Has anyone come across this homemade fish pellets info??? Its about 70% protein. I tried it, it worked out well. I am gonna try making more in bigger bulk and make it until I get tired of making it. The link below will take you to the instructions on how to make it if anyone is interested


Boboy.net

So have your fish taken to it well?

Yes it seems that way. The first batch I made I couldn't tell much because the pellets did not float. The next batch I baked longer and dried it out a little more and they floated. Then I was able to see them eating. They seem to love it. Its just time consuming making it. But Im hoping that the benefit outweighs the inconvenience

My only question would be the actual protien level in the feed you are making. Fish meal has between 60 and 72% protien and flour is around 13%. My math doesn't give me 70% protien but I was never really good at math.

Not anywhere near 70% - not with those ingredients. 70 % is not needed anyway but not sure the fish source is very good. Fish meal is made of oily fish like menhaden not some catfish byproduct (guts , scales and bones). However it may still be ok - it just depends.

Well I guess he can try this out and let us know how his fish grow on it, as I would be interested to see. May be hard to tell if they have any issues, as they may come up years down the road. Or maybe in there offspring.

Then again there may not be any issues.

I do not think this has been tested much so we will have to see how this turns out.

When I make the feed I don't use scales or bones. I have only used the meat of fish which I use from the BHC that I remove from the pond along with the other ingredients to get a good bond. So far I don't know what the benefit is alone because I mix it with the trophy feed and put it in the auto feeder. They do consume all of the homemade pellets when I throw some out. but I have yet to exclusively feed them the diy pellets long enough to see impact. At the end of the month I should be out of the trophy feed and will the resume homemade pellet diet.

I bet if you are using fish meat to make the diy pellets that it will help the fish you are feeding.

Im my research I have found that that first ingredient in most fish pellets including the best and most recommended brands is crude protein. So I did some research on what exactly is crude protein.

The explanation I found was, Many dry food manufacturers, “crude protein” includes carcasses and other waste from slaughtered animals and the word “meal” on a pet food bag may indicate the inclusion of such ingredients, along with meat not fit for people. This cleans up the slaughterhouse floor without having to call the garbage company. You can feed your fish (Pets) mediocre pet food high in protein — but not high in quality protein." It also includes nitrogen from protein but non protein sources as well. And I am by no means saying that the foods on the market are trash. I am only reporting my findings through research. And I am saying that in theory, homemade pellets made with the recipe described here minus the scales, waste and bones should give a better quality pellet than anything on the market. At least I would think. And this is provided you have enough pure protein to add to the recipe.

I the little amount of feed that I have purchased, poultry feathers are always mentioned near the beginning of the ingredients section of the tag.
This sounds interesting and nutritious, but only time will tell.
Good luck and good fish feeding,
Dan

Cardell I aplology if this questions is hijacking your thead and if I should start a new one please let me know.... Lets assume a fish converts on average 10 lbs of live forage to 1 lb of body weight. If that same predator ate 10 lbs of the same natural forage only ground up into pellet form would he still gain the 1 lb of weight?

The better fish foods for predators (not catfish food) use fish meal and oil as 2 major ingredients. Quality fish meal is the gold standard and is used by most quality manufacturers. It is far better than ground up fish meat. They are better than the other "crude proteins". A few brands lump all protein sources as crude protein on the label. The major fish food manufacturers know what makes the best product for happy fish and customers. There are lots of studies on fish nutrition and the manufacturers have PhD fish/animal nutritionists to design and develop and test the products. The commercial hatcheries and many knowledgeable lake owners buy the products and see the results. Hard to argue with proven results.

MNfish I understand your point. Fish growth is dependant on energetics. One part of that is amount and type of energy into the system (what a fish eats). See this as one of the all time best posts on energy in the pond system - http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=9167&page=1 .

Supp feeding has been shown to be much more efficient at producing fish growth than just natural food. However IMO it is not as healthy in the long run to rely on just or mostly pelleted food. Natural forage is needed also.