Glad everyone has found some good use of this video! Just wanted to clear up some thing since making this video prices of everything has doubled! (Not great) plus our new flock never seem to enjoy this much so we have switched to commercial feed for the time being til we figure out a way to make a homemade recipe that the price can be closer to the commercial feed per pound. Thank you all for watching and trust me your chickens will love this!

Some of the best eggs I ever had came from chickens that were given a square bale of alfalfa in their chicken house. The chickens would peck and pick that bale down to stems. Then you just sweep everything into the compost and start over with a new bale. The eggs we got totally stood up and were as orange as a piece of salmon. Good stuff.

Asking for prayers for my hubby, Brian😢. He saw the Oncologist and his Cancer was staged at stage 3-C. Prayers are greatly appreciated.

You are what you eat, but you also are what what you eat eats 😂

40 lbs whole oats, 20 lbs whole corn, 20-25 lbs black oil sunflower seed, 10 lbs of split peas, 5 lbs flax seed, plus sprinkling diatomaceous earth, with side bowls of shell and grit. Sounds good - thanks!

That "thanks Daddy" from your daughter was the sweetest hallmark moment

Great mix :) I'll add grit and diatomaceous earth as well. I have 12 hens and collect on average 11 eggs a day. The least amount we had was 9. Yesterday my black Australorps shocked me by laying 2 eggs each! I spoil them also almost every day with chopped up parsley or comfrey or dandelion leaves from my garden. I also give them meal worms as a treat once every 2 weeks. Also mix plain yogurt with oats, they love it! I didn't even know you can give them a sardine tin once in a while! Yes my girls are so spoiled and loved. They are also free ranged. I know not everybody can do what we do but we are thankful we are able to. Blessings to all the backyard chicken keepers :)

I have seen on several channels to use “whole corn” in the winter. My son-in-law worked for a huge hog farm. One of the daily duties was “clean up detail”… sweeping up the spilled corn onto the concrete “walkway”. My son-in-law asked me if I needed any corn for my chickens. He explained that they get 5 gallon buckets upon buckets of the cleanup corn and it would be OK to bring me a couple of buckets to feed the chickens. I had a flock of approximately 25 hens and two roosters. One of the roosters was a beautifully marked Arcana. I was so looking forward to hatching some eggs from him, he was just beautiful to look at and had a great personality too. He started making a loud pitched whistling noise and stopped eating. I had mixed the whole corn in with other feed and didn’t think anything about it. There was an old guy that lived close to me that had chickens his entire life. I explained what my rooster was doing and asked him if he knew what it was. He looked very sad and said yes I know what it is. He said your rooster has a few kernels of whole corn down in his craw (gizzard)and can’t get it moved. He explained that whole kernel corn takes forever to break down and if too much of it gets in the craw it will kill the bird because they can’t eat because the corn has got everything stopped up, so they literally starve to death or die from not being able to breathe. I learned the hard way and I try to watch while pouring cracked corn to remove any whole kernels.

I give my chickens cooked white rice, oatmeal, yogurt, diced apples( no seeds), berries, bananas, cooked corn or raw corn on the cob, cabbage, greens, DE and calcium in their laying feed. I add sardines, tuna and a great quality small bits dry dog food.

Man my grandmother cooked 3 big meals a day. The chickens got the leftovers. We never bought chicken food..now I am 71. My chickens were getting commercial food.. they stoped laying.. I got beans and noodles and rice, I make a big pot cooked. They love it. Egg production is up. I give my nabors eggs. I also free range them. I put mothers vinegar in there drinking water . Oyster shells . Also Damascus earth. This kills parasites. I like watching a hen bring out a bunch of little babies. They are so cute.

For those wanting to get chickens... I have at least 3 local Amish farms (southern Ohio) that buy 12-15,000 chicks every summer (1 June) so they HAVE to sell ALL their 1 year old chickens (already laying) by the 3rd week of May and they usually give a good price.

Your daughter is such a happy child, it's wonderful to see kids in self sufficient homes.

