Animal feeds

[Shiloh Acres]

I've seen this discussed on BYH but I can't really sort through all the differences of opinion to a level where I'm confident enough to do this.

Our local feed store just increased prices by a dollar or two for all the feeds I buy. And a guy from church gave me a bunch of lidded plastic barrels. There is a feed mill about an hour or a bit more of a drive from here. Assuming I can figure out how to unload full 55 gallon barrels ...

I'm thinking of buying grains in bulk and mixing as much of my own feed as I can. I'm concerned about my lack of knowledge though -- of course I want to keep my animals healthy! Does anyone do this, or know of good websites or books with good compiled info? Or guidelines of what to consider?

My animals are these:

One llama -- I am more inclined to buy her feed if needed. It's the most expensive at $14/50# but ... I only have one, she's my most valuable animal, and likely the one hardest to find tested info on. I only feed her a large cup scoop a day (20 oz or so cup). She eats a pelleted exotic animal food for llamas.

Goats - two doelings, buckling, wether (milk goats). They eat mostly browse and hay right now with a cup of food between them as I lock them in, but later for breeding and milking will need more.

Chickens - layers and a few roos right now. They eat some layer pellets and more scratch and I keep oyster shell in the coop. They freerange when the can and get most of my scraps.

Geese - breeding flock of Emden, Pilgrim, Toulouse. They mostly graze and eat hay but I supplement with chicken feed -- currently high protein layer pellets -- 1-2 lg scoops a day for 7 adults.

Rabbits -- meat breeders. They eat a LOT. I'm giving commercial pellets and good hay. No clover and not much else growing at the moment.

Guineas, but they just peck a little scratch and eat what they find. Sometimes I wonder how they survive but they refuse everything I offer (except watermelon!)

I expect to add ducks soon, and I've been offered quail. The church wanted to buy me some more goats (bless them!) but none are available and the pastors wife asked me if I'd want some sheep due to lamb soon. I have not given her an answer -- need to research it more.

So ... Anything I can or should buy in bulk, or can mix for some of these? Even if I use it to supplement their feed. I don't mind complicated. I used to want it simple, but at times I mix grain, calf manna, alfalfa ... According to the animals' current needs, so I'm fine with mixing their food daily and for different ones if I need to.

Thanks if anyone can help!!!

 

[Javamama]

I don't have any recipes, but the feed mill would probably bag the grains, then you can bring it home and dump it into your bins.

 

[~gd]

I've seen this discussed on BYH but I can't really sort through all the differences of opinion to a level where I'm confident enough to do this.

Our local feed store just increased prices by a dollar or two for all the feeds I buy. And a guy from church gave me a bunch of lidded plastic barrels. There is a feed mill about an hour or a bit more of a drive from here. Assuming I can figure out how to unload full 55 gallon barrels ...

I'm thinking of buying grains in bulk and mixing as much of my own feed as I can. I'm concerned about my lack of knowledge though -- of course I want to keep my animals healthy! Does anyone do this, or know of good websites or books with good compiled info? Or guidelines of what to consider?

My animals are these:

One llama -- I am more inclined to buy her feed if needed. It's the most expensive at $14/50# but ... I only have one, she's my most valuable animal, and likely the one hardest to find tested info on. I only feed her a large cup scoop a day (20 oz or so cup). She eats a pelleted exotic animal food for llamas.

Goats - two doelings, buckling, wether (milk goats). They eat mostly browse and hay right now with a cup of food between them as I lock them in, but later for breeding and milking will need more.

Chickens - layers and a few roos right now. They eat some layer pellets and more scratch and I keep oyster shell in the coop. They freerange when the can and get most of my scraps.

Geese - breeding flock of Emden, Pilgrim, Toulouse. They mostly graze and eat hay but I supplement with chicken feed -- currently high protein layer pellets -- 1-2 lg scoops a day for 7 adults.

Rabbits -- meat breeders. They eat a LOT. I'm giving commercial pellets and good hay. No clover and not much else growing at the moment.

Guineas, but they just peck a little scratch and eat what they find. Sometimes I wonder how they survive but they refuse everything I offer (except watermelon!)

I expect to add ducks soon, and I've been offered quail. The church wanted to buy me some more goats (bless them!) but none are available and the pastors wife asked me if I'd want some sheep due to lamb soon. I have not given her an answer -- need to research it more.

So ... Anything I can or should buy in bulk, or can mix for some of these? Even if I use it to supplement their feed. I don't mind complicated. I used to want it simple, but at times I mix grain, calf manna, alfalfa ... According to the animals' current needs, so I'm fine with mixing their food daily and for different ones if I need to.

Thanks if anyone can help!!!

