Feeding your flock amidst of feed shortages

[Rangergord]

I am only a couple of chapters in right now, but this was shared in another thread here on BYC that I am following. Those of you on this thread may find it interesting, as it is relevant to this conversation as well. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003011545&view=1up&seq=32&skin=2021

Been looking for this book. Thank you so much!

 

[Solanacae]

Been looking for this book. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

One reason that poultry were domesticated was that they are so good at foraging and, essentially, making something (meat and eggs) out of nothing. Supplemental feed was partially about nutrition, partially about utilizing our waste, and partially about bribing the birds to stay home and not wander off. Somewhere along the way we lost sight of that.

It’s worth noting that even the birds of the early 20th century weren’t the birds of today…laying closer to 30 eggs per year, not 300…so different nutritional needs.

That being said, we could do much more to leverage waste streams to feed chickens. The last 80 years or so have been very different than the thousands of years prior. Not saying I’d want to live in a cave, but we shouldn’t forget all the lessons of the past.

 

[Sammster]

It’s worth noting that even the birds of the early 20th century weren’t the birds of today…laying closer to 30 eggs per year, not 300…so different nutritional needs.

That being said, we could do much more to leverage waste streams to feed chickens. The last 80 years or so have been very different than the thousands of years prior. Not saying I’d want to live in a cave, but we shouldn’t forget all the lessons of the past.

Good point! And information I did not know. Only 30 eggs? I had no idea.

BTW, I just went to your web page. What an amazing and generous service you provide! ❤

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Good point! And information I did not know. Only 30 eggs? I had no idea.

BTW, I just went to your web page. What an amazing and generous service you provide! ❤

Facetious. No, not 30. But the changes between, say, 1800 and 1970 were substantial, and the changes between 1970 and today were greater still.

A modern Brahma of good quality, with modern feed and management, likely lays as many eggs each year as a leghorn at the turn of last century. Leghorns themselves lay around 40% more than they used to, 100 years back, and our production hybrids lay bigger eggs, sooner, and more frequently than any breed you might find in a book of chickens through at least the middle of the 1900s.

Modern meat birds are bigger, faster tot he table, and far more tender - and at greater feed efficiency.

Of course, 100-150 years ago, the chickens raised in quantity were fed a pretty basic diet determined by experience, not understanding of the kewy nutritional components, and the typical small farmer flock likely wasn't "fed" at all, being expected to scavenge feed missed by all the other animals on the property - hog, cow, horse, or dog, plus trimmings and leftovers from the garden plot, dropped seed in the fields, and whatever insects it could capture.

The modern bird has it FAR better - and needs that human hand providing modern feeds if its going to perform to modern expectations.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Not so long ago, a fellow poster, @saysfaa was kind enough to post select pages from a book representing the state of the art in poultry management, circa 1952. Its eye opeing. Thread is here.

That I bookmarked it is indication of how highly I valued that post.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and credit to @Kiki, who alerted me to a book available online which @casportpony identified as a key resource back in 2017, Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, 1994 edition.

I just got into the poultry feed side of this, I don't know, six months ago +/-? NRP 1994 shows far more understanding of nutrition than the reference Saysfaa linked from '52, and the free online studies I've read since have dwarfed even that resource, when you start talking about the individual amino acid needs, Ca/P ratios, the importance of non-phyatate Phoshorus, different Ca sources and their impacts on calcium toxicity on cockerels and low production pullets, even the use of various herbs as alternatives to over the counter options for control of coccidia and other common poultry ailments (I don't recommend these, because its impossible to know the concentrations of the active ingredients in your plant sources - that's what separates pharmacy from practical alchemy - but its an interesting area of study).

There's a lot of wisdom in the old ways - and a lot of ignorance too. We've gotten much better at determining WHY something worked - or didn't - which helps identify whether past assumptions are relevant to modern practice.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Good point! And information I did not know. Only 30 eggs? I had no idea.

BTW, I just went to your web page. What an amazing and generous service you provide! ❤

Somewhat of an egg-zageration on the 30, but far fewer than today.

And thank you...it's a lot of work but we're enjoying our little farm setup. And I feel we're proof that you can feed chickens with waste streams!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Facetious. No, not 30. But the changes between, say, 1800 and 1970 were substantial, and the changes between 1970 and today were greater still.

I hope I was at least correct that the actual number was closer to 30 than 300.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I hope I was at least correct that the actual number was closer to 30 than 300.

sources vary, but I think Saysfaa's source said from early 1900s had a laying challenge where the average entrant was in the 140s, per year. Almost 30 years later, they were in the low 200s. So, in terms of breed averages, yes, closer to 30 than 300, even if some individuals in 1900 looked like a hatchery reject of today with a near 200 egg count.