Side note: if you can afford it, it is best to purchase a good commercial feed for your chickens to ensure they have a balanced diet. The above listed recipe would be a great scratch grain recipe to give them in the afternoon. Do your due diligence and come to your own conclusions. This is the EXACT same recipe that Off Grid with Doug and Stacy use. I saw their old video on this from like 6 years ago. Your written out list of proteins even matches hers. And, someone had to correct her on her math, too. Yes, you can give lentils to chickens. Give them cracked corn in the colder months because it helps their body produce heat. I wouldn't give them any corn in the hottest months for the same reason. Fermenting this feed will help them get the most nutrients from the food, better digestion, and provides them with probiotics. To ferment this feed, you need to use non-chlorinated water. Put the feed in a jar and cover it completely with the water. Let it sit for 3 days, stirring every day. It will start getting bubbly and smell like sourdough. Make sure the feed stays covered in water so it doesnt mold. Now, some folks reuse this water for their next batch. I would start fresh. It's okay if they drink the water, too. The food grade de is to help them with internal parasites and whatnot. I would also put a small amount of de in their nest bedding, coop floor litter and dust bath. Not much. It isnt good for their respiratory system to inhale a lot of de. I'll be using ashes from the wood stove in the Spring as part of their dust bath. You can also put 1 tbs ACV to a gallon of water for them about once or twice a week. Sometimes you might want to put some crushed garlic in their water to help with internal parasites. Be sure the ACV is raw, not pasteurized. I recommend Braggs. This is not for any metal waterers, either. I would also replace it with fresh water after about 48 hours. You can also sprout certain seeds to give your chickens a nice protein treat in the winter.

30 pd oats 20 pd whole corn 20 pd black oil sunflower seeds 10 pd split peas 5 pd flax seeds

I was in tears yesterday as I simply can not afford the extra feed in the winter. I am going to give this a go and maybe save myself from becoming a failure here at raising chickens. thank you

With the large companies adding chemicals to the chicken food so they won’t lay, this is a great alternative and good for the chickens.

Hey Tom, love the video and will be using this recipe for our chickens. However, just want to let you know that your homemade chicken feed has 3% more protein content than you calculated. Your calculation was spot on, but you forgot one little step. When you are calculating the amount of protein per 30lbs of oats which on average is 15% protien. That means that out of 30lbs of oats in a perfect world, 4.5lbs of the oats is protein while 25.5lbs is carbs. (4.5lbs protein)+(25.5lbs Carbs)=30lbs of Oats.... So after you calculate the average amount of protein per/weight of grain you add "Corn, peas, oats etc." you add up all those numbers like you did. Then you divide that number by the total weight of all the grains you added. Which then gives you an average protein content of your feed of 19.35%. I'll do my best to type it all out below to hopefully make more sense.... Oats. Average amount of Protein 15% (30lbs)x(15% or .15)= 4.5lbs of protein/30lbs of oats Corn. Average amount of Protein 9% (20lbs)x(9% or .09)= 1.8lbs of protein/20lbs of corn Black oil sunflower seed. Average amount of Protein 26% (20lbs)x(26% or .26)= 5.2lbs of Protein/20lbs of Black sunflower seed Flaxseed. Average amount of protein 37% (5lbs)x(37% or .37)= 1.85lbs of protein/ 5lbs of flaxseed Split pee Average amount of protein 25% (10lbs)x( 25% or .25)= 2.5lbs of protein/ 10lbs of split peas Now that you calculated the total average weight of protein for each grain, you then add up all the protein theoretical weight. (4.5lbs Oat Protein)+(1.8lbs Corn Protein)+(5.2lbs of Black sunflower seed Protein)+(1.85lbs Flax Protein)+(2.5lb Pea Protein)=15.85lb protein (4.5lbs)+(1.8lbs)+(5.2lbs)+(1.85lbs)+(2.5lbs)= 15.85lbs of protien Now you add up the total weight of each grain added. (30lbs Oat)+(20lbs Corn)+(20lbs of Black sunflower seed)+(5lbs Flax seed)+(10lbs Pea)= 85lbs total grain weight. (30lbs)+(20lbs)+(20lbs)+(5lbs)+(10lbs)= 85lbs total grain weight. Now you take your Protein weight and divide it by the total grain weight. (15.85lbs of protein)/(85lbs of total grain weight)= 0.1865 or 18.65% protein content for the total 85lb grain mix chicken feed.

