housing crash again?

[Fixit]

Yes feed is going up . Part of it is crop failures and part is increasing demand. Remember how hard it was to find small livestock last year. Problem is the solution.
There was a time when poultry ate more greens than grain . Then with the ease of grain harvesting all that changed .

Episode-2792- Growing Your Own Poultry Feed - The Survival Podcast

Growing your own food is a good thing, so is growing your own live stock feed. Today we talk about one angle on doing that for your back yard poultry.

www.thesurvivalpodcast.com

A little something to play.

 

[Mini Horses]

My poultry does free range every day, all day. They eat bugs, grasses, keep manure broken down and flies to a minimum. They get supplemented feed 3/4 of yr to keep them coming and help with tossed food or damaged growing vegs but, just tossed treats. Pigs get most, when I have any pigs working. But winter they get full feed + free range. I do raise some of their feed...small grains, BOSS, radishes, etc. But not enough to not need to buy. I generally keep 60-70 laying hens. This year there will be some corn dedicated areas for that. Some will be sold for decorations to various shops -- those pretty colored types. pumpkins will run thru them, to use as feed and more sales. It's a pain for walking but, both are used when drying off...it will work I hope. First yr to do but, looking at a little farm income or cost of support. I need a future retirement job around here.

 

[Fixit]

Don't overlook pumpkins. Those big ones were called hog pumpkins for a reason . They would pack them in the barn with lose hay for winter feed. Bust them open chickens love them .

 

[Hinotori]

Trellis everything to get more crops for the space. Most squash do great that way other than the larger pumpkins. I have some cattle panels that I'm going to staple into my old 4x8 wood raised beds to make a nice trellis tunnel.

 

[Mini Horses]

And turnips! Both chickens and goats ate them like candy. Plus, I can leave then in ground around here into Jan/Feb .... Last time I pulled a bunch before neighbor plowed them under it was late Jan. Four front end loads...nice, crisp. Most of tops were gone but, bulbs huge and fine. Same with daicon radish and mangel beets...plus they help the soil. We should all work toward animal feeds being homegrown. Even the cost of seed is less than a bag of feed!

I mean, waaaay back, there wasn't a feed store on every street. Some crops need more room than a farm may have to spare but, others don't. If I can cut 50%, I consider it a huge success. There is enough land here for hay but equipment is lacking. I'm using some pasture I "wintered" for one group. Next yr, will do more and get my winter rye out way sooner!! Then more growing to graze. They still get hay but, need/eat less. It's a learning curve.

This is a real tough year for most everyone and a good time to review and revamp.

 

[flowerbug]

if you are thinking for the longer term get some oak trees going for acorn/mast production feed for pigs. some types of acorns are even much better for people food too in a pinch.

 

[Hinotori]

Somewhere around here I have a copy of a British WW2 manual on chicken keeping. Chicken feed was rationed and allowed rations were not enough to actually keep a bird alive. It talked about how to extend it. A good part of the recommended filler was cooked potatoes, especially non-green peels.

Kitchen scraps were tossed into a pot and cooked until soft before giving to chickens.

 

[Hinotori]

if you are thinking for the longer term get some oak trees going for acorn/mast production feed for pigs. some types of acorns are even much better for people food too in a pinch.

Some oak trees were bred for better production just for pig food. I can't remember the varieties now. One of my food history books talked about pork meat quality depending on food. Acorns make for the best according to it.

 

[CrealCritter]

Just a FYI... deer also LOVE turnips and acorns.

 

[Mini Horses]

Yeah, tried to forage some acorns here. Deer wiped them out first.