Complete Chicken Nutrition, No Buying Feed - How?

[Beekissed]

Well, Bee, I am one of those people who has more money than sense, apparently, lol. And not a lot of either. I feed my 4 chickens their crumbles in the morning, along with a scrambled egg chock full of eggshells. Of course they go for the egg and shells first, and sometimes don't even pay any attention to the crumbles. There is always feed left, and they scatter a lot of it. In the afternoon, I let them out of the yard to free range till dark. They spend a lot of time foraging, moving over the whole back yard and up under the pine trees. They also get table scraps and the compost pile to pick through, and a handful of scratch/wild bird seed occasionally. A bag of feed lasts me months and months. I wish I could find some feed they like better....:/

If you don't have a lot of money, why are you wasting it in that way? Stop feeding so much and stop letting them scatter it. If that is the only feed available to you, ferment it and make it better for them. Don't buy wild bird seed...it's expensive and it's too rich for them, doing them no good at all. Cut your crumble with a cheaper whole grain so you won't be feeding layer ration in the fall and winter months. If you have good forage, rely more on it and only feed a dab of the crumbles(fermented) each evening after they have gotten their fill off foraged foods.

Don't feed them eggs and egg shells...it's not worth the effort. Throw the shells out as you use them, right into the compost pile, and let them eat them or not, their choice. Cooking chickens eggs? If you have excess you cannot eat, give them to a family who is struggling to make it or if you don't have much money, sell the eggs to pay for feed.

If you ferment your feed, they cannot scatter it or waste it. You feed it in a trough style feeder and only what they can consume in 15 min. No waste, better and cheaper feed, less money wasted. It's an easy fix and will save you money, which everyone seems to need.

 

[Britesea]

I don't have chickens, but I do have ducks. They are 2 months old right now. When I can, I let them out to forage, but I don't feel comfortable doing that unless someone's gonna be outside, and it seems like most of my time is taken up with indoor chores like dishes and laundry and preserving, etc.
I've been feeding my babies the Flock Grower Crumbles, but I'm interested in giving them fermented feed; how would I go about doing that? I'm a complete newbie at this, lol.

I just came home with some big bags of pulled produce from the local Cash N Carry for them-- including a 4lb box of strawberries that are kinda mushed but most of them are still good. I'll have to pick out the moldy ones but otherwise... Right now they are having fun with a bunch of parsley and a pound of basil

 

[Denim Deb]

I feed my chickens when I lock them up. Right now, I'm feeding more than I want to, but I have 4 roosters that I need to send to freezer camp, just haven't had the time.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't have chickens, but I do have ducks. They are 2 months old right now. When I can, I let them out to forage, but I don't feel comfortable doing that unless someone's gonna be outside, and it seems like most of my time is taken up with indoor chores like dishes and laundry and preserving, etc.
I've been feeding my babies the Flock Grower Crumbles, but I'm interested in giving them fermented feed; how would I go about doing that? I'm a complete newbie at this, lol.

I just came home with some big bags of pulled produce from the local Cash N Carry for them-- including a 4lb box of strawberries that are kinda mushed but most of them are still good. I'll have to pick out the moldy ones but otherwise... Right now they are having fun with a bunch of parsley and a pound of basil

Here's a few threads on it on BYC....it's pretty simple so don't let anyone complicate it for you. Just put feed in a bucket, add water until it's covered by a few inches, stir it well. Let it sit, stir it every day but you do not have to keep water over the feed~that is the biggest misinformation about this process you'll see on the net. That initial water will absorb and that's fine...you'll want to feed it at a thicker consistency anyway if you are using crumbles...like a peanut butter consistency. In temps of over 70 you ought to start to see some bubbles of gas escaping the mix, especially when you stir, and smell a slight sour smell. Some place a cup or so of mother vinegar in the mix to kind of jump start some microbes in there and keep it acid until the lactobacillus get established but it will pull aceti from the air anyway if you don't add some.

Use some of the first batch to inoculate the next batch and just go on from there, adding fresh feed and water, stirring each day before you feed and keep a rolling mix going. You'll see a film on the top and that's just SCOBY, so don't think it's mold. Don't close the lid down tight on the bucket, leave it cracked on one side to allow gas to escape.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds/8360#post_12029332

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645057/fermented-feeds-anyone-using-them/600#post_12029364

 

[citylife]

There are several threads on BYC that deal with this question. Some people grow mealworms with great success, I read of one who grew giant cockroaches. I hate those things too much to ever grow them on purpose.

Fodder and forage and many other ideas below. I do find chickens forage better when put outside fairly young. I allow them out in the goat pasture at times and let them in my back yard with the dogs. I know I don't have to worry about hawks when the dogs are out. If one goes overhead the chickens will run to a dog or two. But, I like them in the yard to take care of the bugs, ticks and weeds.

 

[Britesea]

Thank you Beekissed. I read the FF threads with interest-- sounds basically like my DH's sourdough starter (which is going on 4 years old now). I'm gonna give it a try today.

