I've just discovered some miracle koi food... Chicken! I thought that chicken was gross and greasy or them, because i noticed that they didnt want to gorge on it, just too greasy! Answer: Boil it!!! if you boil a chicken carcass, most of the grease floats away... and chicken is 86 percent high quality proteins!!!! same as earthworms but easier to find. one kilo of chicken is therefore the same as 3kg of tetra pond food, which costs 60 USD. (although im in france, 40 euros). Others mix carrots, fibrous foods, rice, old bread, (processed white can contain chemicals and bleaches), lettuce, spinage, protein foods, all in a blender, pass it through a pasta machine and freeze or bake it to keep it safe. but i am chuffed about the chicken tip, boil chicken and feed it once every 2-3 days, they have an 86 percent protein source, which is abit useless unless you want fish that grow as fast as possible, but very good if you often have chicken leftovers., ribs etc. a boiled egg on the other hand is 26 percent protein, 60 percent fat... and white bread is 15 percent fat, whereas the cheap JBL koi food my uncle bought is 20 percent so it is 98 percent bread! urk! http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/117/2 look for chicken on this site! 136 amino acid protein score!!! Here is a link that might be useful: nutrition data

Just want to state my facts as I have personally experienced them since using the recipe for Lisa's fish food. My pond is in it's fifth year. I started with six 5 inch koi and two shubunkins. The only thing I fed my fish during the first four years were Cheerios, watermelon, canteloupe, zuchinni and Tetra Pond food sticks. Five of my fish did not seem to grow and their coloring was bland, however the white ogon butterfly was always a little bit larger than the other five. The orange coloring on the other fish looked like a light peach and the black coloring was gray. Last spring I purchased six more koi that were five inches long. Same as the koi I started with five years ago. This year I started making my own fish food using Lisa's (goodkarma's) recipe and I can't believe what has happened. The five year olds are larger and their coloring is very vibrant, the koi I bought last year have caught up to the older larger fish (five year olds). All of the other fish are also this size. These younger fish were only about seven inches long this spring. I would guess they are now approximately 18 inches long, or longer. Here is a picture to show you exactly what I mean. The large white fish to the left of the photo is my 5 year old white ogon butterfly, the fish in the center right behind the white ogon is also 5 years old (orange and black ginrin) and the fish on the right is the 2 year old I bought last spring (white with black down the middle of its back). If you compare them, they are all the same size (the small brat in the middle is a shubunkin). If you look closely in the top of the pic you can see some of the fry that were born in the pond this spring. They are now about 4-5 inches long. I supplement the homemade fish food with Hikari Gold which they are refusing to eat since I have been making Lisa's food. Another good thing with this food is that it is a sinking food. Koi are naturally bottom feeders. The only purpose for floating fish food is to enable you to see your fish when they come to the surface to eat. As I said the facts speak for themselves. Jenny

That is amazing. I mow mine down with the tractor. I sent some to Karen at the same time I send your's. Her passies are going wild. I guess there is something to that Cali vs Texas thing. Maybe you took care of them. I usually stick them into a bad environment and forget about them. I will take some pic's of my special CG. He is fuzzy, puts out buds almost straight up fuzzy also. He has never been bothered by mites. Maybe its the fuzziness. Anyway he is quite a brute, always blooming and budding. I believe I understand why the northern states use so much fertilizer. Their growing season is so short. I am just coming into the best time of the year for plants in the next few weeks. Solving my PH problem did more than fertilizer. If it were me I would use milorganite and a anti-transpirant until it cools down. milorganite is so safe you can used it in direct sun, without water anytime of the year. Now being from Cali you may not know how it is made. LOL It is very good stuff, organic and will only feed the plant when it needs it. Jim PS: I had the same thing happen to a few plants here. I do believe my use of a anti-transpirant for mites saved quite a few more. Here is a link that might be useful: milorganite

You don't need any of that stuff. Just use the starter kit as mentioned in the other post. Add a tablespoon of molassas and 1/4 cup of raw oatmeal if you feel the need to fortify the compost a little. The KISS system works. Keep it simple. Bill Hill