Developing the grass in your yard for increasing free ranging nutrition

[HEChicken]

I've got a couple of horse places real close to me but I need some big tub on wheels or something to be able to gather it up and bring it home. I've got a plan in my head for just such a venture, along with a bunch of other plans fighting for air.

LOL! But isn't it better to have tons of ideas running through your head than to be clueless???

Yeah - I have to say, the collection and transport is not the most fun. We do have some of those large tubs at our barn along with a cart on wheels designed just to hold a tub, and I told the other barn ladies that I am borrowing them, so they won't mind when they notice we are down 3 tubs. What I do is fill one with manure, then wheel it to my car and lift it in. Then I fill two more tubs and repeat. Once I get them home, I have a lawn cart that I can wheel up to the back of my car and I can unload all 3 into it, by stacking one on top of the other and putting the third at the end of the cart. From there it isn't that bad to wheel it to where I want it, and dump out the tubs. A little bit of work, yes. But yesterday I dumped 3 tubs at 10:30. I have about 100 chickens, turkeys and ducks. The ducks have shown no interest but the turkeys and chickens immediately flocked to the area and started scratching and working the pile. I left them to it and occasionally glanced out the window to see birds still hard at work. At 4pm I called DH to the window to look. 5 ½ hours after dumping in 3 tubs of manure, about ⅔ of my flock was STILL there, scratching and pecking away. By the time they retired to bed, the "pile" was spread out over quite a large area, and as much as they were pecking at stuff, I think the quantity must have been reduced as well. At a time of year when our grasses are mostly brown and there isn't a lot for them to forage for, it is really nice to be able to give them something to work on.

 

[Fentress]

I do not know if this has been mentioned before, but here is an experiment for you to try.

When left exposed weed seeds will blow in, get dropped in, etc. Your birds will have consumed much of what was there. BUT, if you till the area you will bring ages of weed seeds to the surface. The tilled spot will explode with new growth.

I have sandy acidic soil, so I like to lime and till patches for the birds to pick through once the new growth had become established. As they wear it down, they scratch through finding weed seeds etc. Try it and see how it works for you. I think that you will find that the like to frequent this patch.

Great idea. I would not have thought of that and someone else on the thread has suggested something similar. My native summer grass is so dominant, it may be Dalis grass,that is what someone told me. Anything to add diversity and enrichment to the pasture.

I don't have poor soil in terms of nutrients, I have poorly drained soil, in flat and low coastal Va. We have a layer of clay not too far below the surface that keeps the soil from draining/infiltrating properly. I am composting piles of debris to raise the elevation and to lighten up the soil and then I cover crop the areas as well. The chickens love it, I don't have to turn the compost and after they have worked it, I plant a cover crop.

I have read that too much manure can be a bad thing, in terms of a phosphorus build up. May not effect pasture that much, but it can effect a vegetable garden. The nitrogen gets used up, but the phophorus does not. Just a thought.

 

[HEChicken]

I have read that too much manure can be a bad thing, in terms of a phosphorus build up. May not effect pasture that much, but it can effect a vegetable garden. The nitrogen gets used up, but the phophorus does not. Just a thought.

That's worth looking into. I wonder if that is ALL manure or just the manure from certain types of animals. Overall, I've always heard that cow manure is the "best" and I wish I had access to some of that. I don't think of horse manure as being as high in nitrogen as poultry manure but perhaps I'm wrong - I need to look into that.

Also, some types of manure are hotter than others. For example, I believe I've read that rabbit manure can be placed directly on the garden, whereas poultry manure should be composted prior to being added.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

"The importance of green food in poultry feeding was first observed because of the response to birds when allowed to range in the spring after being confined during the winter. The resulting sport in egg production was due probably to the warmer weather and exposure to the sun as well as access to green food. Again, it was observed that production was retarded late in the summer and in the fall when the natural supply of green food became low."

That's the opening paragraph to Chapter 8 (Poultry Feeds, Green Feeds and Vegetable Products) of Heuser's book FEEDING POULTRY, available at this link: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003011545;view=1up;seq=254

Jump to 238 for Chapter 8 ... I'm reading it today.

 

[Lacy Blues]

LOL! But isn't it better to have tons of ideas running through your head than to be clueless???

