Animal fodder

[Chic Rustler]

What are some good choices for animal feed (mainly chickens) that are easy to grow and what's it take to grow it? I'm thinking pumpkins next year, but I don't know much about them

 

[tortoise]

Pumpkins and winter squashes are awesome for chicken, goats and sheep eat them too but not as readily as chickens do. Zucchini - doesn't keep but great in season. we're feeding windfall apples and crabapples to chickens now.

I use the chicken pen as a compost pile so they get some of everything. We give them deer carcasses in winter too. We have made suet for them in the past with venison fat, but now we just put all the fat trimmings in a bucket and chuck them in on very cold days when they need more energy.

 

[sumi]

Pumpkins are great, yes! I used to grow some corn and spinach for my chickens and we had pastures of mixed grass and lucerne (alfalfa), which is a fantastic crop for most animals. It's easy to grow, very hardy and you can cut it over and over and over… We gave some to the chickens, when they were penned, and we gave some to the pigs as well.

 

[tortoise]

Corn, of course! We have a field rented out. We glean off it after harvest. It's either corn or soybean. Gleaning corn is a lot more rewarding than beans! Chickens like it better too!

 

[sumi]

I can't remember exactly how much space we grew our corn in, but it wasn't much… Part of the vegetable plot really and VERY manageable. I was amazed how much corn we got off there. And @tortoise got that right, it is rewarding and the chickens love it.