Alternative Feeding

[johnwinters]

I thought I might try starting a thread - any ideas welcome! Any way to help supplement your chickens diet (a specific plant to grow, improved pasturing methods, insects to raise, sprouting grain, etc., etc..) Let's see where we can take this!

 

[chaseB2]

my geese like to eat the seeds off of foxtail grass , in the fall they will fight each other for the crab apples off the trees lol we like to pick them and toss them and watch all the birds run after them. thts all i can think of i hope it helps

 

[johnwinters]

Something others may be interested in - My chickens enjoy zucchini every now and again, and my geese devour it. Since not many people or places buy zucchini it is always in abundance and easy to grow.

Also prickly lettuce as some call it grows in abundance around here. I pick it and feed it to my birds who strip it to the stalk.

chaseB2, thanks for the response, my geese love drops too!

 

[johnwinters]

Anyone else at all????

 

[10 point]

my chickens love to eat birdox leafs

 

[Cpprpnny19]

Mine adore tomatoes!

 

[johnwinters]

Has anyone heard of Harvey Ussery? Very neat guy, I have met him and he is doing some awesome things with chickens! His website http://www.themodernhomestead.us/

I can't wait to read his book

Anyway, his research in Black Soldier Flies if very neat for those who are in the right climate - I have started experimenting with plastic drums.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

It would be an interesting thread, my chickens are lucky, they have alot of acreage to roam and eat all the bugs that they can, plus scratch, which they eat alittle and leave to go chase grasshoppers. They seem to have love for black crickets,and kattydids, but I can't imagine raising any more bugs intentionally. I gotta say I let nature decide what it wants to eat, rather then formulate any feed, but I realize some chickens may not have all that and would benefit from natural supplements, one of which might be clover, the purple seems a big hit with very young chicks, more so than white or yellow., they like sweet grass/clover as well.

 

[chaseB2]

mud, my hens love to eat mud , im shur there is something in there they need but idk what it is but they love it ........ all my birds love it chickens ducks geese and turkeys all eat it

 

[Kassaundra]

I am growing b. dubia roaches for the chickens especially for the winter when they do not have bugs to eat, also just started a meal worm bin. I tried the black soldier fly larva, but we had an intensely long, record breaking insanely hot and dry summer, I don't know if that was the problem or something else, but I was not successful w/ that. I am going to try again next year but instead of harvesting them I am going to put the growing bin in the chicken run and build it to promote escape and let the larva "escape" into the chicken run.

We feed them restaurant scraps, and kitchen / garden scraps. They also have run of the gardens when they are finished bearing.

I am trying to start raising duckweed, wanted to get that up and going this year, but wasn't able to.

In winter I sprout oats (and other grains) for them.

I have tried fermented oats which they love, but I'm not good at keeping that up, I'm trying to get better at that.