DIY Chicken Feed

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

@Kuritsa y Utochka , you have been given excellent advice, and if I only had 8 hens, I would definitely be feeding a quality feed similiar to the suggestions above. However, I currently have 200 chickens, and so I look for the best feed at the most affordable price. I have always fed 16% layer feed, and my hen's lay rate has always been excellent. I supply oyster shell on the side and supplement with garden produce and live meal worms. Plus my chickens are free-range, and that saves a lot of money on feed during the warmer months.

16% Layer feed is noticeably cheaper than all-flock or chick-starter, and store brands are cheaper than national brands. Tractor Supply has a store brand called Producer's Pride. I never fed Producers Pride even before the recent controversy because the feedstore I use matches the PP price, which is currently $11.89 for a 40# bag. Before Covid shutdowns made a mess of the supply chain, I only paid $7.99 for the exact same 40# bag. Nutrena sells a budget-friendlier brand called Country Feed; it is also 16% protein. I have fed that in the past, but Orsheln's Country Lane brand is more convenient, and I'm satisfied with it. I have many older hens up to 8 years old that are still healthy and laying.

It is unfortunately currently more expensive to feed chickens now than ever before. But if you are looking for the best feed at the best price, go with a minimum 16% protein layer feed, and compare prices of store brands in your area.

 

[Sally PB]

supplement with garden produce and live meal worms. Plus my chickens are free-range, and that saves a lot of money on feed during the warmer months.

This is really helpful. Free ranging can augment the chickens' nutrition.

 

[nuthatched]

@Sally PB @nuthatched I live in Northern Virginia. Could I find those feeds at a pet store or online?

Feed stores, online, chewy, even walmart. Pet stores are overpriced for chicken feed.
I recommend any feed that's atleast 18% protein. I used to feed chick feed but it rose in price here.

 

[NatJ]

@Sally PB @nuthatched I live in Northern Virginia. Could I find those feeds at a pet store or online?

You could try Tractor Supply Company or Rural King. Both of them sell chicken food, and both of them are chains that have stores in many places. I think each one has a website with a store locator feature.

 

[Avian Egg Farms]

Hi all,

I am trying to find a budget-friendly recipe for a DIY hen feed. Any suggestions or recipes would be very helpful. Thanks!

Kuritsa

I don't know much about chickens but you could partially make a DIY by mixing a seed blend which consists of grains and seeds that are nutritionally balanced for them and mix in some protein. (etc bugs, pea protein, soybean meal.) and give them veggies. I am also experimenting with making my own feed for quail, (although I am using commercial feed, its not the weird pellets.) I found it cheapest to find a seed blend for quail that consists of grains and seeds, so I'd reccomend finding something like that for your chickens if you wish to give them something other than pellets. Just make sure you can provide the correct nutrition for chickens, so you may want to do some research

 

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

I don't know much about chickens but you could partially make a DIY by mixing a seed blend which consists of grains and seeds that are nutritionally balanced for them and mix in some protein. (etc bugs, pea protein, soybean meal.) and give them veggies. I am also experimenting with making my own feed for quail, (although I am using commercial feed, its not the weird pellets.) I found it cheapest to find a seed blend for quail that consists of grains and seeds, so I'd reccomend finding something like that for your chickens if you wish to give them something other than pellets. Just make sure you can provide the correct nutrition for chickens, so you may want to do some research

Thanks for the reply. What kind of bugs do you feed your quails? I assume the diets are similar...

 

[HomelessHomiesHomestead]

A well balanced and nutritionally fulfilling homemade feed will cost $5-$12 a pound, depending on your location, double or triple that for organic/nongmo. Your average chicken eats 3 oz-5oz a day.
If you have 8 hens, they'll eat approximately 32 oz= 2lbs a day.
Let's say the average cost of homemade feed per pound is $8, that's $16 a day, $480 a month.
To offset those costs, averaging 5 eggs a day, 150 eggs a 30 day month, 12 and half dozen, to even recoup half the cost of feed, you'd have to sell those eggs (every one laid, no eggs for you) at $20 a dozen.
I don't know about you but I do not have an extra $430 to sling at my chickens every month. I'm happy buying two 50# at $24 each that lasts 6 weeks.
If you still want venture down that rabbit hole, you will need:
Vitamin mix powder
Fish/swine blood/by product meal
Soy/kelp meal.
The ability to buy ingredients in large bulk quantities.
The ability to store all it in a pest free, relatively climate controlled area.
Good recipes will not contain large quantities of flax, sunflower seeds, or pet food.

You're on crack....8 bucks a lb...are you feeding them steak? Absolutely hilarious

 

[chooki]

It really depends on how large is your land, and how much work you are willing to put into growing food for your chickens.

If you have enough land, you can grow wheat, milo/sorghum, sunflower seeds etc. for your chickens. In return, you can use chicken manure as fertiliser for those plants. Having a large composite pile is a way to provide insects/worms for the birds.

I mean, theoretically, you can train your chicken to forage for their own food, but I don't know how to do that. Even my rooster flock will just come to me when they feel hungry.

 

[Perris]

It really depends on how large is your land, and how much work you are willing to put into growing food for your chickens.

No it doesn't. I buy my DIY feedstuff. And sale of my surplus eggs covers my costs, so my chicken habit is free. See https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...eat-tears-a-calculator-or-deep-pockets.78655/ and
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/wholesome-homemade-feed-2.79307/

I mean, theoretically, you can train your chicken to forage for their own food, but I don't know how to do that

Your chickens will train you, if you just let them out to forage somewhere where there is natural food to be found, as they instinctively know more about this than you ever will, in theory or in practice.

It is typical human arrogance to assume that we have to teach any other species anything, and that if they don't do something the way we think it should be done, then they are stupid. Let it go, and watch the world come to life.