E38: What Makes a Good Poultry Feed? | Dr. Nancy Jefferson of Kalmbach Feeds

You are sure to learn some things you didn’t already know about feeding your livestock! Nancy of Kalmbach Feeds is not only a poultry nutrition professional, she is a chicken keeper herself who finds great enjoyment in caring for her own flock. In this conversation, we dive into the nitty gritty of feeding birds on your homestead: the difference between different types of poultry feed, how ingredients are sourced, and more. Tune in to learn more about what makes Kalmbach Feeds unique and why they may be a great fit for your farm.

In this episode, we cover:

What considerations go into formulating animal feed
Figuring out what your particular livestock need in their feed
From where are the ingredients in animal feed sourced?
Navigating supply chain issues
All about what makes Kalmbach’s unique layer feed so special
Do different breeds of chickens need different feed?
The nutritional differences between layer, broiler, and game bird feeds
Where to buy Kalmbach Feeds
A final word of encouragement from a poultry nutritionist

About Nancy

With a Ph.D. in Food Animal Science from West Virginia University, and over 16 years of experience in animal nutrition, Dr. Nancy Jefferson is a leading expert in poultry nutrition, specializing in backyard poultry and small-flock management. Since joining Kalmbach Feeds in 2013, Dr. Jefferson has become an integral part of the team, bringing her deep passion for research and hands-on learning to the forefront of the company’s nutritional advancements. Her personal and professional life are closely intertwined, as she is not only a nutritionist, but also a passionate poultry keeper.

Resources Mentioned

Henhouse Reserve feed

Find a Kalmbach Feeds dealer near you

Connect

Kalmbach Feeds | Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

What Makes a Good Poultry Feed Transcript

Amy Fewell Welcome to the Homesteaders of America Podcast, where we encourage simple living, hard work, natural healthcare, real food, and building an agrarian society. If you’re pioneering your way through modern noise and conveniences, and you’re an advocate for living a more sustainable and quiet life, this podcast is for you. Welcome to this week’s podcast. I’m your host, Amy Fewell, and I’m the founder of the Homesteaders of America organization and annual events. If you’re not familiar with us, we are a resource for homesteading education and online support. And we even host a couple of in-person events each year with our biggest annual event happening right outside the nation’s capital here in Virginia every October. Check us out online at HomesteadersofAmerica.com. Follow us on all of our social media platforms and subscribe to our newsletter so that you can be the first to know about all things HOA (that’s short for Homesteaders of America). Don’t forget that we have an online membership that gives you access to thousands—yes, literally thousands—of hours worth of information and videos. It also gets you discount codes, an HOA decal sticker when you sign up, and access to event tickets before anyone else. All right. Let’s dive into this week’s episode.

Amy Fewell Welcome back to this week’s episode of the Homesteaders of America Podcast. This week I have guest Nancy Jefferson from Kalmbach Feeds. Welcome to the podcast, Nancy.

Nancy Jefferson Thank you for having me.

Amy Fewell Yeah, we’ve tried to schedule this podcast I feel like a hundred times and so we’re finally getting on here to do this for you guys. Kalmbach Feeds is also a sponsor of the 2024 Homesteaders of America Conference, and so we are just ecstatic to have them with us this year because animal feed is so important. And so it’s great to have an expert on here where we can talk about all natural feed and what that looks like for your animals. So, Nancy, why don’t we start with you just telling us a little bit about who you are and what you guys do.

Nancy Jefferson Thank you. My name is Nancy Jefferson. I am a poultry nutritionist at Kalmbach Feeds, so I formulate poultry feed. I am also a poultry keeper myself. I have about 80 chickens. I love my chickens. I’m one of those very blessed people who gets to work in my passion. So I love my birds, love everything there is to do about taking care of birds, and so to actually get to work in that field, as well, is just so great for me. I have a lot of hands on experience too, so that helps a lot when we’re talking to poultry owners, getting new product ideas and things like that. So for Kalmbach, I formula feed. At home, I’m a mom to two kids and, a wife to my husband, and we live on a farm where I raise my chickens and we have our own herd of beef cattle as well, so.

Amy Fewell Wow. So you probably utilize your feed expertise for your beef cows too, huh?

Nancy Jefferson We do, yes. Yeah, absolutely. I do very few ruminant formulations, but the one I do is the one for our own cattle. So, yes.

