Growing fodder for chickens

[BlueMouse]

mangel seeds: here ya go! http://sustainableseedco.com/heirlo...loom-seeds/red-mammoth-mangel-beet-seeds.html

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Aspen, I find it intersting that you don't supplement the Ca with all that foraging-- I have noticed that if I let my SS forage longer than 4 hrs a day their eggs thin down to the point of broken bags of goo. THey have 3.25% layer available in their coop, but once out to forage cover a large area before cooping up for the night. IDK what to think.

Somewhere somehow the girls MUST absorb enough calcium to build and egg every day. That is a lot of calcium. Granted Ihave noticed the birds foraging seem to eat and eat and eat like everything is far more delish than commercial pellets!! lol

One thing that I think of is, back in the old days when all the people had chickens...they weren't able to just run to the store and buy layer pellets and oyster shell. The chickens had to find most of their food (or all of it) for themselves. So far all my girls are a good weight, not too fat and not too skinny, just in the middle. They have all the fermented grains they can get, but usually they just eat a bite or two here in the morning and spend most of the day ranging about the ranch. I'm getting enough eggs to cover my feed costs, with eggs leftover for us to eat. My main concern at the moment is saving money, feeding my birds the most natural diet possible for my budget, and getting everyone completely off commercial feed. Now the grains I'm buying right now are not organic, if I had the money I'd switch everyone over to organic grains, maybe in the future.

Here are the nutritional ingredients in Nutrena Layer Crumbles & Pellets:

Nutrient Level
Crude Protein 16.0%
Lysine 0.7%
Methionine 0.3%
Crude Fat 2.5%
Crude Fiber 8.0%
Calcium 3.4% - 3.9%
Phosphorus 0.45%
Salt 0.25% - 0.65%
Sodium 0.15% - 0.23%
Then there's a study done about nutritional yields for each grow day that might give you a comparison.
Here's the Fodder Chart by Sprout Day using Barley:

Thank you all for the info, I am really new to this as we are to get our first ever batch of chicks in about 2 weeks, and I have been reading like crazy over the last 2 months to try and get as informed as possible, I find I am getting information overload, LOL. If I repeat questions I am sorry, I made it to page 25 of this thread last night/this morning still have plenty to read! If it is not to much to ask At what age can chicks start on fodder?

From day 1. : )

Ok another newbie question, sorry. How do I ferment oats and will fermented oats and fodder be enough in dietary needs for my mixed flock of layers and meat birds? they will be able to be outside in a run also. Oh and does anybody have a list of toxic plants, I live in central Ohio and I want to make sure there isn't any toxic plants where we plan on putting the coop and run.

Right now my birds are free ranging all day everyone (mainly the ducks), and I'm only offering them some fermented grains in the mornings and evenings. I'm fermenting whole oats, whole barley, and whole red milo.

it is my understanding that they can get a lot from bugs that they find while foraging. last summer i didn't give oyster shells at all and free ranged my 8 hens a lot. i did feed them some of the egg shells back, but that was it. i didn't have any problems. it might depend on how many bugs you have in your area, or perhaps what kinds, but i have a lot of bugs so maybe that helps.

We actually do not have that many bugs...but what few we do have the ducks are hunting down.

There is a variety of turnip, and probably more than one, that is grown just for greens. It is an heirloom variety called Seven Top Turnip. The root is not good for eating but it makes a good amount of greens. Chickens might eat the root, haven't grown it since I got chickens, so don't know.

On the fodder front, I gave up on oats. They take waaaay too long to sprout, so I am fermenting them instead. The chickens like them either way.

No wheat at my mill. They said come back end of summer as they will have it then.

Same here, my oats wouldn't grow into fodder. The chickens will eat just about anything, the ducks tolerate the oats, the peafowl pick through them, as well as the guineas, the geese eat every last piece. ; )

~ Aspen

 

[tackleberry]

LOL!!! It's not like you're wearing your underwear on the outside of your clothes or anything..

Sherry

I do

 

[Daloorashens]

Oh goodness it's been too long since I have looked at this thread, I"m working on a lead for some barley from some local farmers

 

[Lacy Blues]

Most of my critters free range all day, every day so I know they are getting a lot more to eat than just what I'm feeding them. The longer I can stretch my feed out the better. Money is extremely tight right now, so I have to make every go as far as possible.