This struck me pretty funny! Thank you for a morning bout of laughter!

 

[Fentress]

That's worth looking into. I wonder if that is ALL manure or just the manure from certain types of animals. Overall, I've always heard that cow manure is the "best" and I wish I had access to some of that. I don't think of horse manure as being as high in nitrogen as poultry manure but perhaps I'm wrong - I need to look into that.

Also, some types of manure are hotter than others. For example, I believe I've read that rabbit manure can be placed directly on the garden, whereas poultry manure should be composted prior to being added.

Harvey Ussery discusses it in The Small Scale Poultry Flock, in a chapter titled Wretched Excess. I think it takes a while (years) for the phosphorus to build up to a point that it can inhibit the growth of some plants. The problem is if it ever does occur it is dificult to counter balance.

 

[lazy gardener]

I love the details in his book. If any one is considering getting any book about poultry keeping, I'd strongly recommend that you look at his book first before spending money on any other book. His caution about knowing how your soil is responding to the regular addition of manure is one to heed. I'm also impressed with the fact that he encourages the poultry keeper to be responsible in manure management: not allowing run off, limiting the flock to a manageable size, and if the run is denuded of vegetation, placing a mulch to absorb the excess manure nutrients.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Has Harvey worked out the kinks in some of his methods yet? ... http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/feeding-chickens-maggots.html

 

[HEChicken]

Has Harvey worked out the kinks in some of his methods yet? ... http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/feeding-chickens-maggots.html

Oh, I knew I'd heard that name before! He is the one I got the idea from, for feeding maggots. I've actually been doing that for years and it works great. I don't know of any kinks and while some may be concerned about trying to attract flies, I've found that if anything it reduces them, because by having the chickens eat the maggots before they can turn into flies, the ultimate result is a net reduction in the number of flies around.

In the past, I used a coffee can and used a variety of road kill, but last year I had my flock decimated in a 24-hour period by a fox determined to kill the entire flock in one sitting. After laying in wait for it, I was able to get a shot in, and after the fox was dead, I looked at DH and asked "do we dare?". He said "why not?" so we got a 5-gallon bucket, drilled holes in it, stuffed the fox in, hung it in the chicken yard and in the next week to 10 days, the fox was reduced to maggots which were eaten by the chickens. I have to say there was a certain satisfaction in the knowledge that the hunter had become the food - all part of the "cycle of life". After 3 weeks, there was no more activity in the bucket and the smell was gone. I turned it upside down and out fell a "brick". It had assumed the shape of the bucket and was a petrified mass containing only the clean bones and the fur. Naturally it had also reduced in volume too. I was able to take the brick, put it in a grocery bag, tie a knot in the handles and throw it in the trash and it didn't even stink up the garbage can.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Oh, I knew I'd heard that name before! He is the one I got the idea from, for feeding maggots. I've actually been doing that for years and it works great. I don't know of any kinks and while some may be concerned about trying to attract flies, I've found that if anything it reduces them, because by having the chickens eat the maggots before they can turn into flies, the ultimate result is a net reduction in the number of flies around.

In the past, I used a coffee can and used a variety of road kill, but last year I had my flock decimated in a 24-hour period by a fox determined to kill the entire flock in one sitting. After laying in wait for it, I was able to get a shot in, and after the fox was dead, I looked at DH and asked "do we dare?". He said "why not?" so we got a 5-gallon bucket, drilled holes in it, stuffed the fox in, hung it in the chicken yard and in the next week to 10 days, the fox was reduced to maggots which were eaten by the chickens. I have to say there was a certain satisfaction in the knowledge that the hunter had become the food - all part of the "cycle of life". After 3 weeks, there was no more activity in the bucket and the smell was gone. I turned it upside down and out fell a "brick". It had assumed the shape of the bucket and was a petrified mass containing only the clean bones and the fur. Naturally it had also reduced in volume too. I was able to take the brick, put it in a grocery bag, tie a knot in the handles and throw it in the trash and it didn't even stink up the garbage can.

In a note signed by Mr. Ussery, and from the link in my post above: "Please be advised that, despite what is said below about the chances for disease with this system, and despite the fact that I have used it successfully for years, I have recently indeed had problems—including deaths of several chickens—that probably resulted from “limberneck”—that is, botulism poisoning."