tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9377612.post6139444343948185585..comments2023-10-14T06:01:28.000-07:00Comments on YCP Life: Order Your ChickensChristibalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00562442956720629117noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9377612.post-83995904898833062482008-08-08T06:59:00.000-07:002008-08-08T06:59:00.000-07:00hey there, good to see others looking to avoid the...hey there, good to see others looking to avoid the corn/soy cartel. thought i would pass on some thoughts as i am working to the same extent. as you may know you need 3 general "things" in your chicken feed 1 energy/calories 2 protein 3 vitamins/minerals. the normal corn is for the energy/calories and for this i substitute with mostly milo and a mix of other grains like millet, oats and barley. the normal source for the protien is the soy. soy is by far the highest source of plant protien at something like 45% i susbstitute fishmeal and clover to try and bring the protien up. the normal vitamins and minerals in commercial chicken feed is generally highly processed or even synthetic sources. i run my chicken on pasture and the grass forbes and bugs give them a healthy shot of vitamins and minerals. a few other things, i soak all my grains before feeding this make them more digestible and the nutrients much more assimilateable i even try to sprout much of the grains. i feed whole grains or grind/crack them my self no more than a week in advance this maintains the nutrient content, soaking the grain in whey would work and increase the protien as well, i just need more whey. there is also the notion that chickens dont actually need as much protien if they could better assimilate the protein they had available the thought is that modern ag practices produce grain and feed that is lacking in minerals and there are companies that make natural mineral suplements that are suposed to help in this matter. mineral supplement can range from just a little sea salt with all the trace minerals thru kelp or fish meal on up to prepared mixes like Fertrell's nutri-balancer probiotics are benificial too, i just feed some home made yogurt but there are comercial sources also. the bigges problem i face here in CO is finding these things somewhat localy. i found fish meal but it had some nasty preservitives in it but i am working with a local coop to see if they can order in some of the better brands of the fish and kelp meal and the nuti-balancer. i am trying to get several like minded folks to go together to make a large enough order that the coop will feel it will be worth there while feel free to email me with questions or suggestions as i am <BR/>still looking for the answer myself<BR/>thank you<BR/>kenny<BR/>www.heritageranchcolorado.com<BR/>2 tank minimum at gmail dot com<BR/>i did the email funky so the spam botts cant read it put it all together and spell out the 2 and change the at to @ and so on. hope to here from you and your success with the chickenskenny at the ranchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15742234366493828314noreply@blogger.com