Alternative Feeding

[johnwinters]

I'm really interested in duckweed. That is what grows wild in swamps, right?

 

[al6517]

I have a small field of BOSS I grow out every year, then harvest them into a big pile. cut a few off the stalks as needed and throw em in the run's and pen's. they spend hours working on those heads full of seeds. gives them something to do and it's good for them. I cut maybe 5-600 heads off per year and it's always plenty for the many birds I have plus enough left over to broadcast/reseed the field with. I also grow a pumpkin vine or two next to the coop and harvest them in the fall to be used as a dewormer, I just smash the pumpkin on the ground and they freak over it for days they work on it, till all that's left is the skins.

 

[Kassaundra]

Yes it is considered invasive and noxious. It is very high in protien, (and trace minerals) grows extremly rapidy (doubles in 24 hrs) under the right conditions. I would not be able to grow it through my winter, but during the growing season could dry it (if I got real ambitious) and keep a start in the house over winter and just put back out in the growing season. I plan on growing in a swimming pool.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
Hi Al

haven't seen you in a while. How's it going?

 

[johnwinters]

Quote:
I've tried growing sunflowers too, but the wild birds always eat all the immature seeds so non ever get to my chickens. How do you keep the wild birds away?

I too feed them all the insides and bad squash. Also, I've dried the seeds and if one has worms I will run some dried squash seeds along with corn through the grinder, wet it and feed it to the bird or sprinkle ground squash seeds on the whole flock's mash. It seems to work!

Cucumbers are another thing - when most varieties get past their prime they become seedy and sometimes bitter. Also, another thing is knocking japanese beetles into a bucket of water and dumping that in the run. The year before I had chickens there were thousands, then the year I got them and was excited about feeding JB's they all disappeared. hmm.

Very cool about the duckweed! will definitely hunt that out sometime!

 

[al6517]

Quote:
Hi Al

haven't seen you in a while. How's it going?

Doing well and you ??.


I don't really do anything to keep the birds away there are plenty of pods so I guess it's not an issue.

 

[LiLRedCV]

My gals free-range in our fenced chemical-free yard (1/4 acre) right now and we supplement with organic pellets and fruit and veggie scraps. (Trick is to keep the dog away from those scraps too! LOL) During the winter months, we also supplement with BOSS. We're gearing up to move them out to a new, larger coop (10x10 shed kit conversion) in a pasture we're fencing off. Once moved out to pasture, they'll have access to tall hay grasses, clover, and tons more bugs! After I've boiled eggs or cracked an egg open for something else, I'll crush the shells and toss out for a calcium treat.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
Hi Al

haven't seen you in a while. How's it going?

Doing well and you ??.


I don't really do anything to keep the birds away there are plenty of pods so I guess it's not an issue.

Real well, just busy.

 

[swatchick]

I just discovered that our chickens LOVE grape leaves. I did some pruning on our extremely out of control grape vines and tied together bunches of stems/leaves and hung it from the sides of the chicken yard -- the devoured them, and they seemed to have fun leaping up to grab at the leaves higher up.

 

[Illia]

Alternative feeding. . . .


Well, I try my best to grow my own corn, amaranth, quinoa, and flaxseed to replace commercial feed. The corn is tested non-GMO and is the old Mexican colored type, and the Amaranth and Quinoa are both wild type plants from where breeds like the Araucana originate. It's got a good content of Copper which helps the blue egg color, and has a high protein content but is not a grain, and is also great for us, as most of the family cannot eat Wheat products.

I pasture my hens on a fenced piece of land that looks like this. There's lots of bugs and shrubs and sorts here, the grass shown is at least 2 feet tall, and nearly every berry grows wild out here, plus there's some forest and fruit orchards surrounding them; we try our best to spoil the girls naturally.

I just planted a Fig tree, a PawPaw tree, and a couple Medlar trees towards the edge of their pasture. Aside from supplying us food, they will supply the chickens with whatever drops or the chickens nab, and they will also supply shade, cover, and more ideal environments for tasty bugs. Since most of our forests are coniferous, there aren't many leaves on the ground in the fall and winter for the chickens to scratch up and find larvae or pupae under, so, these trees will do great for that.

As for daily "treats" and the sort, the chickens get fresh produce from the gardens/greenhouse such as various tomatoes, various melons or watermelons, extra bits of peppers, squash, beet greens, chard and kale greens, and of course excess fruit from the orchards.

In less than a year I will be able to supply the girls plenty of homegrown bananas from our greenhouse as well as some figs, too.

In a year to a couple years I hope to entirely replace their commercial feed diet to a feed solely grown and harvested by us, and I hope to have a decent enough harvest of nuts and fish to feed to them as well. We're working on starting up an Aquaponics system going so we can raise our own fish, and hopefully, there will be enough for the chickens too.

Good food is as important for me to eat as it is for the chickens to eat. I'm pretty anti-Wheat, Soy, and GMO Corn. I also could care less for commercial varieties of food and love eyeing the heritage/heirloom types or the simply rare, neat-looking, or better tasting varieties. I'm also a big fan of naturally wild things. I allow the brambles to grow well out here, and trim them to produce just nicely, so the girls can hide under or eat from the wild berry bushes, but I also keep track of what "weeds" do well or poorly in the pasture, as some are very beneficial. If something grows out of control though, and it's only partially beneficial - I count on the moths to take care of the issue, and in turn, the chickens still get to feast on whatever is too many moths, sawflies, or whatever else is helping control the weeds.