Chicken food

I have been asked a lot about my homemade chicken food so I thought I'd write a little something up. Here are my ingredients from Azure Standard.

	Code	Brand	Name	Size	Price	Quantity
	OL131	Azure Farm	Flax Seed Oil, Fresh, Organic	32 ozs.	$11.55
	HS091	Azure Standard	Kelp Powder	4 ozs.	$2.80
	GP073	Bulk	Chicken Wheat, Organic	50 lbs.	$21.65
	BE019	Bulk	Lentils	25 lbs.	$12.30
	BE032	Bulk	Peas Green, Whole	25 lbs.	$11.95
	GP034	Bulk	Whole Oats with Hulls - Animal Feed, Organic	45 lbs.	$21.45

The peas and lentils will last for many batches. I've had mine for over 6 months and am only half way through the bags. The kelp powder lasts 2-3 months and the flax seed oil lasts many months (again I've had mine for more than 6 months and still have about half a bottle left). Each batch is about 100lbs and costs me about .44/lb on these latest prices. I also buy black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) from our local feed store when they have them on sale and add about 12lbs of those to a batch. 

I mix half the wheat and oats, the BOSS, a few ounces of kelp powder (for minerals), and a few tablespoons of flax seed oil in a large lidded trash can. I keep my fermentation bucket (post here) next to it (I'll be trying my fermented feeder this season - update, this version didn't work). I add 3 cups of this mix to the bucket after I feed 5-6 cups to the chickens each morning. The grains swell so much it only takes 3 cups to make 6 cups of food. I add water as necessary to keep everything under a few inches of water. The BOSS float but I don't worry about it. To feed I just pick up the inner bucket and let it drain, mix in the BOSS, then walk around the run to each feeding platter and dish out a scoop or two. They all love it and by the end of the day it's completely gone.  

For the peas and lentils I found the chickens wouldn't eat them at all if they were dry or fermented. I have begun to sprout those and feed on day 3. Each morning I bring a jar of sprouts out and empty it in the run with the rest of their food. Then I return to the kitchen where I store the peas and lentils and add 1/4c of each to the now empty quart jar. I fill with water and let sit overnight. The beans swell and the next morning I empty the water (I use tulle as a lid held on with the jar ring). They sit damp like that until the following day when they will be fed to the chickens and the cycle restarted. I have 2 jars going by the kitchen sink at all times so I always have one ready to feed.

I calculated the protein of the azure ingredients and my food is roughly 16-17% protein which is perfect for adult chickens. I, of course, have oyster shell out at all times for calcium. 

They also get any appropriate table scraps and are let out to free range any bugs they can catch whenever possible. Though their free ranging time outside of the run has been limited since the rabbit keeps escaping whenever I let them out and I really don't want to lose her to a fox!