I cook for my chickens: NON-GMO rice and green lentils or split peas. I just bring the pot of rice to a boil then turn it off while it absorbs the water, to which I add uncooked Wild bird seed mix, sunflower seeds, fresh papayas, and dry cat food with a handful of oyster shells. I grow oregano and NZ spinach leaves, which I also provide. Sometimes I sprout sunflower seeds for them.

I have been looking for a homemade feed for a long time. You explained about the protein content and now I feel confident about it. Great Job! Thank you! Your daughter is precious. Blessings on your family!💚

Been hearing a lot of chicken owners having problems with egg laying lately with commercial feeds...thanks for the great info! My chicks will be arriving tomorrow!

I think the math actually says your feed is 19.35% protein. Your numbers on the right would be pounds of protein not %. So take your 16# protein ÷ 85# total = 19.35% protein

Good recipe. I don't use oyster shells, but I do dry out and crush egg shells for them. Gives them the extra calcium they need for harder shells

As he is mixing the food, he has gotten the chicken's attention lol!

It makes me cold, just watching you stand there in the snow. Down here in Texas. Some cold weather just arrived and we shut down school for two days. Seriously… We are so rural that our frozen two-way highway with no shoulder will be a real danger. liked your protein explanation.

I feed corn to my chickens because they love it and for the meat birds it produces a rich yellow fat that greatly improves the flavor of the chickens. The broth is so rich and flavorful.

We live in Michigan also, but we get our feed from a Co-Op. They will mix the feed however we want & it's Alot better than commercial feed. We can adjust the ratio however we want, plus we know what goes into the feed, & it's usually cheaper in the long run & we use larger quantities. REALLY loved the video. Have a blessed day. Prayers, peace, and luv to y'all.✝️🙏❤️🕊️💜🌹

So glad I found this now in Jan 2023 when nobody's hens seem to be laying if they're being fed commercial layers pellets. This is in the UK but also US. Maybe elsewhere. I'm now feeding straights and your video is very helpful. Let's hope they start laying again. Something very fishy going on in the poultry feed business.

It's amazing how relevant this video has become!

You actually have 16.45 lbs protein in 85 lbs of feed, or 19.35% of protein. For my chickens I've been feeding them regular chicken feed from the store as well as lots of table scraps and plants from my garden I don't want to compost. Thanks for the video, I'll try some of these ideas.

Your daughter.. precious! When I was little, I would hum and sing anytime I did anything, too!🥰. Doggos are adorable, too!

I laughed so hard when your dog came up to you and you petted him and told him he was a good boy and you said to him "now protect those chickens". Afterward, he turned around looked at the chicken coop as to say "naw, I don't think so - but thanks for the luvins" and he walked away 😂.

I've trained my chicken to eat garden snails. They weren't interested at first and they still won't actively seek them out, but when I crush them up a bit and drop it in their pen, they go for it, broken shells and all. I figure it must be a good source of free protein and maybe calcium too from the shells.

Hello from the thumb! Don't forget about the oyster shell. You can clean their egg shells and crush them to give it back to them and cracked corn works better for them. Great job! Also you have to have locations for them to avoid disease. You have to transfer them once a year. Even if you have a ground coop you can just move it. You can try to get molasses added to your feed. Some people use day old bread from the bread store to fill out their feed. If you tell them it's for livestock, they'll give you a great deal! If you go to the feed elevator, it's best and they can add molasses for you. Tell them you want layer feed. I hope this helps!

Hi, Loved the video. We just started keeping chickens and this is helpful. Just wanted to point out that the protein is lots higher than you are thinking. 30 pounds of corn at 15% protein per pound is 4.5 pounds of protein from corn, so you last column is pounds of protein. I think you have 85 pounds of feed with 16.45 lbs of protein so a little over 20.5% protein. The hens should be very happy!

I’m feeding mine oats , black sunflower seeds, alfalfa pellets, red hard wheat, puppy food plus table scraps . Great job . I subscribed

Oh your Daughter is so precious.

