chicken raising

If you live in the country you just have to raise chickens. There really aren't any ifs ands or butts about it. And even if you don't live in the country you can still raise healthy hens that provide you with healthy eggs. All you need is a coop and some free green grass for them to roam on. Although they aren't the brightest livestock, they're certainly one of the easiest to care for.
A friend of mine called me the other day and gave me a recipe for chick starter- which then lead to my search for a homemade layer food. Here's what I found:

Greener Pastures Farm Chick Starter Recipe:
This recipe is whole grains, except for the corn, and can be fed to newly hatched chicks as is (whole grain) or soaked overnight. I used to grind their feed, but found that they waste most of it, and remembered that Mother Nature does not grind food for baby chicks!
Milk is made available free-choice, as is water with apple cider vinegar and garlic. Worms or scrambled eggs (with some fresh garlic added) are given daily. I am able to find all the following ingredients in certified organic form, except the kelp. My worms and my eggs are "home-grown" and are therefore organic! PLEASE NOTE: Do not feed milk or oyster shell to chicks that receive a premixed feed; these additions are only for chickens fed a home-made feed that does not already contain calcium in the mix. ACV = Apple Cider Vinegar

2 parts whole corn, ground (or purchased organic corn meal)
3 or 4 parts whole wheat
1 part barley
1 part oat groats
1 part shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 part lentils
1/2 part split green peas
1 part millet
1/4 part flax seeds
1/2 part seaweed
garlic (several cloves per gallon of water)
ACV (about 2 Tablespoons per gallon of water)
organic milk to drink (don't worry if they don't drink it all up; if it
solidifies, they will ingest it with glee!)
freshly dug worms
organic scrambled eggs

Layer recipe:
2 parts whole corn (in winter this is increased to 3 or 4 parts)
3 parts soft white wheat
3 parts hard red winter wheat
1 part hulled barley
1 part oat groats
1 part sunflower seeds (in winter this is increased to 2 parts)
1 part millet
1 part kamut
1 part amaranth seeds
1 part split peas
1 part lentils
1 part quinoa
1 part sesame seeds
1/2 part flax seeds
1/2 part kelp granules
free choice of granite grit
free choice of oyster shell
* It's not necessary to follow this recipe exactly... just make sure your birds are getting enough protein, which is predominant in the hard red wheat and the legumes. Free-range birds usually find plenty of protein from bugs, etc.

Both of these recipes come from Greener Pastures Farm in Vancouver, WA

I picked up quite a few of these ingredients from our health food store's bulk section today and plan on soaking mine tonight!

**Oh, and by the way, this is my 400th post!!!!!!! Yahoo!! So the first person to comment here will get something special in the mail to them!**