12 Homemade Feed Recipes-Give Your Chickens An Organic Diet - The Poultry Guide (2024)

If you have chickens at some point your thoughts should turn to homemade chicken feed. Chickens are healthiest and happiest when allowed to free-range and forage for worms, bugs and greens. You will have to supplement their foraging however, especially in the winter months. You do not have to resort to a bought feed, however. These ‘junk food’ pellets can be substituted with whole grain, organic, non-GMO feeds. Here are 12 homemade chicken feed recipes to give your birds an organic diet that will benefit them and you:

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1- Whole Grain 17% Protein Chicken Feed Formula

This chicken feed by gardenbetty will fill a ten pound feeder. In addition, chickens are provided with free choice oyster shells and grit. These are essential to chickens, who need not only the protein but also calcium from the oyster shells and grit to aid digestion. Another healthy recipe for feeding chickens can be found at:

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2- Organic Chicken Feed To Source From Health Food Shops Or Order Online

In a feed recipe like this one by home.howstuffworks.com that uses a combination of hard grains and seeds, the aim is to choose so that the overall balance of proteins is correct for your chickens. You can source grains from health food shops or buy them online. Growing chicken feed may be out of your reach but it is often possible to source grains easily.

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3- Bulk Bought Organic Grain Mix For Chickens

If you bulk buy grains then you can make a cheap chicken food like this one by theelliotthomestead which really can rival store bought feed on cost and keep your chickens healthy. You will find another recipe here:

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4- Chick Starter Feed Recipe

Chicks need plenty of protein to grow. Fish meal in this recipe boosts the protein intake for baby chicks. Chicks will also need grains to be ground at first and will need a balance of nutrients tailored to them. Find one chick starter feed recipe at Whole Fed Homestead.

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5- A General Guideline For A Custom Chicken Feed Mix

When creating your own custom chicken feed mix like this one by smallfarm.about, you should first work out a formula or general guideline that covers the basic necessities of a poultry diet and then add in a number of other items to make sure that all the nutritional bases are covered.

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6- A Flexible Formula For Chicken Feed

Some grain mix formulas like this one by theprairiehomestead require you to mill your own grains but not all grain mix formulae have to be milled. The mix at the website below is an example of a flexible formula that does not require home milling equipment. If you want an organic, non-GMO mix then you will have to try to source organic corn and wheat in your local area.

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7- A Soy and Corn-Free Chicken Feed Formula

Many chicken owners are realizing the importance of moving to a soy and corn free chicken food like this one by wellfedhomestead. Soy contains potent phytoestrogens that are passed to eggs, most soy is also GM, contains damaging chemicals and may cause long term health problems. Corn is like chicken chocolate, with low nutritional benefit and also, much of it is not organic and chemicals can pass into the food chain. To get some of the ingredients cheaper, you could ask around for leftover grains from local mills.

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8- Homemade Chicken Feed For Layers

The recipe on the following site is for laying hens and is provided in addition to kitchen scraps and oyster shells. Chicken owners will need to consider whether hens are kept as layers or for meat when choosing a feed recipe. Making your own chicken feed like this one by thefieldandtable allows you to control the process.

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9- Another Soy and Corn Free Feed For Healthier Chickens

There are a number of different recipes that conscientious and ethical chicken keepers can use for their homemade feed like this one by peacefulvalleyfarm. Here is another alternative to commercial chicken food, with all its unhealthy and potentially damaging ingredients:

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10- Summer and Winter Feed Recipes

One of the great things about concocting your own feed mix like this one by marystilwell.wordpress is that you can alter it depending on the season. Some owners choose to alter the chicken feed throughout the year, changing the balance of ingredients to help chickens cope with warm weather in the summer and cold weather in the winter.

11- Another Homemade Chicken Feed Recipe

The key to creating a successful mix is to educate yourself about the nutritional requirements of your birds and how they can be met. A number of different recipes can be found on forums like backyardchickens.com.

