Growing fodder for chickens

[Cynthia12]

Chickens like to have a full crop, especially during the winter. The amount of feed they are happy with is going to vary based on the size of the chicken, in some cases the breed as some are more greedy than others, and the food availability throughout the day. Birds that don't have free access to food will gorge and stretch out their crops. Birds that always have something to nibble on will have a more normal sized crop and better digestion. In my runs, I use 4th crop alfalfa hay as their 24/7 source of food. This time of year, they also get pumpkins and other large squash. I've done that for years and it works well for my birds. Of course I work out of the house so I can feed them their other food during the day. Not everyone can do that. Anyway, you can get a good idea of how much food your birds need by feeling their crops. If they are full, the bird is happy. If it is overlarge, your bird is gorging. (A birds crop is like a balloon) Observing natural behavior will give you another clue. Your birds will tell you how much they need.

Good point..they are all different. My white leghorn is the smallest bird out there, I love her, her name says something about her...Miss Piggy. Her crop is always the biggest out there. Oh, she has plenty to nibble on though, she's just a little pig. She comes knocking at my back door every day. She's going to really dislike being in that run through the winter. I know I will have to spread the food out in different places so the others will get their fair share. She's my fav. girl out there..with all the different breeds, I love my leghorn. She will be staying with us until the day she dies. Very sweet, comes around me the whole time I'm out there..I know, probably wanting treats.

 

[pawtraitart]

The antics of Miss Piggy crack me up. LOL Awesome bird. She must think she's in charge. I have an old buff orpington hen like that. I'll never sell her. She's family.

 

[MyTDogs]

In my program, I make up for this by making them a type of bread that I give them 5 days a week.

Can you share some info about this bread? Recipe? I'm intrigued.

Thanks!

 

[Cynthia12]

Can you share some info about this bread? Recipe? I'm intrigued.

Thanks!

X's 2

 

[Lilwanis]

I am really excite to feed my girls fodder. I have one experimental flat growing right now that I started on Sunday. I get off work after the sun sets so their free range time has been very limited since the time change. I think I did too much seed the first time around, as far as bulk and what my girls can actually eat., but it is greening up just fine. I can't wait to give it to them...probably tomorrow morning before I go to work.

I also discovered how good the sprouts taste and have invested in some sprouting seeds for the family. We gave plenty of wheat as I bought a 25lb bag from Walmart, but I ordered a starter kit of organic seeds from sproutpeople.org. Yay! I love discovering new healthy things to eat and feed. Thanks so much for starting this thread!! Now I hope the girls like it...the pumpkins took some convincing, but once they tried it, they inhaled it

 

[Lilwanis]

X's 2 

X3

 

[pawtraitart]

Can you share some info about this bread? Recipe? I'm intrigued.

Thanks!

Sure, no problem. Please note that it's not a precise recipe. I'm on auto-pilot early in the morning so I just kinda toss it together in my bread machine. Here's my winter recipe.

Per loaf: (my best guess at the quantities)

2 cups white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 oz ground flax
1 oz BOSS
2 eggs with the shells
1/4 cup of calf manna
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (any spicy dried pepper type thing will work)
1 cup of water
1 tsp of Fertrell poultry nutri-balancer
1 tsp of yeast

Plus...and this part varies, approx half a cup of some kind of cooked vegetable (usually a dinner leftover or cooked pumpkin I've put in the freezer from my fall pumpkin freebies) or some fresh chopped up greens like kale.

(Note, no sugar is added like a lot of bread recipes call for. It's not necessary and isn't really good for them anyway)

Everything gets tossed in, I hit the "dough" setting, and wait until it's mixed into a ball. If I have too much liquid from the veggies, sometimes I have to add a bit more flour. The mixing takes a few minutes. It's then ready for me to roll out into a loaf the length of my cooking tray. I typically make 3 or 4 loaves to feed everyone including my turkeys. I let it rise a bit and then cook at 350F for 25 minutes and let cool. Hey, I get up at 5:30 during the week so this gives me something to do while I wait for the sun to come up.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Chickens like to have a full crop, especially during the winter. The amount of feed they are happy with is going to vary based on the size of the chicken, in some cases the breed as some are more greedy than others, and the food availability throughout the day. Birds that don't have free access to food will gorge and stretch out their crops. Birds that always have something to nibble on will have a more normal sized crop and better digestion. In my runs, I use 4th crop alfalfa hay as their 24/7 source of food. This time of year, they also get pumpkins and other large squash. I've done that for years and it works well for my birds. Of course I work out of the house so I can feed them their other food during the day. Not everyone can do that. Anyway, you can get a good idea of how much food your birds need by feeling their crops. If they are full, the bird is happy. If it is overlarge, your bird is gorging. (A birds crop is like a balloon) Observing natural behavior will give you another clue. Your birds will tell you how much they need.

Thank you again. I would really like to encourage you to do a chicken feed article. You seem to have a lot of really good information to share.

 

[QuartzRidgeRanch]

This has been a big question for me, too. For chickens, one source I read suggested 1 cubic inch per bird. I'm not sure if that was grain fodder or green fodder, though, so that answer isn't very helpful, is it?

Here is what we do and our trays average 13lbs each.

1200lb Horse: 1 tray/day + hay (a quarter of a flake) + 2 scoops of horse pellets (she is a hard keeper in the winter)
150lb Buck Goats (2): 1/4 tray/day + hay (just enough for them to snack)
Pilgrim Geese (3) + Muscovies (8): 1/2 tray/day + they free range
Chickens Delawares and Jersey Giants (30): 1 tray/day + they free range
American Guinea Hogs (1 boar, 1 pregnant sow, 1 gilt): 1/2 tray/day + scraps + some grass hay

Hope this helps!!

 

[pawtraitart]

Thank you, QuartzRidgeRanch! Very helpful.