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How to make your own chicken feed

Making chicken feed at home is the best option, because it is a great way to save money on the one hand, and on the other hand, it ensures the provision of healthy feed for poultry that contains protein and nutrients that help in feeding it, so Shababeek answers a question: How to make poultry feed yourself in the following.

Chickens

Components of laying poultry feed

107 lbs (49 kg) of wholemeal cornmeal

41 lbs (19 kg) of soy.

28 pounds (13 kilograms) of fishmeal.

31 pounds (14 kilograms) of corn bran.

13 pounds (5.9 kilograms) of limestone powder.

Note: These ingredients yield 220 lbs (100 kg) of chicken feed

Method of preparation / how to make feed for laying hens

We measure the ingredients in a suitable container, then add all the ingredients together in a suitable container, and you will mostly need a large barrel to mix and store the feed, because this recipe produces 100 kg of chicken feed.

Use organic ingredients if you want to make your feed organic.

Mix the ingredients until well combined, stir the feed with a shovel so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the bowl, and make sure to mix the ingredients in the bottom, as this ensures that the chickens get the nutrients from the different ingredients.

Give each chicken 0.28 lb (0.13 kg) of feed per day. Multiply the feed required per chicken by the number of chickens you have. For example, 6 chickens X 0.13 = 0.76 kg of total feed. Put the feed in a bowl or sprinkle it on the ground in front of them.

Chicken feed can be stored in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

Feed should be checked for rats, bugs, and mold before feeding to chickens. If it is contaminated, it is safe to dispose of it.

If you don't have a suitable place to store the feed, put a lid on the container and keep it out of direct sunlight.

Ingredients for broiler poultry feed (meat/broiler)

250 lbs (110 kg) of corn grits.

150 lbs (68 kg) of ground roasted soybeans.

25 pounds (11 kg) of rolled oats

25 lbs (11 kg) of alfalfa powder.

25 lbs (11 kg) of fishmeal.

10 lbs (4.5 kg) of aragonite (powdered calcium), a mineral found in limestone and considered a great source of calcium.

15 lbs (6.8 kg) of Poultry Nutrient Balance (a proprietary blend of vitamins and minerals).

Note: These ingredients yield 500 lbs (230 kg) of chicken feed.

If you can't find these ingredients at your local farm store, search online or ask your vet to recommend a distributor who can have them available.

How to prepare feed

Combine cornstarch and soybeans in a large container, such as a keg or feed container, and stir with a shovel until well combined.

It is preferable to choose a container with a lid, to facilitate the storage of the feed. If a large enough container is not available, the recipe can be reduced by half.

This feed works well for broilers as it contains a lot of protein to help the chickens grow.

Stir the oats, alfalfa powder, and fishmeal into the mixture, mixing until all ingredients are evenly distributed in the container.

We add aragonite and a poultry nutrient balancer to the feed. A poultry nutrient balance is an important addition to feed, as it ensures that chickens receive the nutrients they need to grow quickly.

Feed each chicken (0.27 kg) of mixture daily, so you can use 1.4 kg of feed for every 5 chickens.

Chickens should not be overfeeded with this feed, because large quantities in excess may cause fatal heart attacks, and chickens often do not tend to eat more food than they need.

This feed can also be stored in a covered container for up to 6 months, in a cool, dry place to help prevent rotting or contamination by insects.

Poultry feed alternatives

Chicken feed can be very expensive if you rely on local feed stores to buy it, and you may find it difficult to make it yourself at home due to lack of time or any other reason, so after knowing how to make poultry feed yourself, you can also learn about alternatives to poultry feed that are Less expensive, but still of high nutritional value:

Wheat

A 50-pound sack of wheat can be purchased to produce approximately 400 pounds of food for the chickens. Soak the wheatgrass seeds in a container for 12-24 hours, then plant them in a suitable container outdoors if temperatures are warm or indoors at other times of the year. Water the seeds daily and within 7 days you will have chicken feed.

the lawn

It is advisable to keep the scraps of grass that can be obtained after mowing it, to provide it as nutritious food for chickens. Weeds that are discarded from cultivated vegetables or flower beds can also be saved and reused as chicken feed.

Eggshell

Eggshells should not be thrown away, but it is recommended to grind them and provide them to the chickens as healthy food. Hens need calcium to produce hard-shelled eggs, and feeding them eggshells helps maintain their calcium levels.

Eggshells can be mixed with other healthy ingredients, like wheatgrass, for a calcium boost. Mix some apple cider vinegar or garlic in the water and your chickens will get all the vitamins they need. Eggshells do not have any negative effect on chickens, but it is preferable to feed them with another source of calcium such as oyster shells from time to time.

peanut powder

It contains a good amount of protein, so it is a healthy option for feeding chickens, and it can be used as a food supplement with the previous alternatives instead of relying on it mainly.

Care must be taken when feeding chickens peanut powder if someone in the family has a peanut allergy, because scientists are still not sure if the feed makes it to the eggs.