The chicken feed I buy is MUCH less expensive than that, but I cannot guarantee that it is as healthy or lasts as long as yours. The birds may eat less of your mix...that is the question I want answered. Also, I hope you feed grit with all that whole seed as the birds need grit to "chew" it up.
Thanks for sharing this man! Very clear and precise info. Thanks for not beating around the bush and making us watch unnecessary chores, etc before seeing the content mentioned in your title haha
A mixture of grain is better than layer pellets ..may not be cheaper but your chickens will be healthier I cook 5 grains so it swells up and is more digestible Cracked corn Barley Wheat Sorghum Brown rice (in at the end) Then I add raw black sunflower seeds too when I feed them I cook up a couple of weeks worth at a time and keep it refrigerated
@@onceuponatinyfarm it just seemed more natural to me The love the wheat, barley and sunflower seeds the most usually some sorghum and hard bits of corn remain uneaten but most of it gets consumed ...I'd say they are fussy chickens because of it though ...very cautious of anything new I give them
In my experience if you mix flaxseed in that will help improve egg production over winter I would feed it to them on the side. My birds don't like it mixed in with the food but when I feed it free choice the munch in it and i noticed the egg production increased and stabilized also lots of greens over the winter too will help with egg protection
I have used flaxseed before but I didn’t realize it could help with winter laying, I will have to try that! I’ve also heard that mixing cayenne pepper powder into their food can help them lay more in winter. Thanks for watching 👍
@@germanchacon8298 during the spring summer and fall i feed them a buffet of all you can eat weeds lol. But in the winter its kitchen scraps. I ofcourse feed the kitchen scraps all year around
I’m not quite sure yet we just ordered a chicken coop locally made and then we will go to our local feed store and talk to them about getting a set up up for chicks and types to get.
I got Sapphire Plymouth Rock, and Barred Rocks. I have not made this specific one I got store feed and I mix in organic feed and scraps. I also pick greens and give them grass scraps and black meal larvae instead of meal worms.
Good luck! I have tried a corn free feed and found they didn’t lay as well with it, but if you try one without corn try adding more peas and sunflower seeds to the mix 👍
Do you think grinding the grains would make it more of the nutrients bioavailable to the chickens? Do you add any diatomaceous earth or ground oyster shells to your mix?
I think the nutrients are more available in the whole grain form from what I remember, I could be wrong. It might be a good idea to grind up the feed for a younger flock that hasn’t fully developed yet to make it easier to digest. I do add DE but I don’t add oyster shells I simply save their egg shells and crush them up and feed it back to them
I think you’re right. I had calculated before to get 17% with the peas but I may not have made the right calculations with this mix. I think the peas were too expensive for my liking at the time, but I added more sunflower seeds to the mix and I also feed them black soldier fly larvae every day with their feed so I’m sure that increased the protein. They’ve also been consistently laying through the winter this year with this mix so something I’m doing is working, but hey, I don’t know everything I’m still trying to figure it all out. Thanks for watching 👍
@@onceuponatinyfarm I'm about to order from Azure for the first time and want to make sure I get what the chickens will eat too. Did you say they didn't eat or like the peas, which is the most expensive?
@@plantbasedprepper they ate them but they were always the last food the would eat of all the grains. I don’t think they loved it but they ate it, the whole peas they ate way more than split peas. The peas were more expensive last time I ordered so I skipped it but I probably should’ve ordered it. I love ordering from azure, it was a pretty great experience for me, hopefully you’ll be able to get everything you need.
@@onceuponatinyfarm My drop date isn't till next month but I'll be ordering what I need now. Looking forward to it, however, I cannot for the life of me get my recipe 16% or higher using just Whole Grains. From all the research and feed analysis I can find online, the crude protein isn't nearly as high as other people on RUclips are using. For example, D&S are saying Sunflower Seeds are 26% and Flax 37%...but I can only find as high as 17% and 22% and we can't use too much or it will increase fat too high. I don't want to exaggerate the recipe numbers and fool myself you know thinking they are getting the highest amount of protein. It's very hard to do without using soybean meal or other forms of protein.
I just started buying grains for fodder from azure as well and have been contemplating trying their shared chicken feed recipe on their website. What protein percentage does your mix have please?
I'm pretty sure the shipping cost was included in the cost I mentioned in the video. Azure standard is pretty good. And it really didnt take me too long to mix all of it either.
