Making your own winter chicken feed - Backyard chicken feed mix - What we feed our backyard chickens

Homeshire Farmstead
Mar 12, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Mar 31, 2023

Watch us make our homemade chicken feed recipe from The Homeshire. Our homestead recently experienced a drop in egg production from our 20 hens during a harsh Utah winter. To combat this, we decided to make our own feed to give the hens quality nutrition and greater control over their diet.

Here's what we use for our homemade chicken feed recipe:

• 48 cups (6 scoops) of red wheat

• 48 cups (6 scoops) of cracked corn

• 24 cups (3 scoops) of milo (millet)

• 16 cups (2 scoops) of barley (or whole oats)

• 12 cups (1 ½ scoops) of field peas

• 8 cups (1 scoop) of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS)

• 5-6 cups of baked, ground-up eggshells

• 1/2 pound of kelp powder

An 8-cup batter bowl was used to measure out the ingredients, which were then mixed in a 27-gallon storage tote with a tight-fitting lid to keep pests and moisture out.

Here is a link to our Amazon Idea List that will help you in making your chicken feed and other homesteading needs.

amazon idea list of products needed for DIY chicken feed — DIY chicken feed shopping list

In addition to providing essential nutrients, such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fiber, the homemade chicken feed recipe also includes some unique supplements. The baked eggshells are a great supplemental source of calcium, and the kelp powder adds important trace minerals and vitamins while boosting the hens' immune system. Since starting their hens on this feed recipe, The Homeshire has seen a significant increase in our egg production. We went from getting a handful of fragile eggs a week to about a dozen hard-shelled eggs a day. If you're interested in giving your backyard chickens a nutritious boost, try this homemade chicken feed recipe. And don't forget to leave a comment or question below!

Located in Northern Utah, we raise Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats, heritage KuneKune pigs, and free range chickens. Our dairy herd provides our family with creamy sweet milk which we also use to make goat milk soaps and lotions. We grow herbs and flowers in our garden to use for soaps, salves and lotions. We are a family of seven living the rural life on about five acres in Northern Utah. Mom, Dad, teenagers, kids and toddler all help to take care of the animals. We get to all be home together everyday - we homeschool year around with breaks for goat kidding, garden planting and harvest time. We make most of our meals from scratch and many times using products from our land and animals. Find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, lets build a community of people that homestead and farm in harsh conditions that range from zero rain and over 100ºF temperatures in the summer to dark winter days that hit -36ºF and dump two feet of snow overnight. Thanks for spending your time with us!