Developing the grass in your yard for increasing free ranging nutrition

[LindaB220]

Right now our 50 lb bags of UNTREATED sunflower seed is $19.50 for a 50 lb. bag at the feed mill.

My local feed store has BOSS for $26 for 50#

 

[LindaB220]

This is why my new, all-purpose custom poultry feed recipe is low in calcium (but high in a few other things) and I offer calcium on the side for the layers.

We did not have a lot of success trying to juggle different kinds of feed around here. Dad and I both prefer to have the guys cary and dump the bags of feed, and between us we never managed to get the help to care which kind of feed they put in which feed bin, or which feed bin they scooped out of if they were helping distribute feed. So we decided to go "all-purpose" with the feed.

Interestingly, the guys who help are GREAT at understanding supplements and mixing feed with scratch (which we do for the ducks), but to them "feed is feed."

Can you give us an idea of what the formula would be?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Can you give us an idea of what the formula would be?   

Higher protein and less calcium than layer. Extra niacin for the ducks. Extra lysine for the chicks. Extra methione for feather quality and egg production and growth. Pelleted for better nutrition over all, and less waste when feeding it dry (I ferment the food for the very young birds, so pellets are fine). A little bit of fish meal for high-quality protein, but not enough to make the eggs taste fishy. The rest of the protein is peas. All the peas and grains are locally grown & GMO-free. Yeast supplement for good health even when fed dry. High-quality supplements. No corn, no soy, no canola, no camolina protein, no fillers. If I get poults again, I'll supplement those with extra fish meal while they are tiny.

There is a 12% protein scratch to use as treats with that. It has tons of grains and seeds. I'll probably cut the ducks' rations with a less interesting scratch.

 

[LindaB220]

Higher protein and less calcium than layer. Extra niacin for the ducks. Extra lysine for the chicks. Extra methione for feather quality and egg production and growth. Pelleted for better nutrition over all, and less waste when feeding it dry (I ferment the food for the very young birds, so pellets are fine). A little bit of fish meal for high-quality protein, but not enough to make the eggs taste fishy. The rest of the protein is peas. All the peas and grains are locally grown & GMO-free. Yeast supplement for good health even when fed dry. High-quality supplements. No corn, no soy, no canola, no camolina protein, no fillers. If I get poults again, I'll supplement those with extra fish meal while they are tiny.

There is a 12% protein scratch to use as treats with that. It has tons of grains and seeds. I'll probably cut the ducks' rations with a less interesting scratch.

It sounds terrific. What type of grains? Wheat, barley etc?

 

[Mister B]

So, my acre was cut over timber. I pushed up most of the branches into piles and plan to burn them this winter. The area is mostly weeds of different types. There is some fescue growing. I cannot afford a bulldozer to level it all out, all I can do is push around on it with the tractor and grader blade. For 20-30 birds will this be ok? I plan to introduce a variety of grasses in the places I burn the branches, alfalfa (Will it reseed itself?) fescue and bermuda. Maybe some clover as well.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The nitrogen will probably be low but you can supplement that. I would highly recommend a good soil test.
I've rented bobcats before I had one for not a lot of money.

IMHO, more succulent things like alfalfa, turnips buckwheat are much better chicken forage than grasses. Grass is the last thing standing when I move chickens into an area.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It sounds terrific. What type of grains? Wheat, barley etc?

Yes. We grow a lot of wheat here, so it isn't hard to avoid the corn.

I don't object to corn the way a lot of people do, except for the GMOs in corn. Unfortunately, there is a lot of fraud in the "Certified Organic" or "GMO-Free" markets, so avoiding ingredients that have GMO versions makes it a bit easier to avoid the fraud. I'm not doing "Certified Organic," so we can use just "normal" wheat, etc. It makes things a lot simpler.

It was interesting, when I was communicating with the boutique brands of feed to ask them about their testing procedures for "Certified Organic" and "GMO-Free" feeds, they mostly reported that they rely on their suppliers for that and seemed to get confused by the question, as if they actually believe the certification systems. That right there let me know I couldn't trust their feeds, so it took me a lot longer than I thought to find someone I felt I could trust.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

So, my acre was cut over timber. I pushed up most of the branches into piles and plan to burn them this winter. The area is mostly weeds of different types. There is some fescue growing. I cannot afford a bulldozer to level it all out, all I can do is push around on it with the tractor and grader blade. For 20-30 birds will this be ok? I plan to introduce a variety of grasses in the places I burn the branches, alfalfa (Will it reseed itself?) fescue and bermuda. Maybe some clover as well.

Clover. Look into clover. It's a legume like alfalfa, but doesn't grow as tall if you get the shorter versions ... White Dutch and New Zealand are "mid sized" clovers. Clover has a lot of nutrition (lots of crude protein), and the shape of the leaf means it isn't as likely to cause the birds' crops to get clogged as grasses.

There are micro clovers people use in place of lawn.

Your local Extension Service can help you with soil testing if you wish to do that before you plant.

 

[Arielle]

So, my acre was cut over timber. I pushed up most of the branches into piles and plan to burn them this winter. The area is mostly weeds of different types. There is some fescue growing. I cannot afford a bulldozer to level it all out, all I can do is push around on it with the tractor and grader blade. For 20-30 birds will this be ok? I plan to introduce a variety of grasses in the places I burn the branches, alfalfa (Will it reseed itself?) fescue and bermuda. Maybe some clover as well.

I am in the same boat, however the land is too rocky to beworth renting a back hoe. We have dont that-- a 3 day rental a couple times to level areas, but in the end that was for the horses and not for the chickens. I don't think the chickens care given how I see them zip all over the rough terrain.

I'm planning to add white clover, and more grasses, some oats and some green leafy vegies and possiblly peas and beans.

Also consider roational grazing = only grazing one area at a time and ressting the other sections. THe production is much better and the birds don't tend to reinfect themselves with worms. ( Breaks the cycle)

 

[Mister B]

Is red clover as good?