What does making your own feed mean?

So when I read posts about what people feed their birds it makes me wonder what are they using and how do they 'make ' their own feed? Would love to hear what people have to say.

XOX Monika

I would say there are varying degree's on how people make their own feed.
One way is that you buy or have whole or cracked grains and mix a few different kinds to make feed for their birds.
Another way is the same idea as above but some add in a concentrate pellet to add vitamins/minerals etc to their grains.
Then there is more advanced ways and I do this way. I have a nutritionist that works with poultry flocks, he has developed a mineral mix and grain mix that works best for certain ages and production levels. I purchase my minerals from them and get a colony with a mill near me to mix up the grain, crack it, and add the mineral mix in. This way the ration is balanced and complete for my birds.

I feed a pellet and corn that I buy as well as all types of peas split, flax, wheat, barley, oats, and other grains, these are from a friend of a friend that grinds and mixes all these types for his cattle in huge amounts, saves on feed bill as wll since he refuses to let me pay for any of this and the birds love it.

I am finding making your own feed is very different here than what I am used to. I have always been told that vegetative proteins are not enough for chickens and they need a meat meal of some sort as well. There are many that can be used, even a fish meal works. Many would use ban saw dust (not sure what it is called here, but it is the fines from the butcher`s saws that they usually collect and throw out, chickens love it!) or even canned cat food. But to mix a balanced diet to put in a feeder they added a meat meal to their grains, peas, lupins and chaff (there was a lucerne, same as alfalfa, chopped up that was easy to add). I never hear anyone talk about animal protein here. Chickens are omnivores after all. Could that be why feather picking is a problem in the winter sometimes?

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Have you tried contacting a dairy farm to get the surplus or over quota that they just throw out anyway

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Whey is often free from cheeseries - our chooks really enjoy that. Being an omnivore doesn't mean that one needs meat, but rather that one can survive and thrive on a wide range of foodstuffs.

This is such a big topic and so important. We are what we eat, and as much as possible I like to know what has gone into what I eat.
I have heard over and over that prepared feeds are very well balanced and birds don't really need anything else in the way of feed. I think from a cost/benefit point of view they are probably right, I also believe they are indeed a well balanced diet. What bothers me though, is all the chemicals, and other stuff in there that is not on the label, and if you knew what is was you may choose not to feed it to your chickens. That is just my opinion though, as I don't eat organ meat, that certainly doesn't mean it is not tasty and healthy it just isn't to my liking.
I do use some pullet grower, and some layer ration and I do start my chicks on medicated chick starter. But For the most part(over 90%), I try and give my birds things I have put together myself. They certainly seem to prefer almost anything over pullet grower given a choice. They seem to hate layer ration.
I think what people feed their birds by necessity depends on factors like how much space they have to store large feed bags, and how many chickens they are feeding, as if you only have a dozen birds it takes to long for them to go through all those bags of feed and it can go bad. It also depends, on what you can source locally, or off your own land as that impacts price so radically.
Protein is really important and if you can't free range them, if you don't have access to whole milk, or farm raised meat then providing protein can be a real problem and pre mixed feeds do have the necessary protein just not from a source most of would feel completely comfortable with.
If you are selling meat or eggs then cost is really important. If you are doing it for fun and your own family and friends than cost is not so much a factor.
I don't think there is a one size fits all way of feeding birds, and the degree to which you mix your feed varies from person to person.

I am loving the responses here, hope its OK to bump it once in awhile to keep others posting!

XOX Monika

Reneggaide, sounds like you need a milk cow. That’s my plan for providing my birds grain soaked milk once we have our own place again.

After watching my hens scarf down mice they’ve caught and killed, I’m not so sure chickens don’t need meat. Ok, maybe not need it, but they sure do seem to enjoy it. Understandable, I’m quite fond of meat myself. Just not mouse meat!

Well I hope to do something like Hidden does for feed eventually. But for now I’m stuck buying commercial food. I try and make the feed stretch further by mixing in what wheat I can get from the parents for cheap and a pea/lentil mix from my brother. Every little bit helps. I also feed my chickens our daily table scraps and cooked eggs. Best source of protein by far. I even dry my eggshells out, grind them up into small fragments and feed back to my hens for calcium. They seem to prefer egg shells over oyster shell now. Never had an egg eater yet either!

And yeah, I agree nuthatch. There is no one right way to feed; it really depends on what resources are available.