Feeding your flock amidst of feed shortages

[BigBlueHen53]

"Not LET it get that bed?" Might not be up to us, the consumer. The problem right now seems to be the bottleneck in the supply chain. There's no shortage of product, it's all floating out there in the Atlantic - waiting for non-existing truckers to come offload it.

 

[saysfaa]

"Not LET it get that bed?" Might not be up to us, the consumer. The problem right now seems to be the bottleneck in the supply chain. There's no shortage of product, it's all floating out there in the Atlantic - waiting for non-existing truckers to come offload it.

Yes. Not LET it. Why do you think the supply of truckers have been short for the past 15 years and so extremely short the past year? Why is product floating in the Atlantic instead of being grown in Georgia, woven in Massachusetts, and sewn in North Carolina or, if we don't know (or care enough) about the unintended consequences of importing on this scale then why is product floating in the Atlantic instead of flowing through the distribution system? ... why is there a container shortage... why haven't they been unloaded in the distribution centers... ... ... choices we make.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes. Not LET it. Why do you think the supply of truckers have been short for the past 15 years and so extremely short the past year? Why is product floating in the Atlantic instead of being grown in Georgia, woven in Massachusetts, and sewn in North Carolina or, if we don't know (or care enough) about the unintended consequences of importing on this scale then why is product floating in the Atlantic instead of flowing through the distribution system? ... why is there a container shortage... why haven't they been unloaded in the distribution centers... ... ... choices we make.

Because we won't work for the low wages foreign workers will?

 

[saysfaa]

Sure, among the many reasons is that we won't buy things at a price that will pay workers a high enough wage to get us to work. The intended consequence is we get our things at lower prices. The unintended consequences include higher risk of not getting them on time or at all. Another consequence is we don't have to see people working for a low wage; I'm not sure if that is intentional or unintentional.

And I'm pretty sure we have drifted far from the op's intended topic. So, unless australorpia wants to go this way and lets us know that, we should move this to an appropriate forum.

My apologies, australorpia. I started the derailment of your post this way and should not have. It wasn't fair to you. Or a good welcome.

 

[FatChicksDigMe]

I think its definitely time to start rethinking how we feed our flocks in general, but it definitely depends on your space and amount of birds. You can definitely circumvent feed shortages by making your girls not so dependent on it in the first place: let them free range or set up some grazing beds. There's a lot of info on permaculture recently and many people seem to do very well raising their birds small scale or even large scale on compost etc.

 

[TooCheep]

With all the attack on livestock and the idea of livestock, I'm not so sure. I grew up in communism and these are dangerously similar times we are living in.

Unfortunately, I agree. It appears that we are being pushed to eat less meat and my birds are my primary defense to keep animal protein in my diet.

Insects becoming human food? No thank you. They are chicken food.

 

[TooCheep]

And I'm pretty sure we have drifted far from the op's intended topic. So, unless australorpia wants to go this way and lets us know that, we should move this to an appropriate forum.

My apologies, australorpia. I started the derailment of your post this way and should not have. It wasn't fair to you. Or a good welcome.

I think finding fault/pointing fingers is where things went astray. There are plenty of legitimate things to point our fingers at, but for almost all of us, that is entirely out of our circle of control and not a productive discussion.

@australorpia created a very valuable thread on how to help our chickens help us deal with hard times. If things don't get any better then that is exactly the kind of info that we may need and is within our circle of control. From what I've been reading, this winter may be worse than last in terms of supplies/shortages. So, what practical things can we do to help our chickens help us?

I know I haven't entirely thought this out. I only have 3 chickens and they free range in my backyard. If things get really bad, then:

• I know a little about how to grow insect protein for them
• I have a couple of trees that apparently can provide good fodder
• I know how to collect Japanese beetles as a good food source and minimize the damage they do to my mini-orchard and berry bushes.
• I have a small compost pile that they can help me turn and get food at the same time.
• I know that you can sprout grains (wheat, etc.) as a good, inexpensive fodder, particularly during winter when fresh plant matter is harder to come by.
• I have food preservation skills that can be applied to making their feed store longer.
• I have been using their egg shells as a calcium supplement, so calcium is at least partially covered.

That isn't a 100% answer, but I'm hoping to get more info here.

 

[saysfaa]

I've got ten min, so here goes a short version of a plan for feeding the chickens without access to any commercial chicken feed and with maybe a few weeks to a year to see it coming. I would look into using the old rations from the 1952 textbook. Basically, using meat to cover the gaps of plants. The meat I could get is likely to be rabbit because I can raise that in the subdivision I live in. Among other things, they are most likely to available and easiest to set up housing and to feed. I would rather not eat the rabbit directly.

Edit to add: evidently rabbits are harder to keep than I realized.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I've got ten min, so here goes a short version of a plan for feeding the chickens without access to any commercial chicken feed and with maybe a few weeks to a year to see it coming. I would look into using the old rations from the 1952 textbook. Basically, using meat to cover the gaps of plants. The meat I could get is likely to be rabbit because I can raise that in the subdivision I live in. Among other things, they are most likely to available and easiest to set up housing and to feed. I would rather not eat the rabbit directly.

I've a larger flock, and its impractical for me to grow grains (also too late in the season to bring in a crop). My "pasture" helps, and my climate is very forgiving. If it gets that bad, I'll be very aggressively culling males. and raising egg prices.

Also, I have an old goat. Goodbye, Sage! (his demise has been long planned, just hope he gets our lady goat preggers before that has to happen).

 

[Banana01]

It depends where you live. Growing corn and rice is what is available where i live. I can throw a handful of kernels on the ground, and a new plant will spring up in a matter of days. The chickens eat the green and kill the plant, but it is that easy to sprout. I think in an emergency, i would enclose an area and grow corn.