Amy Fewell Okay. So you keep saying formulations. So talk to me about that. How do you formulate a feed?

Nancy Jefferson Sure. So formulation is essentially just a recipe. We put together the recipe for a feed based on the ingredients that we have available, the nutrient needs of the animal, and then, of course, the cost of those ingredients plays a factor as well. So, how the nutrient value and the nutrient needs of those animals at that particular time. So I call it ages and stages. So at that age or that stage of production for the animal, and we put together the best recipe to meet all of the nutrient needs for that animal at that particular age or stage. So there are a lot of different things that go into it — different types of feed, ingredients, the age of the animal (I’ll talk about birds mostly because I’m a poultry nutritionist), but the age of the bird, the stage it is in production (is it a new layer? Is it an old layer? Is it a meat bird?). So I do formulation for lots of different types of birds. So we really just put together the best recipe, the right nutrients in the right proportions (that’s very important to, in the right proportions) to meet the nutrient needs of those birds and help them stay nice and healthy and nice and productive.

Amy Fewell Okay. So what does your typical layer feed look like?

Nancy Jefferson Well, we have a lot of different options at the company that I work for, Kalmbach Feeds. So we have very standard all natural crumbles and pellets. Most of those are going to be corn and soy based. Corn is a really great energy source. Soybeans are really great protein sources. So most of those feeds are going to be corn/soy based. We also have feeds that are very unique and different, and we find that the more people consider poultry as pets or the more people get involved in different types of nutrition and all that’s available out there, we have corn free feeds, we have soy free feeds, we have textured products. Our in-house reserve is probably our most popular poultry feed. It is a very unique textured product because it has the actual seeds and vegetables in the feed, so I call it nutrition you can see. So there are lots of different options. We can do a variety of different things when it comes to formulation and what ingredients we use in feeds.

Amy Fewell Yeah, that’s really neat. So how do you figure out what your chickens would need? Like a lot of people have a mixed flock. So what’s the best option or the best way for someone to figure out the best feed for their animals?

Nancy Jefferson So the best way to figure out the correct feed is to know what your production goals are and what stage your animals are in. So if we talk about backyard poultry, most of us who have backyard poultry have chickens that we intend to become layers or are already laying hens. That’s probably the most popular type of poultry. So if you have birds that are intended to be laying hens or are laying hens, you want to feed them slightly different than if you have a birds that are intended to be meat birds or you have, let’s say, a bachelor flock of roosters or something along those lines. So knowing the stage that your bird are in, so if we’re talking about laying hens that are actively producing, those layers need a very specific diet that has enough calcium to produce high quality egg shells, has the proper nutrients for the birds to actually absorb that calcium because calcium doesn’t work by itself, so there are just a couple things to consider when we talk about how to choose the right feed. Young birds, so if we’re talking about chicks or very young birds or some breeds like turkey, some types of poultry, like turkeys or game birds, those birds have higher nutrient requirements when they’re young than they do when they’re old. So knowing what stage they are in production can help you choose the right feed.

Amy Fewell So sometimes people will have like, with ducks or poultry, they’ll start seeing some issues come up. Like sometimes ducks have walking issues which could be a niacin issue or whatnot. I imagine that’s something you guys take into consideration when you’re making your feed. But do you guys offer any kind of supplementation other than just chicken feed and beef cattle feed and all of that?

Nancy Jefferson Yeah. So those are definitely things we take into consideration. One nice thing about feed is that there are certain rules and regulations that we all have to follow, no matter what company you work for. So on a feed tag, you have to provide a certain level of nutrition for those birds. You have to put that on the feed tag so customers and consumers can very clearly compare products and decide which one is the best for them. So on that product, you always have nutrient information you can use. We also have to list all the ingredients that are in a feed. So if you’re looking for something in particular like niacin in a duck feed, those ingredients would have to be listed. So you can find niacin in that ingredient list if it’s not already in the guaranteed analysis. And then there are also feeding instructions that have to be on every single feed tag. So you can use those to kind of help pick the right feed that you need for your birds. Outside of that, we do have a few supplements and premixes that are designed to be used on farm. Those are very popular with a lot of our homesteading communities because people are interested in doing some of their own mixing. So we do have products like that. We also have a complete line (and it is our most popular line) of already mixed complete feeds where everything is already done for you. And those are by far the biggest sellers.