I have my WHOLE seed mix on a 3 day ferment. You can also sprout whole seeds or...even grow food plots from them! I put the whole corn I have thru a blender to crush it because my younger chickens were leaving it behind. I also add crushed cat kibble that my cat didn't want to supplement the protein when winter and no bugs. Meal worms are excellent too. Fantastic video

I'd run it through a grinder set to coarse. I think all those big chunks are hard on the gizzard. I'd also add thistle and dandelion seed if you can find it.

So glad that you realized lentils is not ok unless cooked.

Go green! Yay Spartans!

This mix looks so much yummier then the store bought pellets... I'm sure the hens think so too and it looks fun for them to eat! Thank you!

You seem to be ahead of this craziness going on right now with the feed. Which is GREAT! Subbed! Glad I found your channel!

on a cold winter morning i watched our rooster chase down a mouse like speedy gonzales and run away from the hens to eat it himself! lol

Excellent!

I love all the natural varieties of feed you used. I took notes so that I can start feeding the chickens right. Thank you. I just subscribed.

Really appreciate this. I have had chickens for over a year now and while they are doing well with commercial food I think its time to start making my own. This was a really clear and full description and explanation. Thanks.

great one, i love it

Thank you. Exactly right, what they eat is what they produce and we are what we eat it's what makes our cells. Its true, we are what we eat.

I use cracked corn😊 I hope I can find flaxseed in bulk. Love your great Pyre

Love the idea of peas and flaxseed! I add in oyster shells and occasionally mealworms and red pepper flakes. I already mix the whole corn, oats and BOSS.

Looks yummy

Your helper is too cute. 😊

Love your little helper! Thanks for the video! 🌻

I’ve been feeding our chickens a very similar diet for several months now as well. Good video!

Now we need a tutorial on how to make our own DIY chicken

Very helpful! thank you!

My recipe is similar to this, but I only use 5 lbs of boss and one pound of flax seeds. I also throw in half a bag of chopped alfalfa, which is high in protein, and my chickens love it. when I soak my feed, I leave the alfalfa out of that batch and put the chopped alfalfa directly in the run. My chickens usually eat the alfalfa first, then they go for the boss, then they scratch at the rest later because they will be full of alfalfa.

I am in C. FL and have yard birds that are out picking thru sand and weeds each day. I have started adding puppy dog food for higher protein content. I also dry and crush used egg shells and add into mix. My egg shells are firmer and I am getting more eggs. Your presentation was very well done, thank you for sharing.

Informative

Thats a wonderful mix thanks for this great video 🎉😊❤

Your daughter is precious, a happy wrker😍. Video is great information also.

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for making this video.

This video is phenomenal!!! So extremely helpful, thank you!!!

Awesome chicken feed mix!!! Thank you for sharing...

I add 1-2 cups food grade diatomaceous earth to my mix. Keeps bugs out of the feed mix & is a natural dewormer. I do that for all my livestock feeds. I gave my horse 1/2 cup in his feed daily. Will add this to new goats' feed. Here in NW Florida we battle bugs & parasites all year long.

This was an incredibly helpful video! You answered all my questions before I could ask them. Great job and thank you so much!

Get ...got it ...good !

Looks good!

Great information ‼️So glad to stumble upon this video, I’ll try this for my girls. I love learning new ways to feed them❤️❤️

Sunflower seen is one of the top 2 best sources of natural Viamin E. Really good for skin, nails, hair, feathers & eyes. Makes the eggs so much healthier for us. Flax seed has a short shelf life, you don't want to stock up on extra flax seed. I bag at a time or it goes rancid.

Thank you so much for this great idea.

I am thankful for your info.

I have switched my chickens over to whole grains but I go to local farmers to get my ingredients. I ferment 3-4 days and feed dry 2-3 days. About once every couple of weeks i will get a bag of commercial feed and mix in with my mix but my birds have gotten to where they eat the commercial feed last. I save all of my egg shells to air dry and crush to add back to their feed.

Good info ! Thanks for the video. I have 40 chickens here in South Texas, and I barely have to feed them since they are free range all day... But, like you said, homemade has got to be better than commercial bought ! I love my girls, they deserve everything good !

