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Chicken Feed

18K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Butter  
#1 ·
Anybody use chicken feed as fert in summer?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tractor-supply-dumor-16-layer-crumble-50-lb-3006316-306

What's the best bang for the buck organic material to put down in summer?
 
#6 ·
The problem I found with feeds is the birds and other critters that come to feed on it after you put it down. I have used cracked corn and soybean meal before but the amount of birds made it seem that the grass did not get much. Is the prebiotic and probiotic listed on the bag good for the lawn??

Urea is much quicker and cheaper.
 
#8 ·
Soy bean meal is a good bang for the buck it's about 45% crude protein compared to chicken feed at about 20%. It's not high in nitrogen at all great slow release summer fertilizer and add good OM. Alpha pellets also is good. Cheap if you have a farm cooperative near you.
 
#9 ·
robjak said:
The problem I found with feeds is the birds and other critters that come to feed on it after you put it down. I have used cracked corn and soybean meal before but the amount of birds made it seem that the grass did not get much. Is the prebiotic and probiotic listed on the bag good for the lawn??

Urea is much quicker and cheaper.
So true I used corn meal on my front lawn a few times the amount of birds was crazy
 
#13 ·
Butter said:
I don't know about chicken feed but soybean meal is awesome. Of all the different products I've applied to my TTTF over the years I have never had a better response from a single product than what I get from soybean meal.
Here's what I use.
Is there an N-P-K for that?

The Anderson's has a soy meal product that is 7-1-2. https://andersonshomeandgarden.com/products/innova
 
#15 ·
@M32075 I was paying $13 for a 50lb bag. I got it from a friend that worked at the elevator so I'm not sure if that is retail price or a inside deal. He no longer works there but says he can still get it for me. We'll see.
@Old Hickory 7-1-2 are the numbers that I use. It seems like any SBM based fert is based on 7-1-2 which is a great balance of NPK for maintenance. Anderson's Innova and another one I researched, Down to Earth soybean meal fertilizer, are both just soybean meal. The same stuff we can all buy from the feed store or elevator for a lot less money.
 
#18 ·
Search in the Soil Fertility and/or Organic boards. Quite a few people use cracked corn, wood chips, etc. I use both occasionally, but more for OM, not so much for nitrogen. These are both much cheaper than soybean meal, alfalfa, etc. I don't really know how much good they do, but they're fun to spread at very high rates. :)
 
#20 ·
NJ-lawn said:
I really don't notice a bad smell……maybe if you really over do it. The other thing since I been using organic in the summer for years maybe the soil microbes devour it quickly. Not sure……
You could be on to something I noticed over the years i don't smell Milo after a day or two where's years past before I went more organic on my fertilizer apps Milo smell was strong and lingered for over a week.