Amy Fewell Yeah. So where do you guys… Well, first of all, where are you located? I should know this, but I’m not quite sure.

Nancy Jefferson Oh that’s okay. Our headquarters is in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. We have three feed mills in Ohio, we have one in Michigan, one in Pennsylvania and one in Mississippi. So we have multiple locations, all in the US, but our headquarters is Ohio.

Amy Fewell And now, so I know I can go to my farm store, and you guys have a huge display there for Kalmbach Feeds. In fact, when we were raising meat rabbits, that’s all we used. I found that our meat rabbits were like super finicky on feed, and the only feed they could tolerate was the Kalmbach feed. And so, my next question is, how do you guys go about sourcing the ingredients that you use for various different feeds?

Nancy Jefferson So all of our, what we call macro ingredients, so our large grain ingredients and protein sources, are bought domestically. So some come from Canada, most come from the United States. We buy as many ingredients as we can regionally. So most of our corn and soybean is going to be from local farmers. Some of our larger ingredients we might bring in from other distributors. Some vitamins and minerals do have to be sourced from overseas because that’s the only place where they are actually made, so we will bring in some of that. But we are HACCP certified (and most feed mills have to be now because of the Food Safety Modernization Act), but we are HACCP certified, so we have trusted suppliers that we work with to bring all of our ingredients in. But as much as we possibly can, we buy at local and regional to where our facilities are.

Amy Fewell Okay. Have you guys been seeing any… Do you have ever have any issues on shortages of grain or anything like that?

Nancy Jefferson That happens from time to time, things will get tight, but we have a great team who works with doing our purchasing and our procurement, works directly with our farmers. And so we have a fairly well established relationship, especially in our local community. So, things do on occasion get tight, but because of those relationships, we’ve been able to work through it. Haven’t had any supply issues where we completely run out of anything or we have to very quickly finagle. We have been very, very blessed in that aspect.

Amy Fewell Yeah, that’s awesome. I know that’s one thing that we always hear in the homesteading community is like, you know, what are the grain options of something? You know, if the supply chain is interrupted or whatnot? And we have not seen that here either. Like we have a couple of local, more local feed mills, and they do the same thing — they get their ingredients locally. And so one of the things that I’ve always told people is especially for companies like yours, it’s good to know that you already have that relationship with all of these people so that you’re less likely to… You know, it’s different, we have individuals here that definitely make their own feed, but sometimes their crops fail, you know, and so when you can start getting in with companies or individuals that kind of have that solid, firm foundation in the community, it’s really helpful. It’s a great fail safe, sometimes.

Nancy Jefferson It is, yeah. And our team worked really, really hard. I did not admire the purchasing team during 2020, 2021 when trucking… Not just supply, not just getting the actual ingredients, but getting it to the facilities to actually make the feed and things like that, they worked really, really hard, went above and beyond and they did a great job. Luckily, we weren’t as affected as some other people, but I did not admire their, you know, their job at that particular time. They did a great job.

Amy Fewell Yeah. Yeah, and people have no idea how much work goes into, you know, every moving part of a company like that.

Nancy Jefferson It does, it does. And we have conventional feeds, we have non-GMO feeds, we have organic feeds. So there are a lot of moving parts to fill all of those needs in the facilities, make sure we’re making the feeds and getting them out there that the people are looking for, and there’s a lot that goes into it. And they did just a fantastic job in making sure that it went as smoothly as it possibly could.

Amy Fewell Yeah. So what would you say is your most popular feed at Kalmbach Feeds?

Nancy Jefferson So on the layer side, we have a great line of horse feeds actually. We have kind of a little bit of a competition internally between the horse feeds and the poultry feeds on the most popular ones. But right now our most popular poultry feed is Henhouse Reserve.

Amy Fewell Okay.