None of my eggs are soft/thin shelled. They are all big, thick, and delicious. I do not feed oyster shell or any other thing like that.
Not that I know of. : ) I feed my girls as much of it as they'll eat.
Oh dear, that is not good at all! Bummer

~ Aspen

Aspen, with your egg quality, I have to ask... do you breed and hatch your own eggs? I'm trying to get away from commercial feed too and trying to figure out what all my birds need in the way of minerals and amino acids and stuff like that. Mine are all penned; they can go outside but they can't free range... too many stray dogs! Anyway, I'm having trouble with hatchability. My chicks that do hatch don't seem to have any trouble but getting them to hatch is the thing and I'm pretty sure its nutritional as I stopped buying commercial rations within the last year. I ferment oats, wheat, milo, and barley whole grains. I've had terrible luck growing fodder; I think I need an automated system. But I can grow sprouts. Lentils and fenugreek sprout very quickly. I don't grow them into fodder. I use alfalfa pellets and rehydrate them. Also beet pulp pellets rehydrated and mixed in. Hard boiled eggs, because they're coming out my ears. Yogurt sometimes. Dry cat food most of the time for protein but occasionally I fry up some beef liver or use canned mackerel mixed in their fermented grains. I've got a line on some Azomite for vitamins/minerals and I'm just waiting on it to arrive.

Ok another newbie question, sorry. How do I ferment oats and will fermented oats and fodder be enough in dietary needs for my mixed flock of layers and meat birds? they will be able to be outside in a run also. Oh and does anybody have a list of toxic plants, I live in central Ohio and I want to make sure there isn't any toxic plants where we plan on putting the coop and run.

Rhubarb leaves are toxic. There are others but thats what came to mind right off.

 

[BlueMouse]

I know a lot of people are having good luck with a product from fertrell called "poultry nutri-balancer" you can find a local distributor through their website if you feed store doesn't carry it (mine carries almost nothing.)http://www.fertrell.com/poultry.htm. The other thing I'm reading about with great interest is a product called Ultra Kibble. It's also intended as a nutritional supplement, and a lot of the folks raising guineas have had excellent results adding it. Somewhere in one of the threads (I forget where, sorry) there was some concern about the ingredients, and someone contacted the producer and they said it was to the best of their abilities, barring cross polination, GMO free. I'm not using either product right now, because I really think my guys are getting what they need off the free range right now, but I may use it over the winter if I feel like their egg shells are getting thin, or their general condition is going down. I'm almost certainly going to try some of the ultra kibble when they moult, just for that little extra something.

I don't know if, in general, I would use dry cat food as a dietary staple.... I feel like most of it has at least as much undesirable crap in it as processed poultry feeds. Maybe more. Fertrell (again) sells a fish meal that I have read good things about from people who mix their own rations. It's a high quality source of animal protien. I'm lucky, my flock is so small that in winter I've just been giving them a couple boiled eggs or a half a can of mackerell every other day or so, and it hasn't been breaking the bank. Right now I'm on the lookout for a free chest freezer so I can start a roach colony for this winter. I think that will be a good cheap animal protien source for me.

I really thinnk that the fodder in winter, or for birds in confinement provides things that their diet is lacking even if according to the charts they're getting all their dietary needs. Humans NEED green things, we get things from fresh live foods that can never be replaced by any supplement. I don't see why omnivorous poultry would be any different. For you investing in an automated system might be a great way to get health up and costs down. You really cannot beat the price point for fodder. If you're anything like handy you could probably make it yourself with some PVC a plastic shelf rack, a big tub, and a pump on a timer.

of course, as always, only my .02 based more on extensive reading than long experience. YMMV.

 

[Pent]

I have a question; If I grow more fodder than my hens can eat (I only plan to keep 3-4), and plant it in their run every day instead of serving it in a dish, will any of it end up growing in the run? That would put some of the chicken poo to good use, and make the chicken run look less like a bare brown patch. Ooooor with the chickens just cheerfully tear it apart for fun?

 

[Amastacia]

I have a question; If I grow more fodder than my hens can eat (I only plan to keep 3-4), and plant it in their run every day instead of serving it in a dish, will any of it end up growing in the run? That would put some of the chicken poo to good use, and make the chicken run look less like a bare brown patch. Ooooor with the chickens just cheerfully tear it apart for fun?

they would probably rip it up. also, i'm not sure if it would grow well if planted. the root mass that is part of the goal of growing fodder is not a healthy way for a plant to grow long term. the plants would be likely to strangle each other and all die.

 

[BlueMouse]

they would probably rip it up. also, i'm not sure if it would grow well if planted. the root mass that is part of the goal of growing fodder is not a healthy way for a plant to grow long term. the plants would be likely to strangle each other and all die.