The ducks have taken to gathering in front of the gate after their initial water drinking and investigating of goodies; asking to be let out. So cute!

 

[bubba1358]

Thanks everyone. These are all excellent ideas.

My main issue right now is the complete lack of perimeter fencing. Free ranging is out. They were escaping and getting into the garden, into the neighbor's porch, on the street, etc.

I have my chickens and sheep in movable electric netting right now. I'm finding the chickens clear out the area of bugs in about 4-6 days. I leave them there for 2 weeks for the sheep to graze the grass down. So naturally, I am giving chickens feed quite a bit. Moving the netting takes about 2-4 hours, depending on how dry the soil is and how many rocks i hit. :/ I guess I am looking for ways to optimize this setup. If kill-mulching a quarter acre and throwing down some sunflower and oat seeds means that I don't have to spend money later, then great. If there are other alternatives, then that's even better.

I have 5 acres total land (after housing space). Looking to "do it all," so to speak. I have a dedicated hay field, dedicated orchard and garden zones (which I'd like to expand out to 2 or so acres eventually) and another ~2.5 acres of pasture. Wanting to keep 3 breeding sheep and a milk cow on that 2.5, with the chickens, and have to buy nothing to feed.

It sounds like this will be a lot of work, and an ongoing development - I get that. I'm thinking of my property and its development as my retirement plan. I'm 31, and can put in a few good decades of labor to get it truly self-sustaining. The more I get figured out now, the better.

Again, thanks, all. Any other ideas?

 

[~gd]

Thanks everyone. These are all excellent ideas.

My main issue right now is the complete lack of perimeter fencing. Free ranging is out. They were escaping and getting into the garden, into the neighbor's porch, on the street, etc.

I have my chickens and sheep in movable electric netting right now. I'm finding the chickens clear out the area of bugs in about 4-6 days. I leave them there for 2 weeks for the sheep to graze the grass down. So naturally, I am giving chickens feed quite a bit. Moving the netting takes about 2-4 hours, depending on how dry the soil is and how many rocks i hit. :/ I guess I am looking for ways to optimize this setup. If kill-mulching a quarter acre and throwing down some sunflower and oat seeds means that I don't have to spend money later, then great. If there are other alternatives, then that's even better.

I have 5 acres total land (after housing space). Looking to "do it all," so to speak. I have a dedicated hay field, dedicated orchard and garden zones (which I'd like to expand out to 2 or so acres eventually) and another ~2.5 acres of pasture. Wanting to keep 3 breeding sheep and a milk cow on that 2.5, with the chickens, and have to buy nothing to feed.

It sounds like this will be a lot of work, and an ongoing development - I get that. I'm thinking of my property and its development as my retirement plan. I'm 31, and can put in a few good decades of labor to get it truly self-sustaining. The more I get figured out now, the better.

Again, thanks, all. Any other ideas?

Yep! turn loose the chickens in that orchard area When there are blooms or fruit you will need to watch them to see that they aren't going after the fruit or blooms [ours did] BUT we used to borrow a flock after harvest besides our own flock. there are always 'drops' to clean up and the drops are likely to have insects and are often winter homes for diseases. We were 'organic' because we couldn't afford the chemicals that others were using. With the chicken clean up squad we produced fruit that was like our neighbor's They would mow once and spread the cuttings under the fruit trees/vines/canes to prevent grass and weed growth. we would haul it out to be used for animal food or litter we found that chicken poop and litter would maintain growth better than the cuttings and the chickens would spread it for us. [hurding chickens is difficult but once the roosters and boss hens realize that they are going out for treats they will do most of the work but that first time is not fun!] I don't want to preach but with a little farm and big plans you need to think like a square foot grower to make your land do the jobs that it can. ~gd

 

[baymule]

Bubba, putting 3 sheep and a milk cow on 2.5 acres sounds like overstocking to me. At 31 years of age, you have a lot of time to figure it out, so try the cow. If in fact, you do have to buy feed for it, you can always sell it and try a goat. At least a goat eats less than a cow.

 

[bubba1358]

Yep! turn loose the chickens in that orchard area When there are blooms or fruit you will need to watch them to see that they aren't going after the fruit or blooms [ours did] BUT we used to borrow a flock after harvest besides our own flock. there are always 'drops' to clean up and the drops are likely to have insects and are often winter homes for diseases. ... I don't want to preach but with a little farm and big plans you need to think like a square foot grower to make your land do the jobs that it can. ~gd

Thanks. Great advice. I am already planning to move the chickens into our garden area to "clean up" for the winter. Will apply this to the orchard when it gets going (still kinda small, not producing fruit yet).

Bubba, putting 3 sheep and a milk cow on 2.5 acres sounds like overstocking to me.

Really?!! I have been repeatedly hearing one cow per acre and 5 sheep per acre is standard. I live in Middle TN, and it is lush pastures here with a long growing season. I figured I'd have a half acre to spare to do one last circle before turning to winter hay.


I've also been thinking of using the excess milk from the cow for the chickens main food source, outside of forage, via whey, clabber, or whathaveyou. Any thoughts on that?