BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[bnjrob]

LOL! Mine won't touch turnip or beet greens. All of them love the kale and half of them love the Swiss Chard while the others just stare at it as if wishing it was something else.

The ALL love my tomatoes, though. I discovered that when I mistakenly left the gate to my fenced-off garden open.

I swear, chickens can be so darn picky. Ours don't like mustard greens or collards, but they love kale, spinach, and broccoli leaves. Sometimes I wonder how in the world their little chicken brains work.

 

[hellbender]

LOL! Mine won't touch turnip or beet greens. All of them love the kale and half of them love the Swiss Chard while the others just stare at it as if wishing it was something else.

The ALL love my tomatoes, though. I discovered that when I mistakenly left the gate to my fenced-off garden open.

One thing I've found with some of the greens they seem 'untouchable' when raw...just a quick hot water bath makes enough difference for them to at least have a go at 'em and if times were 'hard' they'd eat the stuff before it ate them!

We grow heritage tomatoes...not the prettiest but generally tastes better than the other sheit and seeds can be saved.

 

[DesertChic]

One thing I've found with some of the greens they seem 'untouchable' when raw...just a quick hot water bath makes enough difference for them to at least have a go at 'em and if times were 'hard' they'd eat the stuff before it ate them!

We grow heritage tomatoes...not the prettiest but generally tastes better than the other sheit and seeds can be saved.

I grow heritage tomatoes too. I love they way they look! And I really love how they taste. Tomatoes from the grocery store, even organic ones from places like Whole Foods, just don't have much flavor. The combination of intense summer heat and a whole lot of caterpillars did a lot of damage to my plants this summer, but now that the chickens have helped me clear the plants of their parasitic load they're starting to make a comeback. I'm hoping to grow enough this fall to can a few dozen jars.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I know there will be naysayers but there are plenty of things can be 'put up' to feed chickens during the winter, should hard times fall upon us. We keep a lot of top quality alfalfa hay (a legume) that is great for chickens and we have decided to dry (string-hang) a bunch of these apples since we (they) have made so much apple sauce and butter that to make anymore would overload the area designed for it.

Lot's of other things....curious what others might consider???

winter squash/pumpkins, especially any that are starting to rot, are especial favorites (with the chickens!) around here.

 

[hellbender]

winter squash/pumpkins, especially any that are starting to rot, are especial favorites (with the chickens!) around here.

Yep...there are some really big pumpkins beginning to show up around here. I don't think they will ever reach the monster size I've seen pictured of this variety.

 

[Beer can]

Last winter our chickens refused to eat pumpkin. Even chopped up. We had way more than we needed, 63 pie pumpkins and 40 some butternut squash. Few minutes in the pressure cooker and they gobbled them up. They wouldn't eat swiss chard from the freezer either, had some older stuff. That's ok though, we love chard, just had more than we knew. They love all other greens. They love dandalion greens, kale, right now I'm daily feeding them radish greens, they love them. Bought a bunch of packages of mixed 'gourmet' radish mix from the dollar store for ten cents each, planted a big area, produced only a few edible radishes, junk seeds, but chickens love them. They love cabbage, good for them and stores a long time. I grew a couple dozen heads this yr, all destined for kraut but they'll get the outer leaves, I'll grow more for them next yr. Going huge on garden next yr.
Looking at different things, chufas?

And only heritage open pollinated in our garden, saving seeds for now on. I have bloody butcher indeterminate and alaska fancy determinant tomatoes for next yr, both 55 days, short growing season up here.
I grew open pollinated Chicago pickling cucumbers this yr thirty of them. We are up to with giving four gallons to father inlaw, 17 gallons o
pickles and many cukes eaten fresh, still some to pick. 3/4 of them perfect shape. Can't see a hybrid doing better.

 

[Beer can]

Tried Burgess Trip-L-Crop climbing tomatoes, open pollinated a quite few times. Only had them grow decent once, but still pathetic on plant size. Huge tomatoes, few seeds, very meaty and delicious. Would be great for canning. Probably would be great to grow further south. We need quicker maturing ones here.

 

[cyborg]

Last winter our chickens refused to eat pumpkin. Even chopped up. We had way more than we needed, 63 pie pumpkins and 40 some butternut squash. Few minutes in the pressure cooker and they gobbled them up. They wouldn't eat swiss chard from the freezer either, had some older stuff. That's ok though, we love chard, just had more than we knew. They love all other greens. They love dandalion greens, kale, right now I'm daily feeding them radish greens, they love them. Bought a bunch of packages of mixed 'gourmet' radish mix from the dollar store for ten cents each, planted a big area, produced only a few edible radishes, junk seeds, but chickens love them. They love cabbage, good for them and stores a long time. I grew a couple dozen heads this yr, all destined for kraut but they'll get the outer leaves, I'll grow more for them next yr. Going huge on garden next yr.
Looking at different things, chufas?

And only heritage open pollinated in our garden, saving seeds for now on. I have bloody butcher indeterminate and alaska fancy determinant tomatoes for next yr, both 55 days, short growing season up here.
I grew open pollinated Chicago pickling cucumbers this yr thirty of them. We are up to with giving four gallons to father inlaw, 17 gallons o
pickles and many cukes eaten fresh, still some to pick. 3/4 of them perfect shape. Can't see a hybrid doing better.

I live in southern Arizona, and use a greenhouse with an aquaponics system, otherwise my stuff would just dry up and blow away. Mostly chilis, tomatos, tomatillos, grapes, herbs, corn, garlic and onions, along with a few eggplants and melons and squash. One growing bed is exclusively tobacco, though!

 

[cyborg]

@Beer can , check out an aquaponics system, not only do you get fresh fish out of the deal, but your veggies grow about 2X fast and 2X larger!

 

[cyborg]

BUILDING YOUR OWN AQUAPONICS SYSTEM - A PHOTO ESSAY

An aquaponics system consists of fish tanks, with a water overflow system that drains water into gravel filled grow beds. The water is nutrient rich from all the fish poop, and the plant roots filter out all the nitrates. The plants grow exceptionally fast and large. The water, now cleaned, drains from the grow beds into a sump tank, and is then pumped back into the fish tanks, making them overflow into the grow beds again. Here is a bunch of pics of the construction of my system. The fish tanks are 330 gallon food grade IBC's with the tops cut off. The grow beds are made of 3/4 plywood and 2x12's, painted with waterproof paint, then lined with a pond liner, and filled with gravel. The later pics show the plants growing like crazy.

















































Gotta try it guys! You wouldn't believe how many tomatoes I got this year!