X2

If you wanted to plant some in your run, you'd do better to broadcast some, and then cover it with a square frame of 2x4's covered with hardware cloth. that way the hens can eat what pokes up through the hardware cloth but not uproot the plant, or eat it down to the roots so it dies. you can plant all kinds of tasty treats for hens this way, not just wheatgrass

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Aspen, with your egg quality, I have to ask... do you breed and hatch your own eggs? I'm trying to get away from commercial feed too and trying to figure out what all my birds need in the way of minerals and amino acids and stuff like that. Mine are all penned; they can go outside but they can't free range... too many stray dogs! Anyway, I'm having trouble with hatchability. My chicks that do hatch don't seem to have any trouble but getting them to hatch is the thing and I'm pretty sure its nutritional as I stopped buying commercial rations within the last year. I ferment oats, wheat, milo, and barley whole grains. I've had terrible luck growing fodder; I think I need an automated system. But I can grow sprouts. Lentils and fenugreek sprout very quickly. I don't grow them into fodder. I use alfalfa pellets and rehydrate them. Also beet pulp pellets rehydrated and mixed in. Hard boiled eggs, because they're coming out my ears. Yogurt sometimes. Dry cat food most of the time for protein but occasionally I fry up some beef liver or use canned mackerel mixed in their fermented grains. I've got a line on some Azomite for vitamins/minerals and I'm just waiting on it to arrive.
Rhubarb leaves are toxic. There are others but thats what came to mind right off.

I've been hatching eggs out like crazy. My fertility is extremely high. Just about as high as it's ever been in fact. I'm getting nearly 100% fertility in my waterfowl, my Seramas are very fertile..if I trimmed my Cochin's and Sussex's bottoms (they are very fluffy...) they'd been even more fertile.

I know a lot of people are having good luck with a product from fertrell called "poultry nutri-balancer" you can find a local distributor through their website if you feed store doesn't carry it (mine carries almost nothing.)http://www.fertrell.com/poultry.htm. The other thing I'm reading about with great interest is a product called Ultra Kibble. It's also intended as a nutritional supplement, and a lot of the folks raising guineas have had excellent results adding it. Somewhere in one of the threads (I forget where, sorry) there was some concern about the ingredients, and someone contacted the producer and they said it was to the best of their abilities, barring cross polination, GMO free. I'm not using either product right now, because I really think my guys are getting what they need off the free range right now, but I may use it over the winter if I feel like their egg shells are getting thin, or their general condition is going down. I'm almost certainly going to try some of the ultra kibble when they moult, just for that little extra something.

I don't know if, in general, I would use dry cat food as a dietary staple.... I feel like most of it has at least as much undesirable crap in it as processed poultry feeds. Maybe more. Fertrell (again) sells a fish meal that I have read good things about from people who mix their own rations. It's a high quality source of animal protien. I'm lucky, my flock is so small that in winter I've just been giving them a couple boiled eggs or a half a can of mackerell every other day or so, and it hasn't been breaking the bank. Right now I'm on the lookout for a free chest freezer so I can start a roach colony for this winter. I think that will be a good cheap animal protien source for me.

I really thinnk that the fodder in winter, or for birds in confinement provides things that their diet is lacking even if according to the charts they're getting all their dietary needs. Humans NEED green things, we get things from fresh live foods that can never be replaced by any supplement. I don't see why omnivorous poultry would be any different. For you investing in an automated system might be a great way to get health up and costs down. You really cannot beat the price point for fodder. If you're anything like handy you could probably make it yourself with some PVC a plastic shelf rack, a big tub, and a pump on a timer.

of course, as always, only my .02 based more on extensive reading than long experience. YMMV.

I have a question; If I grow more fodder than my hens can eat (I only plan to keep 3-4), and plant it in their run every day instead of serving it in a dish, will any of it end up growing in the run? That would put some of the chicken poo to good use, and make the chicken run look less like a bare brown patch. Ooooor with the chickens just cheerfully tear it apart for fun?

I don't think it would. When I feed it to my girls they tear it up and it gets thrown everywhere and quickly drys out.

X2

If you wanted to plant some in your run, you'd do better to broadcast some, and then cover it with a square frame of 2x4's covered with hardware cloth. that way the hens can eat what pokes up through the hardware cloth but not uproot the plant, or eat it down to the roots so it dies. you can plant all kinds of tasty treats for hens this way, not just wheatgrass

X2

~ Aspen