Making and Mixing Your Own Chicken Feed (by Joshua Duvauchelle)
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Although many people buy their chicken feed, others prefer to have control over what goes into the mixture. Formulating your own feed doesn't just give you control, it can also be cheaper. However, there are many factors in this somewhat complicated procedure. Therefore, I recommend doing this only if you 1) are willing to take the extra time to mix your own feed and 2) you understand the nutrient requirements of the chicken (for a basic nutritional overview, see our article on feeding chickens).
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Balancing poultry rations is largely a matter of correcting certain nutritional deficiencies in the ingredients. For example, a diet consisting of ONLY corn would not be sufficient to keep a chicken healthy, so you must add other things to balance it out. It's sort of like your multi-grain cereal...each ingredient helps compliment and add to the substance of the other ingredients.
The different grains that go into chicken feed differ in chemical composition and the nutrients contained in them. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to know the exact nutrient requirements of the chickens you intend to feed this to. A bird will go through different stages of development, at different ages and according to what they are going to be used for (such as for eggs, for show, or for meat). To keep costs down, it's also necessary to know which ingredients provide the best source of the required nutrients.
For the most part, chicks from 28 days of age and up are fed a "starter ration". This ration contains lots of protein (about 22 percent) to give them the energy needed to grow and develop properly. From 56 days (8 weeks) and up to when they start laying (usually around 6 months of age), the pullets (females under one year of age) are fed a grower ration containing about 17 percent protein. Once laying commences, layer ration is fed to them. Layer ration has a bit less crude protein content....about 15 percent in most feeds, and also adds extra vitamins and minerals like calcium.
Some of the minerals needed in general chicken feed are zinc, copper, iodine, magnesium, calcium, sodium (0.15%, also equal to 0.37% sodium chloride), phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and iron. Some of the vitamins needed by chickens that must be in their feed are Vitamin E (requirements vary as bird grows and diet changes), Vitamin D, Vitamin A (may be Vitamin A or pro-vitamin A), Vitamin K, Thiamine, Niacin, Pyridoxine, Riboflavin, Pantothenic acid, biotin, Vitamin B12, choline and folacin.
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The following is how to determine the amount of energy and protein ingredients needed in the feed. The "equation" is called the "Dairyman's Square" (For more information on this, check out some of the poultry books in our new online store):
- 1. Draw a square
2. In the center of the square, write the protein content desired in the final mixture (such as 20%)
3. At the upper LEFT hand corner write "corn" and its protein content (9%)
4. At the lower LEFT hand corner, write "supplement" and its protein content (40%)
5. Subtract diagonally across the square (the smaller from the larger) and enter (in the corners) the results on the RIGHT hand side (20-9=11; 40-20=20)
6. The number at the upper RIGHT hand corner gives the parts of corn, and in the lower RIGHT hand corner you have the parts of supplement needed to make a mixture with 20 percent protein. Thus, 20 parts of corn mixed with 11 parts of supplement gives 31 parts of feed with 20 percent protein.
7. To convert this to a percentage basis, divide 20 by 31 and multiply the result by 100. The ending result, 64.5 percent, indicated the amount of corn that will be used. The supplement is represented by the remaining percent (35.5). And so...in a 100 pound 20 percent mix, there would be 64.5 pounds of corn and 35.5 pounds of supplement.
The above is one of the simpler ways to compute and balance a poultry ration (its not just for chickens). Commercial feeds will have the required amounts of nutrients and minerals and proteins, but if you're mixing your own rations use the Dairyman's Square to figure out how much you need of each
ingredient. Remember, formulating your poultry feed may be cheaper, but it also requires more time and energy from you. You also risk malnutrition or over-dosage of certain vitamins/minerals. Unless you know what you're doing, we suggest you stick with a commercially prepared chicken feed.
