If you are concerned about what is in the chicken feed you are buying, but can’t afford to feed them non-GMO, this homemade chicken layer feed could be the answer to your prayers. It’s easy to make and at 16% protein, won’t detract from the nutrition they need to continue laying.
I’ve had my girls, Lucy and Ethel, since 2012. I was so ecstatic to get them and, if I say so myself, we’ve made each other very happy for the past three years. They have, believe it or not, done a lot for me and my homestead, especially before we moved. Of course, they have laid hundreds of eggs for me (red sexlinks lay large brown eggs for about 2/3 of the year), but they have also turned my compost, taken care of pests in my garden, and provided me with one of the best manures a gardener could ask for.
Because they have been such faithful farm helpers, and because they provide some of the eggs for our farm and family (we do have 3 other inherited chickens who also lay), I find myself wanting to make sure that they get nourished well. I would like them to be able to eat organic and non-GMO, as well as get the proper amount of protein. I would also like for them to be grass-fed, but during this season all the forage is dying off…not to mention that because we are new around here, we are not sure of who their predators might be, so they are pretty much stuck in the coop until we can build them a proper run.
Because organic and grass-fed is harder to do than non-GMO at this point, I’m starting with eliminating corn and soy from their diet through making my own layer feed. (I am also starting to sprout organic hard red wheat for them, but that’s another post.)
Chicken Layer Feed Notes and Recipe
Honestly, formulating homemade chicken layer feed for them wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I read some articles on what chickens need and how to make your own chicken feed, as well as blog posts on how other farm bloggers were doing theirs. I copied copious notes into a spreadsheet where I was able to keep track of which of my animals could eat each type of grain, what the grain would do for them, what the percentage of protein was, and other such information that would eventually help me to be able to mix a 16% whole grain feed for my laying hens.
I also looked up every grain that I was able to obtain in my area on a site called GMO Compass (no longer available) to make sure that none of them were GMO. I was pleasantly surprised that many GMO grains are not readily available to the public. For a long time, I thought EVERYTHING I was eating was GMO, but after some research, I see that not much of what I eat has been genetically modified. I’ll end this sidebar now, but if you have any thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them. Here is the recipe I have come up with so far to make your own chicken feed.
Homemade Chicken Layer Feed
Ingredients:
- 10 cups pearl barley – good for energy
- 5 cups hard red wheat – good for energy
- 5 cups hulled millet – rich in amino acids
- 4 cups oat groats – B vitamins calcium, fiber, energy
- 5 cups split peas – high protein
- Optional additives (see below)
Instructions
Mix all of these grains together, and switch your hens to it over 3 weeks. This recipe makes 13.84 lbs, 16% protein.
Cost Breakdown
The total cost for the full recipe (in my area–I got my grains at Winco) is $8.31, or .60/lb. The cost of serving per chicken per day is .15 (1/4lb) x 5 chickens = .75/day to feed the girls. The non-organic non-GMO feed that I am switching them from costs .25/chicken per day. My savings is .10/hen or .50/day total. This will likely vary in your area, but the formula for figuring out how much your homemade chicken layer feed will cost will be the same. All you do is add up the cost of all the ingredients, then divide by how many pounds you get. This will give you the cost per pound. You can further divide it to get the cost per serving.
Optional Additives
Granted, there are more ingredients involved in the commercial non-GMO feed, which I’m planning to add to my next batch (they are still getting those ingredients while they are switching over the next few weeks). The ingredients I’ll add are food grade diatomaceous earth (1/4 cup), garlic powder (1/4 cup), and kelp (1/4 cup). The amounts that I will add will not raise the price of the feed by much, though I haven’t yet figured them into the end total. The diatomaceous earth is awesome for keeping bugs out of the feed, but it is also said to help keep worms at bay. The garlic powder is a natural wormer (it is toxic to parasites) and is an immune booster. The kelp contains plenty of needed vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and salt in the right amounts for a chicken’s diet. It also promotes laying, and is responsible for that nice, dark yolk which indicates a nutritious egg.
Protein Information
Another issue to address is that it’s sort of hard to nail down the exact percentage of protein that each grain really is, so there is definitely some digging to do. In this Mother Earth News Article, the author explains that we should count ALL grains as only 10% protein. I didn’t do that, I got my percentage range from different articles on the internet and chose the low end of each one for good measure. As I mentioned in another post, I will also be supplementing this homemade chicken feed with homemade milk kefir, as well as sprouted wheat seed (sprouting ups the nutrient content–including the protein–in wheat according to this article). I’ll know if adjustments need to be made in an upward direction (protein-wise) if laying drops off, I think. I’ll be watching! Now go make your own homemade chicken food for laying hens and see what happens!
