Anyone feed chickens a simple mix of whole grains?

[Our7Wonders]

I know freemotion feeds her chickens whole grains so I hope she posts here. I know this is likely more suited to the backyardchickens site, but quite honestly I really don't want to hear how unhealthy my chickens will be if I don't have the pefect formulation made up for them. I know others are doing it and having success and I know farmers from way back did not spend hours on end formulating the best feed for their birds, nor were they likely to fret over vitamin and mineral supplementation. We've been moving towards simplifying for ourselves, I want to do so for my hens as well.

So, I buy oats and barley in bulk for goats already. For them I also have calf manna (though I'm stingy with the calf manna), beet pulp, and BOSS as well as kelp granuals. And alfalfa hay. Can I use these same ingredients for my chickens? I scoop up the loose stuff that falls around the bales when I'm feeding the goats and the chickens have been getting that all winter since they don't have access to any other greens with the snow on the ground. They seem to like it pretty well. They also get our breakfast grain leftovers each morning: either oatmeal, buckwheat, or millet. They have access to about a 1000 square foot run, but by summer I hope to have more of the property fenced in to allow for free ranging.

The chickens have currently been on an organic soy free/corn free feed but there's no way I can continue to pay $27.00 per 50 pound bag. Perhaps if I only had a couple hens, but I have 15 hens and 2 roosters and plan on bringing it up to about 24 birds come spring time. We might raise a couple rounds of meat birds as well. The protein souces in the feed is a yellow pea, I think. Perhaps a split pea? If grain feeding alone wouldn't likely give enough protein I suppose I could give split peas as well I have a grain mill that can grind them pretty course, though, I'd rather not have to add the extra step if I didn't need to.

So, along with (hopefully) free ranging soon, is there a basic mix I can give them using some of the same ingredients my goats will use?

Oh, forgot to mention, I do plan on having a bigger garden this year. I'd like to grow some extra produce for my goats and am not opposed to growing some for the chickens either if that would help.

Thanks all!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Goats get whole barley, BOSS and alfalfa pellets. And loose minerals
Chickens get whole barley, BOSS, oyster shell and fishmeal, as well as grass/hay in the winter, and free range in summer.
Grit in winter.

I steer clear of beet pulp, as its highly processed, and it cannot be composted.

We buy our barley by the full ton, and next year hope to get oats as well.

This summer we will be planting enough carrots, turnips and rutabegas to feed the chickens and goats through the winter as well. We will just grate them up as needed.

ETA you do not need to grind the peas up. My half grown chicks can handle them just fine as long as they get grit as needed.

 

[BarredBuff]

Mine get a whole oats, BOSS, and cracked corn nix when they aint moulting.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I'm sure you'll get some great answers. I'm just starting to look into this as well. I've posted questions here, or tagged onto someone else's, and gotten good info.

Two links I have saved are articles about that. I probably got them from someone's reply here. I'll post the links ... If anyone has comments about them, I'd be interested too. Otherwise I'm going to be following your thread, since it's exactly what I'm trying to learn now. Feed just went up AGAIN for the second time this year. It's now costing $10 for what I was getting for $7, and I can't afford too much of that. Fortunately my chickens eat mostly scratch (also WAY up) and forage along with scraps.

Here's the links:


Making your own poultry feed

Growing feed for poultry

These are from BACKYARD POULTRY magazine, which I've not seen except these articles online.


Edit to try to fix links since obviously I messed up.
Ok, not fixing so I'll have to try the computer instead of the phone
LOL Finally saw what I was doing wrong and hopefully it's good now.

 

[Our7Wonders]

From Bubblingbrooks Today 11:47 am:
Chickens get whole barley, BOSS, oyster shell and fishmeal, as well as grass/hay in the winter, and free range in summer.
Grit in winter.

So, is the fishmeal for protein? Is it reasonably priced and do feed stores carry it? I can't recall seeing it at ours, but I'm not always as observant as I ought to be. I don wonder, since not free-ranging yet if they'll need an additional protein source when I make the switch.

I need to keep it simple, not only for budget purposes, but for task management as well. "Keep it simple" is my new motto/mantra!


Shiloh Acres - thanks for the links, I'll check them out. I'm sure I can copy and paste those and they should work just fine!

Thanks!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

From Bubblingbrooks Today 11:47 am:
Chickens get whole barley, BOSS, oyster shell and fishmeal, as well as grass/hay in the winter, and free range in summer.
Grit in winter.

So, is the fishmeal for protein? Is it reasonably priced and do feed stores carry it? I can't recall seeing it at ours, but I'm not always as observant as I ought to be. I don wonder, since not free-ranging yet if they'll need an additional protein source when I make the switch.

I need to keep it simple, not only for budget purposes, but for task management as well. "Keep it simple" is my new motto/mantra!


Shiloh Acres - thanks for the links, I'll check them out. I'm sure I can copy and paste those and they should work just fine!

Thanks!

Yes, its for protein, as we do not feed soy. We feed it year round. If we did not, we would not get eggs.
There are two kinds. White and salmon.
You will have to ask around to see if its sold in your area.

I think we pay a little less then $1 per pound. The ratio to grain is very low though.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey Our7!

$27.00!!!!??!?!??! WOW!

we are moving to whole grains also - especially in winter. last year we fed layer mix and had eggs coming out our ears.

a while ago Free posted her mix (you can search on it) and she recommended this article.. i think its here:

http://www.mofga.org/Publications/M...r/Summer2003/Chickens/tabid/1481/Default.aspx

the big points are that you should have at least 3 (is that right Free?) types of grains, some kind of protein and you should give them at least 3 weeks to move to the new whole grains (so their crops can develop the ability to handle them).

we are pretty darn sure we are ahead, even tho our layer mix is ground locally and is pretty cheap. but we have:

* barley
* oats
* wheat
* BOSS
* cracked corn (but we are moving to shelled b/c its getting to expensive!)

and we got a 50 bag of soy protein for like $7 a couple months ago and we are now where near the bottom of the bag.

i also have crushed shells available. our folks free range so they have access to grit/dirt/gravel. and they clean up the hay thats the goats dont use.. and if they are stuck inside we give them a shake of hay to mess around with.

so far so good.

in the summer with the goaties crankin we give milk and cracked corn in the morning, send them out to free range, and then layer mix at nite. they go wild for the goat milk and we see a change in the eggs right away. i also give them whey from making cheese, and any cheese that flops.

good luck!

 

[Beekissed]

I use wheat, oats, cracked corn(just a little),oyster shell and BOSS. Chooks seem to love it and thrive....shiny feathers and perky faces!

 

[Wifezilla]

How much free range are the chickens getting along with the whole grains?

 

[lwheelr]

Alternates to fish meal/soy meal:

Cooked beans
Meat scraps
Worms or Grubs

Shelled sunflower seed can help some too, but not completely.

We toss in Finch Seed when we can afford it too, but they get mostly corn, oats, and barley, and BOSS.

Some chickens will eat whole BOSS. Some won't eat it unless it is shelled.

If you ferment or sprout the grains, they'll do better on it.

We also feed our chickens some kind of greens regularly - veggie scraps, green sprouts, something.

They are healthy, and still laying a few eggs in the depths of the Wyoming Winter.