Feed your Chickens for Free!

Check out my BYC page for pics of how I free-feed my chickens. Illinois everbearing Mulberries, tomatoes, apples, and persimmons. I also allow them into the garden at the end of the season to glean, then till and fertilize my garden till spring.

 

Both are great ways to feed chickens for free. I plan on planting some grapes along one side of my dog kennel run (just put it up today) and let that help feed my family and chickens.

 

I bought this property with several fruit trees on it- I'm allergic to apples, so critters will get those (and family and friends), but there are also blackberries, plums and my own garden which already has several tomato plants. It's a great way to feed myself for cheap, as well as the critters (I have guinea pigs and rabbits too).

 

Quote:I had a seedless Concord grape vine that started bearing last year. I'd go out and look at those grapes starting to get that nice purple color and my mouth would water. I went out one day and they were GONE! All but a few tiny, shriveled looking little ones. I was crushed. I looked at the kitchen window later to see the hens JUMPING UP to snatch those last few remaining ones... *note to self: either move the grapevine or fence it off... *

 

I feed the chickens grubs too! I also put my porch lights on at night and wait for the beetles to gather on my door and catch them, put them in a container for morning and my birds go wild! My husband also throws all the grass clippings in the run for the chickens as well as any weeds I pull from the garden. My chickens can only free range part time because of my chicken killer dog.

I also feed the chickens absolutely anything I can from the fridge that we haven't eaten or will not eat. My chickens eat very little feed, which is the way I like it!!

 

We've recently started letting our chicks out of the coop during the day. Let's just say that they love the compost pile and leaf pile.

Chicken TV...it's so good.

 

Well, I keep my chickens out of the compost. That is very dangerous to have them there... Though I see no harm in taking compost grubs out of the compost to them.