I'm new to the site and I do apologize if this is a tired topic. I've done layers for a long time but have usually purchased layer mash. I'd like to consider growing my own feed. I'm in Ohio so standard midwestern climate. So ...
If one were to grow one's own feed (organic) for a small flock of layers, what would you grow? It seems to me that you would want productivity per square foot of space used, good chicken nutrition, multiple croppings per year if possible, storability, ease of manual harvest, modest requirements of the soil and probably other qualities that I am missing. I am mostly interested in storable feeds since finding food for chickens when the garden is producing for us is easy ... not to mention the red wigglers out of my compost whose population balloons in the warm weather.
I was thinking that good candidates are amaranth, millet, sunflowers (hard on soil though) , oats, spelt ...
Any experience out there?
Paul
If one were to grow one's own feed (organic) for a small flock of layers, what would you grow? It seems to me that you would want productivity per square foot of space used, good chicken nutrition, multiple croppings per year if possible, storability, ease of manual harvest, modest requirements of the soil and probably other qualities that I am missing. I am mostly interested in storable feeds since finding food for chickens when the garden is producing for us is easy ... not to mention the red wigglers out of my compost whose population balloons in the warm weather.
I was thinking that good candidates are amaranth, millet, sunflowers (hard on soil though) , oats, spelt ...
Any experience out there?
Paul