Thanks for this great video! But I have some info for you on your % protein calculation. When you multiply the weight by the % protein, you get the weight of the protein, not the % protein. Add up those weights and divide by the total weight(85 lbs) to get the % protein of the whole mix. This way your % protein is actually over 19%!

mealworms for chickens to play with

this is a great breakdown of making your own chicken feed! thanks for sharing, you got yourself another subscriber

The first list you showed included milo which is technically grain sorghum and very high in protein and easy to grow. If you want to grow a high-protein ingredient without having to pay a lot, sorghum is a good grain. Also, stinging nettles Urtica Dioica are high in chlorophyll and protein but you have to cook it slightly to knock out the formic acid. My boss used to have a farm and fed that to their turkeys because they loved it. I know turkey protein needs are very high compared to chickens. Also easy to grow. They are perennial and will survive winter to grow back again in the spring.

Thanks for recipe!! Just what I've been looking for!

Planning to try your mixture, thank you for sharing!!!

Thank you thank you thank you. In the last couple weeks trying to figure out how to do this without jeopardizing the health of my girls (hens). I almost did what you did but I appreciate the list you gave. Thank you thank you thank you. You were a Godsend.😊

Great mix. We were gifted 5 large sacks of whole oats and this is a great way to use those!!! Thanks 💜🌱

Wow

Thank you for putting this out there.🌷

I was feeding laying feed from the feed store. My birds free range and we’re looking rough. I was told that because they free range they are eating a lot of plants which is diluting their % protein further. They were looking rather ragged. It happened that I hatched turkeys out and my chickens had access to turkey starter for a few weeks as well it’s their laying feed. I noticed their feathers coming back and they looked much better. I’m thinking I may try out your feed or at least add some flax and boss to my existing feed to bump up the protein. Thanks for your video!

Thank you for this video. We are trying to avoid commercial foods so we will give this a go for the texas fall / winter months

Thank you... blessings

Thank you, so informative!!!

I have been fascinated with someone's setup in Vermont that I thought was absolutely brilliant. I cannot remember the gentleman's name but he runs the Vermont Compost Company. He never feeds his chickens grain; he just turns them loose on the compost pile. I'm sure I have some neighbors who would be interested in trading their biodegradables for eggs. My husband and I haven't started our flock yet because we got behind this summer with the heat wave, and unless we can find some full-grown chickens for an affordable price we are not likely to have a flock until spring which is really going to suck. We are also currently looking for rabbits but dang we have to drive a long way to get them, the chickens too. My husband and I are trying to do this on a shoestring budget already but we have started to have a bit of luck. We recently acquired three buildings, one for our coop/rabbit house and two of which we are recycling for lumber, the previous owner was ready to burn them down so we got them for free.

Thank you so much. I am going to go to the feed store tomorrow and start making my own feed for my babies. Awesome video and exactly what I was looking for. And your daughter is absolutely precious thank you again

Oyster shells help prevent hens from becoming egg bound. Thank you. New subscriber, here.

She is so kind and helpful ☺️ cute little peach 🍑.

Hi. New subscriber here. This is a great video. I think the rations are perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. Going out tomorrow to purchase all these items to make it. I've been raising chickens for 13 years. I wish I started this sooner . Thanks for your time!

Great video. Thanks for sharing 👍💯 fermenting is great, it doubles if not triples your feed and the animals love it. They also love them as microgreens 😁

Thank you, looks like a great and simple recipe.

Tanks for sharing. Great. Recipe.

Thank you so much for sharing!! I am new to chickens and doing what I can to better provide their nutrients. I make them a breakfast brunch of sorts, that I shared on a video, that I give to them as a treat a few mornings a week. I top it off with a mix similar to what you put together here. What I found with the store bought, and there are some good brands, is that the cost is high yet when I see artificial flavorings and preservatives I then desire to feed them better. Hence why I started a brunch of sorts in addition to their feed. I appreciate the info. Now with my list in hand, I need to make a trip to the grain store. Thank you!! ~ Laura 🐔

Thank you for making this video! I just got my very own chicks for the first time and I'm extremely interested in keeping them healthy ☺️

Wonderful your farm 😊😊thanks for sharing

Good info!