Nancy Jefferson It is very unique. It is a complete layer feed, so it’s meant for chickens that are producing eggs, but it’s very unique because it’s a textured product. So it has a lot of visual appeal both to the consumer who’s actually buying the product and to the bird who’s eating it. It has whole grains in it, it has seeds, it has vegetables, it has a nutrient rich pellet which supplies some of the vitamins and minerals, some of the protein and amino acid needs, so it is pretty unique to the marketplace. Because it is so unique, it has really taken off like gangbusters. I mean, it is a beautiful product and we’ve done a lot of testing on it. The birds absolutely love it. Anytime someone is having a problem with intake or they say, “Hey,” you know, “My birds have stopped laying,” one of the first things I’ll do is, “Try it bag of Henhouse Reserve,” because the birds love it so much. They just go after it. They eat it so well that often when they’re getting that high quality nutrition and they’re actually consuming it in turn, you’re going to get a bump in production. So that’s by far our most popular product right now. But we definitely have crumbles and pellets and lots of different options, but for sure that one’s our most popular.

Amy Fewell Yeah. Okay, so let’s talk about your personal chicken flock. What kind of chickens do you have and love to raise?

Nancy Jefferson Oh my goodness. I love standard breeds. So I was actually talking to a friend of mine this morning. I am a big fan because we live out in a rural area, and right now I’m actually fighting a fox who keeps coming in and trying to take some of my chickens. So I’m a big fan of bigger bodied standard breeds. I have probably, maybe 15 different breeds. I love my high egg producers, like my Rhode Island Reds and my production reds. But I have lots of different variations out of my flock. I’m a big fan of Wyandottes. I have a lot of Wyandottes. I have some Australorps. I love Buff Orpingtons. They’re so gentle and sweet. I have some Sapphire Gems that are really, really pretty. They’re not my best layers. Usually your birds that look the prettiest and lay the prettiest eggs are actually not your most productive birds because they are good layers, but they’re bred more for either their feather patterns or what they look like, or the color of the eggs more than they are for maximizing egg production. So I have lots of different breeds. My favorites are Wyandottes and Buff Orpingtons.

Amy Fewell Yeah, I would say those are pretty good breeds, too. Like, we really love the standard breeds. We’ve added in a few different, you know, hybrid type birds, mostly for their egg, you know, colors and all of that. We used to have some landraces and that brings me to my next question: have you ever had any experience with nutritional differences between, you know, like your regular standard chicken and your landrace type birds like Icelandics, or various different, more exotic breeds.

Nancy Jefferson So there can be differences in the nutritional needs between the birds. They are not extreme. So generally speaking, a good layer feed is going to be a good fit for any bird that’s in active production. Some birds need a little more calcium, some birds need a little less calcium, which is one of the reasons why you’ll often find people will add supplemental calcium, like oyster shell or limestone chips. That’s primarily because when we formulate feed as nutritionists, we will tell you that feed has everything that those birds need in that bag, in the right proportions. But we’re formulating to the average bird, and everybody knows average is made from some birds need a little bit more, some birds need a little bit less. Your larger body birds are going to typically need a little more nutrition. They’re going to eat more to make up for maintaining the energy that they need to maintain that larger body. Your smaller body birds are typically going to eat a little bit less. Birds who are in very high production might need a little more calcium compared to birds that are in lower levels of production. So a good core (you know, start with a good core, high quality product) works really, really well, and then we can do little tweaks, mostly with how much the birds eat or slight supplements like oyster shell or things like that, to help with those birds who are using high levels of calcium.

Amy Fewell Yeah. So can you tell me the difference between, like the regular layer, a game bird feed and then your broiler feed? Because sometimes, I get this a lot where people say, “Well, I’m just giving my broilers regular layer feed.” Well, that doesn’t work very well. You know, so why don’t you give us just a quick rundown? Like, what are the differences in and ingredients and protein ratio and stuff like that?