One of the main reasons many do organic is because of the glyphosate that is sprayed onto non organic crops. It's one of the number one cancer causing chemicals along with fluoride.
Every time I mixed a layer of each grain I just grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and mixed them in. Then I would mix them all together every so often to get a nice even mix
The only thing i worry about making a home made feed is that the chickens will just pick out the bits they like, where as with the pellets or mash they can't obviously do that. Assuming thats not your experience though?
Ah! Just saw your reply to someone else with the same concern. Good to know! I don't have fussy kids, and so I don't need fussy kids! I want to exclude the soya. Thanks for sharing!
They will pick out their favorites first and leave some things but by the end of the day they will finish everything you leave out for them. They just can’t help themselves chickens will eat everything lol
I’ve noticed they’ll eat their favorite grains first but by the end of the day they will have gone back to eat the rest. Anytime I change feeds I think it definitely is a little adjustment for a few days but they get used to it
Main problem with this is the insane level of trouble it is to order through Azure Standard. I followed your recipe and tried to order everything a month ago. The Chicken Wheat, Animal Feed was out of stock so I checked back daily and after 2 weeks was able to add 2 bags to my order. A week later I received email saying my order was in and the cutoff has closed so I could not add to it. Everything was on my order at the cutoff date so we were good with a full order. Next email says "Thank you for ordering with Azure Standard! The truck has been packed and is on its way to your drop. We hope you are pleased with your products." HOWERVER, 4 days later another email saying they were only shipping part of the order because they sold it to someone else at the warehouse. YEP! that's how appreciated my efforts were. So I called customer service who said that is their policy and regardless of how many times I order or see confirmation it doesn't matter and I would be lucky to ever get it. That combined with meeting someone driving a Honda Accord in strange parking lot to accept delivery (no joke!) but their truck broke down and no one could tell me when I was required to be at this strictly regulated drop off means your video is a good idea but promotes a very bad supplier.
I’ve had the same issue before with azure. I ordered 100 pounds of wheat and right before cutoff I realized it was out of stock and I missed out on the most important part of my mix. I’ve been experimenting with making my own feed using beans and rice and pasta and beans but it’s just extra work to have to cook the food every week. Still trying to figure it all out myself and try to do it in a budget. Thanks for watching.
It’s not too bad at all when ordering from Azure standard. I should have a link in the details of the video if you want to check out the company. They have a lot of good organic products
Yes but it was cheaper than regular organic feed. It’s often over $1 per pound. It might not make sense to feed organic depending on where you live it might be way cheaper to go non gmo non organic feed.
I actually have cut back on corn as well. I think it’s something I’m only going to give them during the cold winter months to keep their bodies warm and fatten them up.
Yeah… you’re getting robbed bro. Azure Standard is for rich folks. I can make that identical organic mix for less than 30 cents/lb. I would recommend looking at, literally, any other supplier. I’ve never paid more than $18 for 50lbs of organic corn and buying from local grain mill that pays local producers keeps the money in my community’s pocket.
The chicken feed I buy is MUCH less expensive than that, but I cannot guarantee that it is as healthy or lasts as long as yours. The birds may eat less of your mix...that is the question I want answered. Also, I hope you feed grit with all that whole seed as the birds need grit to "chew" it up.
Thanks for sharing this man! Very clear and precise info. Thanks for not beating around the bush and making us watch unnecessary chores, etc before seeing the content mentioned in your title haha
Omg i totally can’t stand that stuff too glad you found it helpful 👍
A mixture of grain is better than layer pellets ..may not be cheaper but your chickens will be healthier
I cook 5 grains so it swells up and is more digestible
Cracked corn
Barley
Wheat
Sorghum
Brown rice (in at the end)
Then I add raw black sunflower seeds too when I feed them
I cook up a couple of weeks worth at a time and keep it refrigerated
Sounds like your chickens are living the good life! I agree that the grain mixtures being better for them too 👍
@@onceuponatinyfarm it just seemed more natural to me
The love the wheat, barley and sunflower seeds the most usually some sorghum and hard bits of corn remain uneaten but most of it gets consumed ...I'd say they are fussy chickens because of it though ...very cautious of anything new I give them
In my experience if you mix flaxseed in that will help improve egg production over winter I would feed it to them on the side. My birds don't like it mixed in with the food but when I feed it free choice the munch in it and i noticed the egg production increased and stabilized also lots of greens over the winter too will help with egg protection
I have used flaxseed before but I didn’t realize it could help with winter laying, I will have to try that! I’ve also heard that mixing cayenne pepper powder into their food can help them lay more in winter. Thanks for watching 👍
Crushed red pepper too
What type of greens do you feed them?
