Dense nutrional things to plant / raise ...chicken feed keeps going up

[GiddyMoon]

With gas prices continuing to rise & the feds continuing to pay people to not grow on their land & with people on this stupid ethanol journey using so much corn.......feed continues to skyrocket...So my survival question is...what happens if feed goes so high you can't do it anymore? People fed chickens before feed was developed..so..how did they? If we want to keep our chickens as that protein source...what are our options.

They must be easy, nutritionally dense, accessible by most everyone..not waste resources like using tons of water most of have to pay for, etc.

What nutritionally dense foods are worth planting & using a natural resource like water? Pumpkins? Squash? Etc..

What grains are dense in nutrition that we can plant / feed / graze / and sprout?

What bugs can we easily raise with a small investment, space, etc like superworms and mealworms?

What trees can we plant that gives off food pods and leaves?

 

[GiddyMoon]

Seriously..no one knows?

Then we are all up crud creek if we can't get chicken feed!

 

[so lucky]

I don't know if chickens like it, but amaranth is very nutritious and there is a variety or two that grow as weeds, so it may be easy to grow as a crop. There are probably some other weeds that can be encouraged, harvested and dried for winter use. Mealworms and red wigglers can be grown indoors.
IMO, we are gonna be up crud creek for a lot of things, but don't get me started.

 

[Baymule]

Go do a search on this question on SufficientSelf at the bottom of the page. It has already been addressed.

 

[Konza]

This is my favorite link on the subject. Sorry, you'll have to cut n' paste. I'm too new to give you the link directly.

themodernhomestead.us/article/Feeding.html

In addition to all the nice weeds and bugs, people grew their own feed. I'm pretty fond of homesteader histories, and I remember one pioneering family being very excited about their first acre of corn. It was all for the livestock come winter. A lot of livestock had to know how to forage for themselves in spring and summer. Not only chickens, but pigs as well. A lot of them were butchered in fall for that very reason, there just wasn't enough to feed many animals throughout the winter. Basically the homesteaders only overwintered breeding stock.

Cows and horses were dealt with a little differently, but still, you could only keep what you could cut hay for. By hand!

 

[crazyhen]

There are beets called mangel beets that use to be grown as chicken feed. The beets and tops were used and could be stored if covered in the ground. Corn could be grown as could oats and millett. Chickens would free range and scratch around logs for grubs and another insect. cabbage could be stored in a cool underground bin also rutabaga turnips and fruit. Chickens basically will eat anything we do except salt.

Gloria Jean

 

[AquaEyes]

Don't forget protein. There are lots of beans/peas/lentils that you can grow as well. Amaranth has been mentioned, but also look at quinoa. Those two are high-protein grains.

 

[backyardmenagerie]

I would think the easiest option would be to plant alfalfa in a run or as part of the grass that the chickens range on. It's high protein and nutrient dense, and there is no planting or harvesting needed each year. It can be baled or harvested and ground if needed for winter feed.

 

[GiddyMoon]

Quote:
SS is another site, not a topic on this board that I can find. If you can find it, please, by all means add it here.

 

[GiddyMoon]

Good info coming so for, thank you!