old chicken recipie/ or help with what to add for them,

[MarketGardener]

Responding by request, albeit late to this because I have been laid low with a virus; turning around now.

Percentages of this that or the other only really make sense if you know and control all elements of the diet. As soon as an unknown element in unknown quantity enters the picture - as it does the moment you chuck some leftovers in the run or let your chickens forage, and they start nibbling bits of this and that, and catching and eating this and that - the percentages that matter (the minute amounts of essential amino acid x,y or z, or vitamin p, q, or r, that everyone is fussing about as per whatever the current trend is) - go to pot.

My advice is to let them forage on whatever you've got available, offer plenty of variety of fresh real foods, including meat, fish, dairy, and / or insect protein (i.e. don't force your chickens to be vegans), and let them select what they want to eat. They choose more wisely than we do. Don't worry; they'll be fine.

Awesome ,
Been doing a panic to be honest making sure , done this to help the health of my chickens we have an old boy rooster who is passing was an old rescue , it’s sad but he’s had a good life ,
My kids want the best and with our new organic venture after finding out about chemicals pesticides and having problems myself we swapped and got better so wanted to ensure chickens got the best too
So we have been feeding carcasses daily as a family of 10 we have a lot left over ,
All the scraps and veg from our organic food , there scratching and playing all day with it ,

I didn’t know if it was enough waiting for your reply so we bought a bag of organic growers mash just to try make sure they wasn’t missing anything having new chicks going mad atm lol but they are growing amazing so must be ok , but a few turn noses up at ferments and choose chicken carcasses only so was gonna mix mash with ferments to make them pick 14 days today

I got my alfalfa pellets organic which I soak and throw in the run makes it look shabby as lol dust is on concrete edges are mud for digging
It looks a mess cause of the cabbage and stuff they demolished on the new sawdust chip stuff


Chicks havin a munch through ferment they have chick crumb but she loves this bowl

 

[Shadrach]

Otherwise, the chickens just drink less water.

I have yet to see any evidence that this is true.
It's one of those things that would seem to make sense but probably doesn't get born out in reality. I have not noticed any major change in water consumption in any of the various feed preperations I've tried.

Above is an average consistency of the mash I made using commercial dry feed. It's 50% water. I change/refill water daily. I didn't notice having to refill water containors twice as often when feeding dry commercial feed and half as often when feeding a mash.
One would really need to experiment with fully contained chickens fed dry and then mash.

 

[NorthernHomestead]

pre 20th cent chickens did well on meat , scraps and carcasses, being the garbage warriors they clean up what the find, siince reading stuff on here ive been throwing them an animal carcass to find them happy content , no fighting, quiet, nothing bad there happy as, they stil want the green scrap i throw at em . and there rummaging and digging eating grit more , when i grain fed they stood at the gate trying to escape and grab everything they could, now.. i could let them walk through the allotment veg no worries its changed everything ive known about chickens , ive had them 15 years now, all different feeds, trials the lot scrap feeders whatever , they were always greedy ''chickens'' thats how i saw them , i have wondered dont they get bored watching me at the gate ALL DAY!! only now have i seen them go be chickens lay bathing sleeping but laying as a flock and not watching for the next scrap,

https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/7b965443-b658-4f35-a859-fcd14f80224f good read

they still need some bits besides meat, and as i have no grass for them until next year i have to supplement them more than just a carcass,

so is there a calc i can use and see ?

my main amino acids will come from Meat, left over chicken /beef left overs n scraps/ rabbit and rabbit scraps, fish skins and heads ground up or fermented (hydrolysate) proteins will be high,
i dont want too much protein to make problems that way so i figure i need a scratch grain to ferment and roll for them ?