@@germanchacon8298 during the spring summer and fall i feed them a buffet of all you can eat weeds lol. But in the winter its kitchen scraps. I ofcourse feed the kitchen scraps all year around
Getting my first chickens ever and definitely making this and watching all your videos thanks so much!
How exciting! What kind of chickens are you getting?
I’m not quite sure yet we just ordered a chicken coop locally made and then we will go to our local feed store and talk to them about getting a set up up for chicks and types to get.
@@tammybenadventures4839 what did you get?! We just got our first chicks. Are you making your own chick feed?
I got Sapphire Plymouth Rock, and Barred Rocks. I have not made this specific one I got store feed and I mix in organic feed and scraps. I also pick greens and give them grass scraps and black meal larvae instead of meal worms.
Giving this a try! My girls had the peas, but every other recipe I’ve found has them. If you have a corn free version I’d love to have it!
Good luck! I have tried a corn free feed and found they didn’t lay as well with it, but if you try one without corn try adding more peas and sunflower seeds to the mix 👍
Do you think grinding the grains would make it more of the nutrients bioavailable to the chickens? Do you add any diatomaceous earth or ground oyster shells to your mix?
I think the nutrients are more available in the whole grain form from what I remember, I could be wrong. It might be a good idea to grind up the feed for a younger flock that hasn’t fully developed yet to make it easier to digest. I do add DE but I don’t add oyster shells I simply save their egg shells and crush them up and feed it back to them
I appreciate you Sharing organic.
Appreciate you appreciating us!
Is there anything at tractor supply that is worth giving chickens?
The Peas to Barley replacement dropped your Protein from 19% in Peas to 10% in Barley. How did you keep your protein at 17%?
I think you’re right. I had calculated before to get 17% with the peas but I may not have made the right calculations with this mix. I think the peas were too expensive for my liking at the time, but I added more sunflower seeds to the mix and I also feed them black soldier fly larvae every day with their feed so I’m sure that increased the protein. They’ve also been consistently laying through the winter this year with this mix so something I’m doing is working, but hey, I don’t know everything I’m still trying to figure it all out. Thanks for watching 👍
@@onceuponatinyfarm I'm about to order from Azure for the first time and want to make sure I get what the chickens will eat too. Did you say they didn't eat or like the peas, which is the most expensive?
@@plantbasedprepper they ate them but they were always the last food the would eat of all the grains. I don’t think they loved it but they ate it, the whole peas they ate way more than split peas. The peas were more expensive last time I ordered so I skipped it but I probably should’ve ordered it. I love ordering from azure, it was a pretty great experience for me, hopefully you’ll be able to get everything you need.
@@onceuponatinyfarm My drop date isn't till next month but I'll be ordering what I need now. Looking forward to it, however, I cannot for the life of me get my recipe 16% or higher using just Whole Grains. From all the research and feed analysis I can find online, the crude protein isn't nearly as high as other people on RUclips are using. For example, D&S are saying Sunflower Seeds are 26% and Flax 37%...but I can only find as high as 17% and 22% and we can't use too much or it will increase fat too high. I don't want to exaggerate the recipe numbers and fool myself you know thinking they are getting the highest amount of protein. It's very hard to do without using soybean meal or other forms of protein.
I just started buying grains for fodder from azure as well and have been contemplating trying their shared chicken feed recipe on their website. What protein percentage does your mix have please?
i think it was around 16-17% I didn't know they had a feed recipe on their site ill have to check that out
how much was the shipping cost, add that in with the feed cost. to give a true amount that you spent on the feed, plus having to mix it all.
I'm pretty sure the shipping cost was included in the cost I mentioned in the video. Azure standard is pretty good. And it really didnt take me too long to mix all of it either.
Thanks 😊
You bet!
Good video. I'm not in on the whole organic thing. But it was cool to see thanks for sharing.
Thanks man!
One of the main reasons many do organic is because of the glyphosate that is sprayed onto non organic crops. It's one of the number one cancer causing chemicals along with fluoride.
