them also bits from the organic food that I either grow or buy, if I let them run free I wouldn't have a garden!,..my garden, chicken area is relatively small. They do have ample room to roam tho, fenced in along the length of the house. ~Blessings
Your video is quite interesting but I'd like to point out a slight math error that you have made. In the example that you gave you had 30lbs oats at 15% protein gives you 4.5%protein. However it actually gives you 4.5lbs of protein. Your total batch was 105lbs with 16.05lbs of protein. 16.05lbs of protein/105lbs total =15.28% protein. Hope that helps. Keep up the good videos.
+Blaircrest +1 Math is off. Got to keep a minimum of 16% protein.
Yeah, I won't lie, I was watching her multiplying the weight by the % protein, then saying the result is % instead of actual protein weight was killing me.
BUT, on a positive note, the feed ideas rock!
WHAT!
This was killing me too!
What do you feed to start chicks over the first 2 or 3 months?
This is the best presentation that I have seen yet!! I can't thank you enough. God Bless you both.
Never mixed my own feed. Seems wise and simple enough. Thanks for the introduction!
How long can this be stored? I'm trying to make my own chicken mix so that way I have something if food becomes unavailable for the next year.
Do you also add dried herbs to the feed mix? I know oregano is good for them also.