do i just make a basic one as they have most supplied? my main addition will be alfalfa , i can serve it wet or make it into a meal to mix in at feeding time as it stinks to ferment,


peas 15%
wheat 15%
barley 15%
oats 15%
alfalfa grass 35 %

extras
marrigolds , kelp
Oregano , Thyme , Rosemary , Star Anise
Bacillus subtilis , from fermentation and others, 5%

the idea is to sprout and ferment grains, and leave a tray out available after they had a rabbit in the morning, i plan to cook meat as it stops it spoiling and sticking to everything , but i wont object to them having some raw too,

the idea is they will hunt in the morning early getting bugs n mice etc any fresh kills left behind, then spend the day roaming fields eating grass and bits so im trying to replicate it lol

Most humans don't put that much thought into what they consume and I'd rather have happy chickens that eat what they crave of what I offer. They love kitchen scraps and protein, I give them kitchen scraps, protein (cooked offal/BSFL/sardines), commercial chicken feed and scratch grains. They quickly fill up on the kitchen scraps and protein and my feed bill is low. They may not live beyond their egg production years, but they'll be happy for the years they do.
Internet research says not to feed them nightshade vegetables, but my flock FOUND the tomato patch and helped themselves to it last year. Trust me, I didn't encourage that behavior. Putting chicken wire around my tomato garden this summer.

Point is, chickens eat what they need and want on their own. Don't overthink it. Don't strive for chickens that live beyond fertile, egg producing years. They don't have value to you or other chickens beyond that.

 

[NorthernHomestead]

I didn't respnd to this because its incaluable. Not knowing how much of which (likely variable) meats means the most nutrient dense portion of the diet is a big question mark. While animal protiens are (largely) similar, there remain significant differences between fish carcass (particularly salt/fresh and w or w/o scales), rabbit carcass, and beef/pig carcass.

As to your grains mix? Its glorified scratch to quite good scratch, but still scratch. I'm going to assume you mean (winter) peas, not field peas, and hope you can get yellow rather than green peas (fewer tannins, meaning more tasty, less antinutritional factors). I'm also assuming you are using soft wheat -cheaper, and generally more readily available.

5% of your recipe is buzz words of relatively low nutritional value, often included in certain feed segments for specific purpose - Oregano and thyme are both claimed to have antibacterial and antiparasitic properties (sure, depending on preparation, and dosage, over short time periods - but not in the quantityies included in most feeds), Marigolds are good for coloring egg yolks. Kelp, depending on variety, provides salt and a decent source of some key minerals - which minerals varies by which kelp. Star Anise? Honestly, haven't a clue - its expensive, it makes good mulled cider, never considered it as a feed ingredient.

With those assumptions, we still have some options - fresh alfala or alfalfa hay?

With fresh alfala, you have a very high moisture feed that's likely somewhere between 10 and 11% Crude Protein, around 6% fiber, relatively low fat, grossly deficient in Met, and relatively low in energy overall - I'd expect birds to increase quantities consumed to make up for the energy shortfall (they are pretty good at self regulating, given the chance), which will bring the Lysine close to target and the Threonine borderline acceptable, but Met will still be grossly deficient, and Tryp will be low also (though not grossly).

With alfalfa hay, because so much of its moisture is removed, you are better off. Around 14 -15% protein, around 13% fiber (that's high, and not desired, but not generally conidered dangerously so), still low fat. Your Lys, Thre, and Tryp numbers are all good - but your Met, while definitely better, is still quite low. Around 0.2. The target is 50% higher for an adult laying hen (0.3), and can be 0.4 or higher for meaties and hatchling/juvenile birds generally.

That puts a lot of pressure on the meat offerings, which fresh, are likely 75-80% water, meaning CP numbers in the 16% range give or take for your beef, a bit higher for your rabbit. The fish will depend on the fish....

Star anise is perfect feed.. when you've strained it from your batch of chicken pho. My flock LOVES pho strains. Star anise, onion, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and coriander.. point is, chickens are adorable garbage disposals. They mostly instinctively know what they can eat. If they don't, you kind of need to let nature take its course so you don't spend all your time babysitting a chicken that seeks out large quantities of edible poison.