Buying Seed In Bulk

[rmonge00]

Hello!

I am looking to grow some of my own feed for my chickens. Does anyone have any recommendations on what grain/legume to grow? Also, where is the best place to buy those seeds in bulk? Is there a good online store for bulk seeds?

Thanks!

Ryan

 

[rmonge00]

Anyone??

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I buy my seeds from Wilco. I am in W. Washington, too.

The only things I don't get from Wilco are split peas, peanuts, and flax seeds (I get these from Winco).

(See my BYC page.)

I buy wheat berries that you can plant. Also, you can just plant birdseed. It is mostly millet. I have done this, and it is great because they just trample the stalk down and eat the millet. (Wild birds will love it too, though.)

Sunflower seeds too. (Black oil)

 

[Mac in Wisco]

There are any number of grains and legumes that would suffice; corn, wheat, barley, milo, amaranth, rye, flax, field peas, soybeans, alfalfa, etc. Unless you are going to cut and thresh by hand (or even roast soybeans) I don't see a practical way of doing most of these.

I'd suggest growing a diverse pasture with grasses and legumes suitable to your climate to supplement a regular layer ration. Good pasture grasses mixed with clover or alfalfa can provide a fare amount of nutrition that the birds can forage for themselves.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Macinabilene has good points. I have grown wheat myself in small plots. It is easy to collect the wheat berries (much easier than the hulless oats I tried). But you still have to do a goodly amount of work dealing with it.

I LOVE buying it all.