Barley as feed

[buster,ak]

 I would like to use barley as the main ingredient in feed for bobwhite,coturnix quail,and pheasants.Do any of you people have a certain ratio that you have or would use?The nearest feed mill is 365 miles away and i doubt they would give me any tips anyhow as they refuse to give me a price break even if i bought 2 tons of bagged feed from them and paid in advance.
 I have thought of mixing in a certain number of bags of gamebird grower per thousand pounds,maybe cracked corn also.
 I was just wanting to find out a good starting point,and if there can be too much barley?  Thanks
 

[Pheasant Hollow Farm]

buster,

I have no idea what the protein % is in barley so I can't help you there. If you are planing to release these birds, Pheasant and Bobwhite Quail, for possible propagation, I would substitute what you have locally in the area,(wild grains)in your feed.

Minimize the crack corn, as this has a very low protein % and it is more in fat content. You can also look at the bags of wild bird seed and check there ingredience on grain %, or just add the wild game bird food to your gamebird grower feed.

Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm

[DoubleL911]

Not sure on birds. When my kids showed in 4-h and ffa we added steam rolled barley as a finisher to have a consistant layer of fat. I do know that it is a heavy carbohydrate with lots of sugar. Carbohydrates are what  marathon runners need for long term physical stress. Have you checked with your county extension agent. Also look at the T. D. N. or energy factor.
Good luck
It must s--- with a feed mill that far away, now that diesel is at 3.50 and rising.
Larry Lain
www.doublelquailfarms.com

[aKirA]

Yea I think barley falls into the carbs category. You would need some protein.

[buster,ak]

Thanks you guys,I am trying to come up with a different feed,as i have stated the feedmill is just ridiculous,and their prices have went up $4 a bag since last april.I can get barley pretty cheap,so that is what i am trying to base it on,if possible.$3.51 a gal. is a little better than the $3.72 it is here.
 If anyone else has a recommended mixture they would like to share,i would be grateful!

[aKirA]

well some of the members here use soybean for the protein suppliment. Hopefully they will chime in.

[birdlover17]

speaking of barley, last spring i planted a good amount for my birds, boy did they really enjoy anything more than  stratching around the stack of barley straw trying to forage for every grain.  This year i'm trying a variety of wheat hope they'll like this grain also, i would of tried oats but had to chose one so i'm trying wheat and ohh also alfafa.

[Sharpshooter]

Hi, I'm new at game birds,but have been flying pigeons since I was a kid.I use a mix of barley and red wheat for my rolling pigeons.Gives them enough energy to fly and perform well,but not enough to put on weight and overfly.
Barley=12.5% protein &  66% carbs & 2% fat
wheat=15.5% protein & 70% carbs & 1.8% fat
buck wheat= 11% protein & 69.5% carbs & 2.6% fat
soybeans=33.5% protein & 34.5% carbs & 17.5% fat
  Nick

[Circle J Poultry]

I run a soybean crushing plant in Louisiana.  I am new at all of this bird talk but i do know that raw soybeans have a natrual growth inhibitor in them.  That growth inhibitor is nutralized by the process of Extruding.  The meal that we Produce here is Extruded/Expelled soybean meal.

 (protein 48%) (fat around 5%) (fiber around 4%) 

I mix my feed by hand for my birds, 3 to 1 cracked corn to soymeal.  that gives me about 24.75% protein.

I hope this helps.

Soy meal is around  21 cents per pound.