Foraging And Feed Effeciency Comparing Breeds

[Arielle]

I have to be honest that I have a fondness for the SSH. My one rooster was a pill to all other roosters. HE ruled. Couldn't catch him until dusk, then he was a puppy dog. QUick, man he was quick. Never could catch him during the day. I can only imagine how quick the games must be.

I'm sure I would like the golden hamburgs too.

As I try to carve out a little farm in the middle of the woods, I am reminded that farming was accomplished with the aid of farm dogs. I don't have much problems with coyote. Though I know they are here. My cat population has decreased to 2 which I suspect are very coyote aware. ANd we try to get them inside at night.

THe hawks are a problem, especially when the young ones are learning to hunt. DH will shoo them off. THey can go hunt in the woods reserved for them. But we do lose a bird now and then. WHen we put up short fencing, about 3 feet high, the coyote are steered around our main house area, an no losses since from that direction. However a coon moved in and we now coop everyone at night and put an end to that; the coon must go elsewhere for food.

It is a balancing act.

 

[Beer can]

If you look at the feed tag of ingredients there is more than corn and oats. Usually many grain by products which are much cheaper. Each item listed has a pro and con as a feed ingredient.
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Which is part of why I started this thread: to understand how to economically raise chickens that are good quality meat. A chicken is what she/he eats: bugs, worms, grasses, grains. ANd if there are any contaminents that too is concentrated into the fats. IMO this is the bases for the studies that show fat is a possible cause for cancers. We are eating fats contaminated with pesticides, etc.

I was reading something recently that said the chicken you buy in the store contains arsenic, they are allowed to feed them arsenic!

I feed layer pellet because I get good shells on the eggs without any supplements (oyster shell). Though I am thinking of not feeding it anymore, can't be the best for them (corn and soy isn't the best for chickens, though I've heard some corn in winter is OK)but cost is the biggest factor for me I'm not rich.
I try to free range as much as possible. Soon I want to experiment with sprouting grains, oats, corn, sunflower, etc. From what I understand you can get four times the feed value from sprouts or fodder, and the sprouted grain is much more digestible and nutritious for them. I work at a dairy plant where I can get free cottage cheese occasionally and they love it.
This summer when the kids catch a bunch of little bluegills I run them whole through a old meat grinder.
I wanted to try a maggot bucket, hang a bucket with small holes in it with a chunk of road kill in it, the flies do their thing and maggots drop out for the chickens, free protein. My wife wont let me try that one though.
I have heard it is easy to grow your own meal worms, and have saw some giant live ones for sale online, maybe I'll try that, in a old fish tank.
I have to try to cut costs, I plan on raising Jersey Giants in the spring and hear they take forever to grow. I also plan on trying Delawares and maybe Bresse. I also plan on getting a bunch of 'frypan special roosters' cause their cheap and I want to try caponizing on them before I try it on the expensive roos.
That's going to be a lot of chickens to feed!

 

[maranfarmer563]

Meal worms are easy dry oat meal and a raw potato. I sell giant meal worms for trout bait too

 

[islandgirl82]

I was reading something recently that said the chicken you buy in the store contains arsenic, they are allowed to feed them arsenic!

I feed layer pellet because I get good shells on the eggs without any supplements (oyster shell). Though I am thinking of not feeding it anymore, can't be the best for them (corn and soy isn't the best for chickens, though I've heard some corn in winter is OK)but cost is the biggest factor for me I'm not rich.
I try to free range as much as possible. Soon I want to experiment with sprouting grains, oats, corn, sunflower, etc. From what I understand you can get four times the feed value from sprouts or fodder, and the sprouted grain is much more digestible and nutritious for them. I work at a dairy plant where I can get free cottage cheese occasionally and they love it.
This summer when the kids catch a bunch of little bluegills I run them whole through a old meat grinder.
I wanted to try a maggot bucket, hang a bucket with small holes in it with a chunk of road kill in it, the flies do their thing and maggots drop out for the chickens, free protein. My wife wont let me try that one though.
I have heard it is easy to grow your own meal worms, and have saw some giant live ones for sale online, maybe I'll try that, in a old fish tank.
I have to try to cut costs, I plan on raising Jersey Giants in the spring and hear they take forever to grow. I also plan on trying Delawares and maybe Bresse. I also plan on getting a bunch of 'frypan special roosters' cause their cheap and I want to try caponizing on them before I try it on the expensive roos.
That's going to be a lot of chickens to feed!

I recently saw a video on raising your own black soldier fly larvae. I was very intrigued by that. Also, I've begun fermenting my feed and they go through A LOT less feed, even with winter approaching. The volume of droppings and odor to said droppings has also drastically reduced. It may be worth looking into and it's a simple process.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Arsenic is not fed directly to the chickens; it is not an ingredient in the feed. IT comes from the ingredients grown in an area that might have too much contamination in the ground soil, or the pesticides applied to the growing grains. Because animals like birds eat so amny pounds of grain to make a pound of meat, the contaiminaents become concentrated the further up the food chain. Whales are regarded as toxic waste and are destroyed as such. Sadly, we have badly poluted our world . . . and our food.

Much to be said for growing your own, including the food stuffs that the animals eat. I realize not everyone can do this which is why hte organic feeds are rapidly increasing in popularity.

