Growing fodder for chickens

[MyTDogs]

Please share what you find out! I'm very interested in this. 

x2! I have a 600? gallon stock tank (8 ft across, 2 ft deep) that is currently being used as a big dog bowl. I can't get the geese or ducks to get in it. for now i have those feeder goldfish in there to try & keep the mosquitoes down. minnows would be great!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I considered mice at one point. Figured I could feed the pinkies... don't remember all the reasons I abandoned the thought. Salmonella is a good point to consider. I imagine that wild mice might carry it but if you were to get feeder mice and control their habitat and food stuffs, they should be a safe option.

I figure fish would be cleaner and easier. Here's a link for some more information. While reading it I remembered that the life span of the fathead minnow is 3 - 4 years. The site has info on feeding and breeding rates. I'm still looking at how much room they need. Minimum order here is 1 pound (300 - 350 fish) for $9.50 plus shipping of course.

http://www.dunnsfishfarm.com/fathead_minnows_251_prd1.htm

 

[mg15]

Yeah, the ick factor is not worth the low protein percentage.
But like you I would do it if my girls needed food.
I give the girls turkey burgers and they go nuts for meat. They
go more nuts for meat than anything else I have given them.
What about crickets ?

 

[pawtraitart]

Here's something I found regarding goldfish and minnows. (This is in regards to feeding fish to predator fish, but some of the info may apply)



Quote:
And here's what they say about livebearers such as guppies, platys, etc:



Quote:

 

[pawtraitart]

From what I can find, it appears that freshwater fish are high in fat and not that high in protein. Insects look to be a better option for poultry, but I don't know a way to produce them efficiently enough to make it worth it on the farm. Ideas?

 

[Lacy Blues]

http://www.lakesuperiorstreams.org/understanding/fatheadminnow.html

http://aquaticpath.umd.edu/fhm/index.html

The second link I found just tonight and it has all kinds of information on the fathead minnow but not space requirements. I sent an email to them to ask about it so hopefully I'll know soon.

 

[mg15]

How about tadpoles ?

 

[Lacy Blues]

Here's something I found regarding goldfish and minnows. (This is in regards to feeding fish to predator fish, but some of the info may apply)




And here's what they say about livebearers such as guppies, platys, etc:

hmmm, hadn't read that before.

About insects, Kassaundra raises mealworms and dubia roaches. I don't know how satisfied she is with their reproduction rate.

Crickets seem to carry little tiny worms. So do earthworms. We had a lovely Mountain Horned Lizard. I didn't put the powder on the crickets or earthworms that you can get to treat for the worms and he ended up dying. I think they were thread worms. So... I'm leary of using either of them as a regular input to the diet.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

Hi, I am not trying to be sick about this, but when
it was mentioned about a chicken swallowing a mouse
why not raise mice. Truly that is fast.
Personally I couldn't do it, but there are frozen
mice that can be bought.
Wonder how much protein is in a mouse. ?
mg

LOL!! The last time we had chickens it was a normal thing for us to see them with a field mouse, frog, lizard or some other small little critter. It was kind of fun to see them play tug a war with it, one pull it away, take off running and the others chase after it. We refered to it as chicken football!

As far as the protien in feed bags, how funny would it be to read the bag and find the the source really was ants, ground beetles, mice, crickets, and mill worms.

Too bad something that natural isn't available.

 

[Kassaundra]

I also had looked into mice, it seemed like more work and space then I was wanting to do and you still have the food issue, pregnant and nursing rodents need quite a bit of nutrition, bedding needs to be changed very regularly, they need seperate living quarters (think 3-5 gall buckets one for each female)

I have not been as happy w/ mealies my colony hasn't been to successful, but they require much less in living accomodations then dubias.

Dubias are super easy and the colony gets big enough to feed out sooner, however they require 80ish degree temps year round. Any insect colony used as total protien for a flock of any size will need to be seriously large, anytime you have such large colonies of ANY insect there will be odors, I don't care what nonsense you read online about no odor, they are lying. I am happy w/ my dubia colony and use it as treats, but I have had a colony almost 2 years and I couldn't use it as total protien. My colony is now in a remodeled chest type freezer w/ a red heat light linked to a thermostat.