Nancy Jefferson Sure. So a good broiler feed is going to have somewhere in the 20-22% protein range. A typical layer feed is going to be more in the 16-18% protein range. So that’s a pretty big difference in protein. It may not seem like a lot, but it is a big difference in protein. Broiler chickens need higher levels of protein because they are genetically selected to grow very fast. So they are basically putting on a massive amount of body weight, which is muscle. And we all know when we’re building muscle, what’s the first nutrient bodybuilders try to pack in when they’re going to to build muscle? It’s protein. So those birds typically need higher levels of protein than a laying hand because a laying hen… I’ll go back to broiler chickens. So there are three main ways that most animals use their nutrition — growth, maintenance and production. So these broiler chickens are growing at a rapid rate. So they’re putting on a lot of body mass. They’ve got to maintain what they’ve already done, as far as their digestive tract is concerned and their feather quality and the body mass they’ve already put on, and they have to grow, and then part of that growth is production. Laying hens are in a productive state, but they’re producing eggs instead of body mass, so they don’t need quite as much protein in order to do that. Plus they’re just genetically smaller bodied birds. So if we think about any animal, whether it’s a horse or cattle or human or a chicken, usually larger bodied or bigger bodied animals need a higher plane of nutrition than smaller body. They’re going to eat a little bit more, they need a higher plane of nutrition than animals that have smaller bodies. And that’s the way it works with poultry too. Broiler chickens, because they are growing so rapidly, need a higher level of protein. They need more energy. They need different levels of amino acids than layers do in order to put on that massive amount of muscle, which muscle is what we are harvesting. So they are essentially putting on a massive amount of muscle. Layers, on the other hand, need a lot of calcium, (which is totally different, we’re in the minerals now) need a lot of calcium to build eggshells. Broiler chickens don’t need that calcium. So if you’re feeding a layer feed to broiler chickens, you’re forcing those birds to overconsume calcium, and then they have to digest and excrete that calcium, which over a large period of time or a long period of time can definitely cause problems. Same thing goes for laying hens. If you’re overfeeding protein… Let’s say you’re feeding a broiler feed to laying hens. Protein is very expensive, and there’s only so much protein that a hen can utilize. So if you’re overfeeding protein, she has to break down and excrete that protein. And humans, we excrete protein in urine. That’s how we get rid of our excess nitrogen is in urine. Birds don’t urinate, so they excrete their excess protein in uric acid, which is part of the manure. And that uric acid breaks down to ammonia gas, and that’s what gives you that terrible smell that burns your eyes. So sometimes you can walk into a chicken coop and if you’ve got that really overwhelming smell, I can almost automatically say you’ve got an opportunity to decrease the amount of protein you’re feeding because your birds can’t utilize it. They they have too much, they have to digest it, excrete it, and that’s pretty expensive because protein is expensive.

Amy Fewell Yeah.

Nancy Jefferson So there are lots of different players in the game when we’re talking about different types of formulas. There is not a really great one size fits all. If you have mixed flocks, different types of birds, we can come up with some unique recommendations. But there are very unique nutrient requirements based on the type of bird you pick. And it’s really just because of their genetics, their genetic potential.

Amy Fewell So, Yeah. That’s interesting. I know I’m going to get a lot of people who are like, “Wow, I didn’t know that about chicken feces.” Our audience loves those tidbits of information.

Nancy Jefferson Hey, I love talking about it.

Amy Fewell Okay, so I know you’re the chicken expert there, but do you know much about cattle feeds? If you don’t, I won’t ask too many questions about that.

Nancy Jefferson You can ask me some very basic questions, but I am definitely a poultry nutritionist.

Amy Fewell Yeah. Okay, so you know we’re in the world of grass fed everything. So me having, you know, dairy cows, there are a few of our dairy cows that we have to feed grain to, just because they need more energy. And so, what kind of feeds do you guys have available? I know it’s going to be a big question for cattle people. Do you have, like, beef feed and a dairy feed or is it just a generic cattle feed? What do you guys have available for that?

Nancy Jefferson We have specific beef feeds and dairy feeds. So we have a whole team of ruminant nutritionists. And if you go to our website you can ask nutrition questions and then they’re sent to whichever team would be the right person to respond to that. So if you have specific ruminant questions, you can go to our website. They will send it to our ruminant nutritionists. We have a whole line of beef specific feeds. We have a whole line of dairy specific feeds. We even have minerals that people can put out if they’re only going to do a grass fed program. So you know, whatever production situation you’re in, whatever management that you’re looking for, we can definitely help meet those needs at Kalmbach. We have feeds for almost every purpose.

Amy Fewell Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s good to know because, you know, people need that one stop shop, you know, kind of thing. So can people order online or is it just from the farm store?