I have done it for chickens, ducks and geese. I like to use oats & barley because they are usually cheaper than wheat or Corn mostly it requires a little knowledge of protein and calorie contents of the grains. I know you can find recipies and mixing directions for poultry feed and I expect with some searching you could find the info for all the animals you keep. One thing you might not think of is oyster shell for you egg layers. they need the extra calcium to replace what they use for shells, it is included in layer feed. Sorry I can't be more help
As for the drums the mill put them on for me at home I would tip part off into a wheelbarrow and dump that into baskets or tolts. when the drums were half empty I could usually move them either in the wheelbarrow or with a hand cart

 

[lorihadams]

Do you have a hand truck? Like the moving guys use to move heavy stuff. They can fill the barrels and then move them around to the barn on the hand truck.

 

[freemotion]

Have you seen what I do for my poultry and goats? I'm sorry, I don't have time to re-type it here, I've detailed it extensively on several threads here and on byh and a search would bring it up. You don't need a degree to feed your critters, but you do need some basic information and need to be much more careful with confined critters. Variety=nutritional safety.

Eggs and milk need protein and calcium to produce. Ask yourself what each critter would eat in the wild and try to re-create that. Poultry eat mostly bugs if given the chance, and lots of grass and greens, and a small amount of seeds. We try to make them eat all seeds, so then it gets tricky.

Feeding whole grains can reduce your grain bill by half. Sprouting/fermenting reduces it more and increases nutrient availability and can dramatically increase protein.

Keeping your eyes open for things to add variety helps a lot. Winter is tougher if it is a frozen climate for you, but right now I'm feeding pumpkins (frozen now so I cook them, I had literally hundreds of them) and mangels that I grew. If we get a thaw I have permission to dig a couple of rows of turnips next door. I gleaned corn, too, and sorghum this year.

I could check out local cider mills for apple waste and we have a few microbreweries that might have spent barley (very high in protein) but I seem to have enough right now and am reducing critters at this moment. Meaties going to freezer camp now.

So just some ideas to get you thinking in a different direction.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Here is a feed calculator to help with percentages.
http://ultimatefowl.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4973&p=36032&hilit=Protein+Calculator#p36032
The link is in the third from the bottom post.
Just download it to your computer.

 

[maf8009]

go to grain mills or storage mills/ grain dryer companies and ask for "rejects" you can get truck loads bag fulls of rice hulls and rice rejects.. ( not good for people) for free or $5 per 100 lb bag or rice or bring a shovel and its all FREE... you can get oats, corn, wheat and so on.... if you are willing to shovel through the scraps...

Rice hulls fyi are good for the garden high in protein and have bugs... the chickens have trippled egg production since adding rice hulls ( and I also add ground soy meal 48% to boost protein...I average 20% protein and the chickens LOVE it... eggs all over the place! )

 

[Libertyhomestead]

Here is some good feed info:
http://www.poultryhub.org/index.php/Feed_ingredients

Nutrient requirements:
http://www.poultryhub.org/index.php/Nutrient_requirements_of_poultry

Recipes here:
http://www.lionsgrip.com/recipes.html

Example recipe from link above:
17% Layer Ration:
965 lb. Shelled Corn
600 lb. Roasted Soybeans
100 lb. Oats
100 lb. Alfalfa Meal
175 lb. Aragonite(calcium)
60 lb. Poultry Nutri-Balancer
2000 lb.

A Joel Salatin Layer Ration per 1 ton of feed
Roasted soy beans 617#
Ground corn 596#
Cracked corn 398#
Crimped oats 219#
Feed grade limestone 99#
Nutri-balancer 60#
Kelp meal 11#

Easy home grown protein ideas:
solder fly larvae and duckweed are extremely high in protein and very easy to produce. If you have a water pond/pool for ducks its easy to grow duckweed, duck and poultry poo is the perfect fertilizer for duckweed. Scoop it from the water and feed directly to poultry and it grows back each day.

You keep solder fly like earthworms in compost/table scraps, as larvae develop they crawl out. You can keep a tub elevated right near the chickens so when they crawl out they drop to the chickens.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Thank you all so much. Every post here has been very helpful. I think I'll be able to use my barrels (I have a dump cart and if needed even a little tractor). I think I'll ask for a few more barrels even.

Free, I know I've seen a post by you on feeding your goats. I was still kinda new Ato goats and I loved your ideas but they seemed overwhelming. Now that I've routinely mixed 4-5 things for my girls while pg and milking, it doesn't sound so impossible. . I'll go back and search for those ... I think on BYH.

Thanks so much for the info and links too. It's a busy time of year but I'll have a look more in depth tonight or tomorrow. I think that's just the info I was looking for.

And I love the info on the rice hulls

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Sorry got cut off. I need to find out why I can't post from my computer. The phone is getting tedious.

But the rice hulls and soldier flies are great. I think my chickens are doing SO well cuz of the bugs they get, and I'd like to make sure to have a good ongoing source.

Free or cheap and good for the soil is just another great benefit where rice hulls are concerned. I'll be calling the feed mills for more info.

Thanks again, so much everyone!!!