12- Twenty Five Pound Organic and Non-GMO Chicken Feed

It is a good idea to try to bulk buy ingredients and make up a larger mix in one go as this will usually work out cheaper than trying to make up small batches more frequently. You can find one homemade feed mix like this one by gnowfglins for a 25 pound amount here.

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Ending Up!

Develop your own, organic, non-GMO chicken feed and you will have healthier chickens and healthier eggs to eat. By taking control of what goes into chicken feed, you will also be making sure that you do not contribute to global environmental problems and will be taking one more step towards a sustainable and ethical future.

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12 Homemade Feed Recipes-Give Your Chickens An Organic Diet - The Poultry Guide (2024)

FAQs

What can I feed my chickens to make them organic? ›

This often includes whole corn, soft white wheat, hard red winter wheat, Diatomaceous Earth, hulled barley, oat groats, sunflower seeds, peanuts, wheat bran, split peas, lentils, quinoa, sesame seeds and kelp. You also should ensure that any vegetables, scraps and grasses they eat are organic and unsprayed.

What is the healthiest food for chickens? ›

Select fruits, vegetables and grains will keep chickens happy and ensure they are receiving a nutritionally balanced diet. Good choices include leafy greens, cooked beans, corn, non-sugary cereals and grains, berries, apples and most other fruits and vegetables.

What is organic poultry feed? ›

Organic feed, on the other hand, isn't grown with any foreign substances such as synthetic pesticides, antibiotics or hormones — it is natural and untreated. Also, for a feed to be labeled organic, it needs to follow a specific process and certain rules.

What is the best formula for chicken feed? ›

General feed formulation for poultry consist of:

Maize – 50-60 %, Soya – 25-30 % ,DCP- 1-2 % ( di calcium phosphate ), LSP – 1 % ( limestone powder ) , Mustard – 1-3 %, MBM – 1-5 % ( meat bone meal ) , Premix – 2 -4 % and other ingredients like Millet , Rapeseed , Rice Bran , Maize Gluten, GNE, Wheat , Broken Rice etc.

What is a superfood for chickens? ›

A quick tour of chicken blogs reveal a range of chicken "superfoods" too, from pumpkin seeds and molasses, to homemade chicken feed. These foods are often touted as cure-alls, for everything from worms to deadly coccidiosis.

What to feed hens to lay more eggs? ›

Feed Them a Balanced Diet

Provide clean, fresh water daily year-round, and consider supplementing extra protein in the fall and winter. You can also give your chickens snacks like mealworms and vegetable food scraps in moderation.

What is the healthiest treat for chickens? ›

Watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries make healthy snacks for chickens when fed in moderation.

What did farmers feed chickens in the old days? ›

Before the 20th century, poultry were mostly raised on household farms and ate insects, table scraps and plants around their pens.

How to feed chickens organically? ›

A well-balanced chicken feed consists of 15 to 25 percent corn, 25 to 30 percent grains, 5 to 10 percent oats, 5 to 15 percent seeds, 5 to 10 percent vegetables, 5 percent fish meal, a handful of kelp, and a source of calcium like aragonite or oyster shells.

What can I feed my chickens if I run out of feed? ›

Alternative feed for chickens, if you're out of feed, are whole grains like wheat, corn, flax, cooked rice (NOT UNCOOKED!), and raw or cooked oatmeal. Protein-rich foods like cheese, plain greek yogurt, and sunflower seeds are also good choices.

How to raise chickens organically? ›

Nutrition. No fillers or synthetic additives are permitted. Additionally, the grains used must not be GMO (genetically modified organisms), although in recent years this has come into question. Chickens must also be able to feed without competition and have unlimited access to clean drinking water.

What is considered organic chicken feed? ›

Organic feed cannot contain animal by-products, antibiotics or genetically engineered grains and cannot be grown using persistent pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

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