Better to feed the road kill directly to the chickens. NOT do the maggot thing. THere is a net loss in energy by feeding the meat to the maggots first. Besides the chickens are great at picking bones clean. If you dont want to feed the meat as is, perhaps get a dedicated pot and cook it outside on a fire or old grill. That is what my mother made me do years ago when I wanted to feed shark to my pigs. THe pigs couldnt rip thru the tough shark hide but once I boiled it the feeding frenzy was on.

I do not beleive the 4x numbers at all. THis doesnt make any sence to me at all. I've read it several places too and it just doesnt fit . Yes the vitamin content goes up; that is good; and the growth is derived from what the seed already has and is converted from an oil rich seed to a water rich seedling. No other matter has been added so I cant see how it has 4x the feed value. It might weigh more, but that is water. To properly compare feeds they must be reduced to dry matter and compared for mineral content ( ash) , protein, and carbs and oils/fats. Certainly sprouts give the vitamins and the greeens and that is valuable. BUt it is simply converting a seed into a seedling with no net increase in calories, etc. So not 4x the value in my opinion. ( Still worth feeding if you hve the time.)

Formulated feeds are usually your cheapest way to feed from the bag, with some exceptions. Formulating feeds takes some practice and experience.

I feed back crushed eggshells; and I compost all bones. No bones in the trash anymore. All back into the land.

 

[islandgirl82]

I have to be honest that I have a fondness for the SSH. My one rooster was a pill to all other roosters. HE ruled. Couldn't catch him until dusk, then he was a puppy dog. QUick, man he was quick. Never could catch him during the day. I can only imagine how quick the games must be.

I'm sure I would like the golden hamburgs too.

As I try to carve out a little farm in the middle of the woods, I am reminded that farming was accomplished with the aid of farm dogs. I don't have much problems with coyote. Though I know they are here. My cat population has decreased to 2 which I suspect are very coyote aware. ANd we try to get them inside at night.

THe hawks are a problem, especially when the young ones are learning to hunt. DH will shoo them off. THey can go hunt in the woods reserved for them. But we do lose a bird now and then. WHen we put up short fencing, about 3 feet high, the coyote are steered around our main house area, an no losses since from that direction. However a coon moved in and we now coop everyone at night and put an end to that; the coon must go elsewhere for food.

It is a balancing act.

My pullet is the same way; I don't even try to catch her during the day but make a point to take her from the roost and hold her for a while as often as I can when I close them up at night. I notice a significant difference the following day in the level of attention she gives me when I've done that. She was 10 weeks old when we got her and hadn't been handled prior to that day so my children and I took the opportunity to handle her as much as possible in the evenings in the beginning before they were moved out to the big coop; the children would even read bedtime stories to the chicks.

I can tell she's reached a point where she wants to jump up on my shoulder when I sit out in the gardens but doesn't quite dare....yet. I think it's just a matter of time for us to get there.

This is not at all what I would consider a "flighty" bird.

Dogs have always been a huge part of farm life and I'm very pleased with how protective mine is of everyone here, particularly my flock. And respectful of them. I've watched him give them a very wide berth when he walks by them so he doesn't disturb them when they're going about their thing and a few of them will seek him out to take their late morning naps near him.

The hawks are tricky. My flock stays close the house for the most part and only goes into the field when they're following me but there are a lot of trees and undergrowth right around the house for them to take cover. I see hawks and eagles fly over head a lot but they won't go into the growth after chickens. Their run, which they're rarely confined to, is quite exposed but I have bird netting over the top, mainly to keep them in when I need to but it has kept them safe from the aerial predators.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: My horses like the fermented feed too.

IT is a great source of probiotics. OUr food is sadly missing these beneficials as our food is super processed and over heated. We have lot the beneficials that are good for the health of our gut and US. Real saur kraut, and many other products are now available to augment our diets and restore our guts to a better level. I often take a probiotic, but wonder at the 30 plus types that are known and how to get those. One type is acquired during the natural birthing process and is lost during c-sections. Dang, we have messed up so much due to uniintended consequences.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I have been fermenting my feed for the last few weeks and since then I have been feeding noticeably less feed.
I was able to grow my sex link roosters out on half the feed that I did last year simply by management. last year I kept them in chicken tractors on pasture, this year I moved them in net fencing over an area that we kept cows in over the winter and there was a lot of compost and manure and they were able to glean a lot of their own food. I also fond it MUCH easier to move the netting a couple times a week then moving the same three 8X4 chicken tractors that I would other wise be keeping them in. I like crossbred chickens and their benefits, the only down fall for me is the fact that they are ''dead end'' birds.

 

[Beer can]

 We have lot the beneficials that are good for the health of our gut and US.  Real saur kraut, and many other products are now available to augment our diets and restore our guts to a better level.

I make my own saukraut, it has the same beneficial bacteria as greek yogurt. I also make my own home made fermented Kimchi with napa cabbage, daikan radish, carrots, celery, hot peppers, lots of minced fresh garlic and ginger. No fish sauce though. Super good for you, but my wife makes me eat it outside, she says it stanks!
Ive heard about fermented feed for chickens, but I havn't looked into it yet.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I make my own saukraut, it has the same beneficial bacteria as greek yogurt. I also make my own home made fermented Kimchi with napa cabbage, daikan radish, carrots, celery, hot peppers, lots of minced fresh garlic and ginger. No fish sauce though. Super good for you, but my wife makes me eat it outside, she says it stanks!
Ive heard about fermented feed for chickens, but I havn't looked into it yet.

We make our own sauerkraut and yogurt as well. It is very nutritious. our family rarely gets sick. I heard a story about a Korean man who cured his chickens of avian flu by feeding them kimchi. very interesting.