BYC food to emulate grass fed

[vatterpa]

i have seen people that sprouted scratch grain that was whole seed and feeding that to their chickens. same with bird seed

 

[yomama]

Wow, I feel so naive. I didn't realize that corn is so bad for them. I give my chickens cracked corn all the time as a treat. They are also on a layer feed and get to freerange. At least they get greens from freeranging, plus our veggie and fruit leftovers. I'm not sure about the soy, I will be checking the label on the feed tomorrow. I feed my dogs and cats corn and soy free foods, I didn't realize it wasn't good for chickens too. Is it that it just isn't nutritious? or is in hard for them to digest?

 

[lilwhispers]

In one of the books I was reading this year it gave a very good idea for putting grass clippings by for winter feed. I'll give you a rough idea until I can find the copy of it to make sure. Anyway it said to get 1 Gal of molassas dilute it with 15 Gal of water. Add grass clippings to a 55 gal barrel and every 8-12 inches of clippings add generous amounts of the molassas water when barrel is full top with a cap smaller than the opening and weight it down and store in a cool area till winter. the clippings will ferment with the help of the molasas the top will be moldy discard the mold and feed to poultry. Remember this is not the exact recipe and if I can find it I will repost, But it gives an Idea. There is still a short time this year to put some by for your birds for winter for those who would like to try. Good luck

 

[fldiver97]

Try to grow Kale and chard in raised bed or large containers. I am growing my on in the front as the chooks will eat it to the ground if I plant it in the back. My Kale and Chard grow back quickly after cutting. Chard is in pots, Kale in raised beds. The Kale was OK until frost and came back early spring. Sprout some grains, its fairly easy. I also 'grow' my own mealworms....not a green but 'bugs' for the chooks when we have snow for months...If you have farmers market you can try to get greens/produce at the end of the market day, usually less costly. Tell them you can use whatever greens, outer leaves etc for chickens, you may get it for free. I also feed carrot tops, the greens from beets, outer leaves of lettuce heads and cabbage during winter, any cuttings/trimmings from veggies and fruit. I also freeze some chopped up spinach, peas and berries to have treats in the winter....Mix it with warm oatmeal and the girls love it. There is a thread about organic feed sources that also has info on soy free feed.

 

[boobybunny]

Where are you at in ElDo?
I have family with large gardens up in Georgetown.

Gram used to have garden boxes with glass tops for winter veggie, kale and cabbage all winter long..

 

[WildflowerJLH]

Quote:
Azure Standard is a company based in WA that specializes in natural and organic foods, mostly for people. They also have some awesome organic veggie starts in the spring, heirloom seeds, natural personal care and cleaning products.

Any one can order from them at anytime and pay for shipping. OR, if you live near one of their truck routes, you can start or join a buying group to avoid shipping. The group has to make a minimum order of $550, individuals have to have $55. The nice thing is that each person pays AS, not one coordinator collecting all the $$. The trucks come down about once a month. You have to have your order in by the week before the delivery. There are dates published for order cutoffs and delivery on their website.

Usually, I recommend calling them to see if there is an existing drop close to you that is open to new people, I used to coordinate a drop in San Bernardino for several years. There are some quirks to dealing with them, but generally it is worth it.

Aside from my chicken feed, I order all of my bulk grains and beans from them in 25# bags. We also get cases of canned and packaged things that we use a lot of like chicken broth, canned tomatoes, canned beans, ground beef and lamb, all organic.

I am happy to help you or answer any questions for you. There may be a drop closer to you, but I know you could find one in Sacramento. If you let me know what city you are in, I can give you more specific suggestions to order with AS!

 

[MakNugget]

My girls love sprouted organic scratch grains. I just use the run (4" sand) to sprout them in a little patch covered in mesh if I want some greens. Otherwise they will sprout on their own and the girls are really good at digging them up. I like to keep the sand moist enough so that there is wet (black) sand under 1-2" of dry sand. It's firm and the girls love scratching at it.

You can also cheat and buy 4" pots of wheat grass that's 6" long, usually in the organic section of the produce dept that's marketed for human and pet consumption for pretty cheap too. I tear them at 1" lengths and toss it on the ground and it's gone in seconds.

 

[Carpe DiHen]

Quote:
It's not that it's bad for them, it's just not what they were designed to eat as their main source of protein. I even pay more for grass fed beef, it's just a personal philosophy that the meat, eggs and environment are better off for it. The eggs from free range chickens have been proven to be more healthy. See these articles:

http://www.bruntyfarms.com/health.html
http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx

Eggs in the "old days" were healthier when people had chickens on the farm and just let them hang out on the ranch (like a lot of you forum members are still lucky enough to do!). My eggs will be no different from the grocery store eggs (except for the happy chickens!

) If I feed them commercial corn/soy based feed and they don't get out to eat grass and bugs. I have too many dogs in the area (including my own!), and no fences so I don't want to risk letting my chicken out of the run except rarely when I can supervise.

I give my chickens cracked corn as a treat too! I just want their diet to be more natural so I feel better for them, and get heathier eggs.

Opps, feel like I just got on a "soap box"...

Don't want to sound too opinionated! It's all good!

I can tell by the answers on this thread a lot of you feel the same!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

My feed store has alfalfa meal. Also red wheat berries, millet, etc. in 50 lb. bags. I mix my own feed too, which includes organic corn. You can ask me if you want my mix contents.

 

[Carpe DiHen]

WildflowerJLH, I did find a place in Sacramento and have a call in to them. I live in Camino, that is above Sacramento on the way to Lake Tahoe on Hi-50. The people at AS were really nice! I may buy some more stuff now that I know about it!

Chris09, thanks for the pigeon feed tip! That sounds like a good back-up!

Organics North, your recipe looks really good! You and ChickensAreSweet are very dedicated chicken owners to mix it all from scratch. I'm very impressed!

boobybunny, Georgetown is a lot lower in elevation than Camino. I do have some kale, chard and mustard greens planted in planter boxes. But, once they get burried in snow, they don't grow much until the spring.

MakNugget, I hadn't thought of the wheat grass! I almost got set up to grow that myself...but I'n not much into juicing.

All the sprouting ideas are very good, hadn't thought about that either!

You all have given this a lot of thought. There's some very, very lucky chickens out there!

Well since it's the weekend, I can go out and collect the eggs early. Maybe even figure out who laid what!

Cheers and thank you to everyone!