Growing Your Own Feed

[rmonge00]

Hey everyone,

I live on 3 acres and am really interested in growing my own feed for my 25 chickens. Anyone have any recipes for mashes (both laying and fattening!) that can be easily grown and processed at home?! I would really appreciate the advice!!!

Thanks.
Ryan

 

[centrarchid]

Carbohydrate Source - Corn
Good fat source - Black Oil Sunflower
Good protein source - Some sort of legume seed that will thrive in your area
Fiber / complex carbohydrate for cecal fermentation - Alfalfa chopped for hay

You might be able to grow enough for 25 birds on 1 acre assuming wildlife does not take it all. Birds will either need to be free ranged for minor nutrients (vitamins and minerals) and / or they will need to be supplemented with a nutritionally complete diet. I have to supplement with calcium as well for egg production since food chain a bit low in Ca. I have a bit more acreage yet still having problems keeping birds in good nutritional status unless a nutritionally complete diet used as a supplement. Snow cover and birds not being willing to venture far from cover prevent more thorough foraging (hawks). Hawks reduce flock's ability to harvest natural food production just like with other classical predator / prey / forage interactions involving only wildlife. Makes game fun.

 

[Illia]

I'm in the middle of preparing several crops on just 5 acres total of land to feed my flock of over 60. . . I'm growing heirloom corn, quinoa, amaranth, tef, and of course whatever excess vegetables and fruit from our gardens/orchards will also go to them.

I personally am a huge fan of Amaranth and Quinoa. Very protein and mineral rich, much more natural than other grains to feed to poultry, plus the leaves are also edible, and it's pretty hardy stuff, not to mention very attractive! The key though is to buy a variety of Amaranth for flour grinding, not the leaves, and a variety of Quinoa best suited for your area. My area for example is perfect except our excess rains, which is practically an "enemy" to properly harvested Quinoa.

The nice thing about growing it is that it beats paying $4+ per pound of someone else's.

The other huge plus is that it is also very good for human consumption too, practically a super-grain, and used often in gluten-free diets or as a good cereal grain. I'll be growing mine for both the flock and my family.


Another thing of mention is corn. . . Pretty good stuff, but especially finding a non-GMO, heirloom variety best suited for your area is just the best! Out here in the Pacific Northwest, growing corn is near impossible, however there are some really neat varieties that have short growing seasons suitable for out here. Best part about them is their amazing colors, such as green, blue/red, or blue/purple/pink/white.

Oh, and of course, planting legumes such as beans amongst your corn not only supplies the extra nitrogen it needs, but also more food for you and your flock.

 

[Davaroo]

No advice from me. Id buy milled feed in bulk and let them forage on green feeds, bugs and what not.
Probably cheaper in the long run.