forage

After losing one of my girls to an unknown predator, we no longer let them free range without constant supervision and extended the run by 20ft. Since they'll now be spending most of their day inside the run, I plan to build a 2ftx9ft grazing bed with removable hardware cloth top. I occasionally...

Can pine needles and fallen leaves cause a goat's urine to turn a rusty brown? I dry lot and have lots of Eastern White Pines, a walnut tree, a few red Maples, and even a Kwanzon fruitless Cherry Tree. Once the leaves start falling, from the red maple and the fruitless cherry tree, will they...

Hello everyone! I have 12 Free ranging Welsummer pullets. They are about 7 weeks old, and have been free ranging for about a week and a half. These are my first set of chickens. My plan is to let them forage during the day, and then in the evenin- around 6- I will feed them their store bought...

Hello everyone! As the title says, would free ranging chicks at 6 weeks old be a bad idea? I found a thread from a couple years ago, and most people said that kt Would be perfectly fine, but I wanted to get y’all’s opinion. This is the thread I found...

Hello! Thank you for reading my thread. I am wanting to start compiling a seed mix that will be spread out to grow as fodder & forage for our hens. I was wondering what things you would suggest putting in the mix? What seeds should I start buying to add to the mix? I know I could probably Google...

This year my garden has been “meh” I think the earwigs are eating everything again and I’ve been too busy with taking care of my Roxby Gander while he hasn’t been feeling well so I haven’t done a lot of weeding or anything down in the garden, but so far I have: Some pumpkins finally sprouting...

Every so often someone posts a question asking if chickens can survive solely on free-range/forage. The overwhelming response is generally a resounding "no", followed by a laundry list of reasons why it shouldn't be attempted (from not enough forage to increased exposure to predation, etc)...

Hello, new here! Please forgive me if I ask a million questions! My ducklings are about a week old (hatched on Monday, arrived to me Thursday AM). I would love to take them into their finally finished pen to forage (under my supervision!), but I am not sure at what age I should begin doing...

Hello! Our chickens live in a 2 acre fenced in area with our dogs (totally fine with each other), our bees, our orchard, and our garden (fenced within that 2 acres). For years, our chickens have never been interested in the far corner where a pond forms in the rainy season. I made the mistake...

Ok BYC Family, My sister and brother in law live in Phoenix, and I am in the process of considering locations within 2 or so hours of Phoenix. I prefer the closer the better. My issue: i just dont understand how anyone in the "greater Phoenix area" can pasture raise their birds. Im from the...

I have 10 month old orpingtons. They have a big run and free range about 2 hours every other day on my 3 acres. More on the weekends. I have tried buying them actual chicken grit before, but they never eat it. They eat kitchen scraps and whatever they find foraging besides their normal food. I...

Hello all, I read that chickens don't eat lavender, so i planted 2 big pots of it outside of my coop to repel flies and look/smell lovely. Well, they ate it ALL!!! Then proceeded to yank the plans out of the pot and throw all around!! :he Thoughts?? Anything they REALLY won't eat, that I can...

I always ask people who keep various species and breeds how good they think their animals are at self-selecting good food when given choice. I find that my Scots Grey rooster, welsummer hens and cream legbars are all excellent at finding forage. they also tend to favour leafy greens over corn...

This is a question for those of you that somehow incorporate herbs into your flock's diet, either while foraging or as part of their daily feed. What herbs do you use? What benefits have you seen, if any? If you could make a mix for your flock, and the cost was not an issue, what herbs would you...

Long story short - I picked up 5 new chickens yesterday. Two are 6-month old silkies (they had a large run, but did not free range). Three are 9-week old large fowl (orpington, rhode island red, black star). They are currently in the coop. When would you say it is safe for me to let them venture...

Here's a question. I've been experimenting with different grains and poultry feeds and watched my 5 indian runner ducks (2 drakes and 3 hens) forage. What I learned is, that they won't eat slugs (or anything) if I feed them 20% protein poultry feed. Well, they do snap at bug from time to time...

Hey guys, long time lurker here. I'm not sure if this is the right section for this question so I apologize if it's not. Basically I'm looking for poultry with dark meat which have great foraging skill. Ratites are great but they're too big. It looks to me like guinea fowl would be best for...

We have five male guineas. One is three years old and the others are two. This summer they have become very lazy. They spend a lot of time laying in the driveway or in the shade instead of foraging the property as they have done in the past. They make a couple quick loops around the house each...