Chicken feed through the roof!

[oneofseven]

Anyone ever noticed under a wild bied feeder that has been left alone for a while. The spilled over seeds take root. I am going to try and grow my own feed. I can even use my girls compost as fertalizer. A little bit of work and my girls will be happy.

 

[Tracydr]

Fred's Hens :

Quote:
From Wiki=

"After harvest, the grains need to be processed, in order to remove the coating containing bitter-tasting saponins. Quinoa grains are in general cooked the same way as rice and can be used in a wide range of dishes."

That processing part turned me off a little.

To process quinoa, all you need to do is rinse it.​

 

[Tracydr]

Starting this week, I'm formulating a ration for my birds. I can get whole grains, beans, peas and even soy bean meal much cheaper than chicken feed. I can also get alfalfa cubes to make alfalfa meal for fairly cheap, relative to chicken feed.
Since I finished butchering the Cornish Xs and my next batch doesn't come for a few weeks, I figure this is a good time to get started on trying my own ration.
I'd like to find a cheap supply of dried milk to make yogurt out of.
I'm going to grow chia, quinoa, clover and rye grass this fall, along with mustard greens, turnips and a few other garden veggies just for the chickens. Maybe some rape seed. I'll grow buckwheat, amaranth, sunflowers, corn and squash next summer. I'm also going to be looking for sales on Halloween pumpkins.
I'm also a member of a meat coop to feed my dogs RAW so I get some really good deals on sell-by day meats sometimes. The chickens will be getting some of that as sometimes I'll get things that my dogs don't like.
I really don't like paying premium dollar for a bag of feed which is really just a bag of stale "by-products" when I can buy whole ingredients and make something fresher and better for less. My chickens also free range over the walkways of my garden. It's not a big area but I fertilize, seed and water it so that it's the best grazing that they can possibly have.

 

[galanie]

The stuff under the bird feeder is probably millet. It's drought resistant and super easy to grow. I've been growing a bit just to experiment and so far it seems like a really fast, super easy thing to grow. Just put in my third crop. First time I grew 2 plants, last time 6, this time about 10, cause that's all I have room for until I get my self out in this 109 degree heat to dig up more garden space (yeah, right...).

"They" also warn against using millet w/out it being hulled because we can't digest the hull. This from the same people that recommend we do eat the same part of the wheat seed because it's healthy (its' just the outer coating), even though we can't digest that either. But I'd bet the thing about the Quinoa is for human consumption, too, not animals.