Nancy Jefferson So the best way to order is through our partnership with our dealers. You are going to get the best deal by going to the dealers. We have a few products that you can order online if you don’t have a dealer that’s near you, but once you add the shipping, it usually almost always works out. If you can find it in a brick and mortar store, it’s going to be the best option for you. And they’re going to have the most products available. So we have a whole warehouse full of products that most dealers can order, one bag or a whole truckload, depending on what the product is. Online, it’s a limited selection. So your best option is to definitely find a dealer that’s near you. And on our website, we do have a locator where you put in your zip code, and you can find everyone who is relatively close to you. And then we have some online options. Some of our products are available on Amazon and Chewy and things like that. But usually our dealer network is the best option.

Amy Fewell Okay. And then if somebody wanted to become a dealer, I know we have people who have farm stores and stuff that listen, how would they go about that process?

Nancy Jefferson So either go on our website or call our customer service number, and then you would be put in contact with the regional manager or the sales rep who’s in that area to determine if it’s a good fit.

Amy Fewell Okay, awesome.

Nancy Jefferson That’s the best way to do it.

Amy Fewell All right, very neat. Okay, so Nancy, I’m gonna let you go here in a minute. I always ask every guest this, and it’s so funny because everyone always has something different to say. And some people have nothing to say. But at the end, I always ask our guests if there’s anything — it doesn’t even have to be about anything we talked about — anything that you would like to share with our homesteading community before you leave off here, whether it’s something you’ve just been seeing or thinking about, or just something that’s been on your heart, now’s the time to share it. Is there anything… Or even just educational about feed. It doesn’t have to be like some super inspirational thing.

Nancy Jefferson Sure. So, the main thing I would say is don’t be afraid to ask questions. So I know that there is a massive amount of information. As a poultry keeper myself, I understand some of the restrictions or the the bumps in the road that we run into. We have to rely a lot on the internet, and there’s a lot of information on the internet, some other good, some of it not very good. A lot of veterinarians won’t see poultry, you know, they’re more of the, you know, got to have fur on it for them to see it. So I know that that is a problem that we run into as backyard poultry keepers. Don’t be afraid to reach out to experts. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your local feed mill, your feed store, Kalmbach Feeds, whoever your supplier might be. There are experts out there with a lot, a lot of really good information. I will say, for me personally, I am the backyard poultry expert at Kalmbach. A little different, we have a commercial site as well. And when I kind of took on that role, I really had to change the way that I think, open up my mind to lots of different situations, lots of different scenarios, because we are trained in our schooling to think about production, production, production. Well, it’s so much more than just production.

Amy Fewell Right.

Nancy Jefferson And so to think outside the box, to ask questions, to really have an open mind about all the different aspects of homesteading, keeping animals in general, if it’s poultry or any other type of animal. So don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to reach out. There’s a lot of information out there. If you can find a good trusted source, you can learn so much. I mean, I learned so much from The Homesteaders of America and all of the good, trusted sources. The people that I really look up to for that information. So don’t be afraid to ask questions. Knowledge is in questions.

Amy Fewell Oh, I love that, I absolutely agree. And, Nancy, thank you for coming on here and answering a lot of those questions that I know people have about feed and, just in general, feed questions, you know, and so we really appreciate your expertise. We appreciate you coming on here and sharing information. I know people learned some stuff from this about chickens, especially. And you guys, if you do have questions, you know, definitely as Nancy said, make sure you ask them. Go to the Kalmbach website. It sounds like you guys have a great option on there where no matter what the feed, you’ll be sent to the right expert, which is amazing. One of the things that we look for for sponsors with HOA, because we don’t just take on any sponsor, so one of the things that we always look for is, are people available for you to help grow you and nurture you and care for you on your homesteading journey? And so Kalmbach Feeds is one of those people who really care about this community, and we appreciate them so much. So thanks for joining us this week, Nancy.

Nancy Jefferson You are very welcome. Thank you for having me.

Amy Fewell Absolutely. All right, guys, we will see you on the next HOA podcast. Bye.

Amy Fewell Hey, thanks for taking the time to listen to this week’s Homesteaders of America episode. We really enjoyed having you here. We welcome questions and you can find the transcript and all the show notes below or on our Homesteaders of America blog post that we have up for this podcast episode. Don’t forget to join us online with a membership or just to read blog posts and find out more information about our events at HomesteadersofAmerica.com. We also have a YouTube channel and follow us on all of our social media accounts to find out more about homesteading during this time in American history. All right, have a great day and happy homesteading.