U didn't mention the sunflower seed to mixture
Every time I mixed a layer of each grain I just grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and mixed them in. Then I would mix them all together every so often to get a nice even mix
@@onceuponatinyfarm
Thanks
have you tried feeding your chickens coconut oil? I heard it makes for healthier chicken
No I haven’t but I’m sure they’d eat it they eat everything
The only thing i worry about making a home made feed is that the chickens will just pick out the bits they like, where as with the pellets or mash they can't obviously do that. Assuming thats not your experience though?
Ah! Just saw your reply to someone else with the same concern. Good to know! I don't have fussy kids, and so I don't need fussy kids! I want to exclude the soya. Thanks for sharing!
They will pick out their favorites first and leave some things but by the end of the day they will finish everything you leave out for them. They just can’t help themselves chickens will eat everything lol
Just switched my chickens to this, today is the 4th day and they’re not eating everything. Did you have any issues when you switched?
I’ve noticed they’ll eat their favorite grains first but by the end of the day they will have gone back to eat the rest. Anytime I change feeds I think it definitely is a little adjustment for a few days but they get used to it
Ok thank you for replying, I was starting to worry a little bit!
That's expensive. It may be cheap for organic feed but we buy a 50lb bag of layer mash at our local bulk feed store for $13.
That’s a great deal
How did the mix workk out for the chickens ??
This was one of the best homemade mixes I made, but I haven’t made it this way in a while to try and reduce feed cost
Main problem with this is the insane level of trouble it is to order through Azure Standard. I followed your recipe and tried to order everything a month ago. The Chicken Wheat, Animal Feed was out of stock so I checked back daily and after 2 weeks was able to add 2 bags to my order. A week later I received email saying my order was in and the cutoff has closed so I could not add to it. Everything was on my order at the cutoff date so we were good with a full order. Next email says "Thank you for ordering with Azure Standard! The truck has been packed and is on its way to your drop. We hope you are pleased with your products." HOWERVER, 4 days later another email saying they were only shipping part of the order because they sold it to someone else at the warehouse. YEP! that's how appreciated my efforts were. So I called customer service who said that is their policy and regardless of how many times I order or see confirmation it doesn't matter and I would be lucky to ever get it. That combined with meeting someone driving a Honda Accord in strange parking lot to accept delivery (no joke!) but their truck broke down and no one could tell me when I was required to be at this strictly regulated drop off means your video is a good idea but promotes a very bad supplier.
I’ve had the same issue before with azure. I ordered 100 pounds of wheat and right before cutoff I realized it was out of stock and I missed out on the most important part of my mix. I’ve been experimenting with making my own feed using beans and rice and pasta and beans but it’s just extra work to have to cook the food every week. Still trying to figure it all out myself and try to do it in a budget. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing.
You bet! Hope it was helpful 👍
Curious to what the shipping cost was for all of that?
It’s not too bad at all when ordering from Azure standard. I should have a link in the details of the video if you want to check out the company. They have a lot of good organic products
Where do you purchase these things
I purchased them from azure standard they’re all organic and source whole grains from organic farms
Where do your ingredients from??
Azure Standard
$2/lb now for Scratch and Peck
Too expensive!
That's super super super high compared to non organic egg layer and cracked corn.
Yes but it was cheaper than regular organic feed. It’s often over $1 per pound. It might not make sense to feed organic depending on where you live it might be way cheaper to go non gmo non organic feed.
My vet just told me to get rid of corn
I actually have cut back on corn as well. I think it’s something I’m only going to give them during the cold winter months to keep their bodies warm and fatten them up.
How much of this do you feed your 12 birds daily?
2 quarts after being fermented
My chickens will not eat wheat, so I just exclude it.
Yeah… you’re getting robbed bro. Azure Standard is for rich folks. I can make that identical organic mix for less than 30 cents/lb. I would recommend looking at, literally, any other supplier. I’ve never paid more than $18 for 50lbs of organic corn and buying from local grain mill that pays local producers keeps the money in my community’s pocket.
I agree with you it’s been well over a year since I’ve ordered from them. Finding a good local mill is definitely going to to be better and cheaper
Did you figure the 50 dollar pickup fee that Azure has?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a big fee like that for pickup
AZURE STANDARD....tells you it sells organic when its not organic they stole $600 from me.
Really? I’ve only had a few orders with them but I haven’t had any issues.
I would complain and get your money back
Oh no! How did you figure out it wasn't organi