PPT041: Jeff Mattocks Provides a Primer on On-Farm Feed Mixing for Freshness, Health, and Profitibility

I'm joined by Jeff Mattocks and several APPPA Producer Plus members for a Q&A session on mixing feed on-farm as an alternative to purchasing feed from a mill. It's a common desire to mix feed on-farm, but it's a process that prompts many questions. Jeff is a poultry nutritionist with The Fertrell Company and author of the must have book Feeding Pasture-Raised Poultry">Pastured Poultry Feeding and Management. He has a deep understanding of poultry nutritional requirements, the characteristics of feedstuffs, and pastured poultry. Jeff is a unique poultry nutritionist in that he not only understands the nutrition, he understands the nuances of pastured production. This is the area where theory meets reality, and Jeff is a valuable community resource when it comes to navigating the collision of the classroom and the grass. In this episode, we cover a lot of ground: Typical bushel weights. Appropriate feed particle size. Correct mixing times. Is fresh feed better? How does pasture mix affect nutrition? Buying and storing grains. How do you find a reliable supply? Buying transitional and organic buffer strips. Beware of the weed seed. Common PTO requirements to running a grinder/mixer. Are all fishmeals created equal? A brief discussion about the interplay of amino acids. Enjoy. Talk about this episode at our new Facebook Group. Need scalders, pluckers, and other poultry processing equipment? Check out PPT sponsor, Badger's Millside Farm.