This recipe has been updated.
See my New and Improved Homemade Whole Grain Layer Feed recipe.
Read more on Feeding Whole Grains to Chickens (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association)
I haven’t made my own feed yet, but am seriously considering it! We have a Winco in our area, and I think I am going to try your recipe with our hens, and see how they like it, of course being careful to slowly add it into their diet. Enjoyed reading your great article!
Hi and thanks, MM! It was really hard for me to get into the mindset of making my own feed, but I’m so glad I did the research, it sure made it less overwhelming. I’m definitely still tweaking this recipe, so stay tuned!
Nice article but can you please include pics for every ingredient.thanks
Do you mix all the ingredients in together at once or scoop it out each individually every day?
Where would you find kelp? Is it powdered or just dried?
I used this one (affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0071GWMA2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=stonfamifarm-20&linkId=4067751c80d8c75f77ede2645508c0d6
I don’t see kelp in the list of ingredients…..
Never mind, they aren’t but they are mentioned in the post…..
So glad you found them, Carol!
Could you giving me a rough idea of how many pounds of each ingredient to but, in order to make about 25 pounds total of this feed. Sad to say, making it daily before I feed just isn’t something I can do…
Not really, but what you can do is google how much each of the ingredients weighs per cup. It’s a little more work, but it could be done.
I really like your recipe and ill come by to ask for your help by the way it is so interesting to hear that…
Awesome, I’d be happy to help, Joyce!
Aren’t peas legumes? I read several things that say you should never give dry legumes to chickens. Apparently they are toxic to chickens..
Hi Pamela. I haven’t ever heard that. I will look into it. Thanks for your comment.
phytohaemagglutinin is what is toxic to chickens, mainly in Dried beans like Kidney, fava beans, etc. Peas and Lentils are safe for chickens though!
Thanks for chiming in Krystal! I completely forgot to answer this question for Pamela!
Home made feed for layers does affect the no. Of eggs the are produce?
Hi Joe, No it actually didn’t affect those numbers for me at all when I was making my feed.
I have many allergies like corn, coconut, and garlic. Before we buy chickens to have safe eggs, can something else like onion powder work instead of garlic?
No as onion is toxic to chickens.
I have been wanting to make my own feed for a long time. But having scoured the internet and my county, to make my own feed would be outrageously expensive. I’m in Florida and without having any local, organic grain options, I’m left with buying it online. And buying organic grain online – Ha! The cheapest grain I’ve found online was $3 per lb, before crazy expensive shipping, but most are more like $6-$8 per lb before crazy expensive shipping. I’m so frustrated! The whole reason I got chickens was to control my food sources and now I’m stuck with buying expensive, commercial organic feed, which I also have to buy online, because none of my local feed stores carry anything corn and soy free. Ugh!
It might be worthwhile to look into a bulk purchase co-op sources, like Azure Standard. They have a lot of drop locations so the shipping would be lower or nothing because it gets combined with so many other bulk purchasers.
I get my grain at the feed store. It’s not always organic, but I do soak and rinse it at least twice before feeding it to them. You can purchase 25-50 pound bags of grains for very reasonable, and it lasts forever. I use wheat, oats, millet, sorghum, barley, peas, and sunflower seeds. I go ahead and mix it all up and keep it in gasket sealing buckets to keep the bugs out. I have a cheap colander and some dishpans from the dollar store that I use for soaking. Soaking for a few days ( with a daily rinse) removes toxins and any chemical residues, deactivates lectins, and releases more of the nutrients inside the grain. Toss in some yogurt, whey, or other dairy the last day to lacto-ferment and add calcium. I do also like to have diatomaceous earth for them and let them graze a couple times a week whoever possible. They get some leftovers and adore the compost pile.
so they get it wet after its soaked, like fermented and you just mix yogurt in with it? is that alot of work?
I did the math and it comes out as follows:
18 c pearl barley
9 c hard red wheat
9 c hulled millet
7 1/4 c oat groats
9 c split peas
scant 1/2 c of each; diatomaceous earth, garlic powder, kelp