I am trying to locate some ration recipes for feed for our chickens. I think there was an issue with some in just reciently but I can't locate it. We are looking for chick starter, broiler, and egg mash ration recipies with an estimate of the % of protien in each.

-- Jane Bauer (Bauer@Northcentral.tec.wi.us), July 27, 1999

Answers

Try going to the public library and requesting a copy of Feeds and Feeding, a book written in 1948 by Franklin Morrison. He tells you more than you will ever want or need to know about feeding livestock. It is a rare book. I don't make my own chicken feed. It is cheaper to just buy it for the few birds that I have.

-- A.C. Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), October 21, 1999.

we used to mix chopped corn and finely chopped mixed grain along with layer supplement and oyster shell. i don't know the %of protein but do know the more corn you use the higher it gets. right now we are trying whole red spring wheat in the ration and are having luck with that too. some times instead of oyster shell we use sand and gravel but you need to use more to get the same calcium content

-- kirk schofield (kirkman13@hotmal.com), December 13, 2000.

Corn is not a protein source, it is an energy source. It frequently only has a protein content of around 8%, which is pretty low, though some open-polinated corns will go quite a bit higher. The book, Feeds and Feeding, already recommended, will help you, especially an older copy. Also, most of the books on raising chickens will have at least some information on making your own feeds, though modern writers seem to be unanimous in saying that it is best to just purchase your feeds. (Which is true, unless you are willing to do a lot of research, and formulate and mix carefully. There are no easy outs.)

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), December 14, 2000.