Has anyone succesfully had chickens without feeding chicken food

[cubalaya]

we found that homemade chicken tractors allowed us to protect our birds from predators while allowing them fresh grass and bugs daily. they don't need as much layer pellets as my birds in the coop and runs. you can also use them to isolate a broody or a breeding pair or trio. i call them scratch pens and they give the chickens more exercise. since we have a garden, the chickens get all the scraps all summer long and we feed them turnips and greens all fall usually until real hard frosts in december. since this winter is mild, we still have green grass in the yard for them. you can also buy cheap scratch feed and mix it with layer pellets to stretch it. only feed oyster shells when their egg shells get thin and soft.

 

[hencackle]

If you decide to feed milk to chickens, raw milk is best because it is more digestible as the enzymes haven't been destroyed by pasteurization. Chickens don't produce the enzyme lactase necessary to digest lactose, so chickens are considered lactose-intolerant. Pasteurized milk that has been fermented with live cultures to make kefir, yogurt, or buttermilk predigests the lactose in milk and makes it a great food to give chickens...and it's a source of beneficial bacteria necessary for a healthy digestive tract.

Years ago, my grandmother would get extra (raw) milk from her cousin's dairy farm which she would let sit out at room temperature to make "clabbered milk". Maybe you can find somebody near you with dairy goats, willing to let you do an odd job in exchange for milk.

There are a lot of BYC members, including myself, that make kefir and could share some kefir grains with you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/430905/probiotics-for-you-and-your-chickens

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

If you decide to feed milk to chickens, raw milk is best because it is more digestible as the enzymes haven't been destroyed by pasteurization. Chickens don't produce the enzyme lactase necessary to digest lactose, so chickens are considered lactose-intolerant. Pasteurized milk that has been fermented with live cultures to make kefir, yogurt, or buttermilk predigests the lactose in milk and makes it a great food to give chickens...and it's a source of beneficial bacteria necessary for a healthy digestive tract.

Years ago, my grandmother would get extra (raw) milk from her cousin's dairy farm which she would let sit out at room temperature to make "clabbered milk". Maybe you can find somebody near you with dairy goats, willing to let you do an odd job in exchange for milk.

There are a lot of BYC members, including myself, that make kefir and could share some kefir grains with you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/430905/probiotics-for-you-and-your-chickens

This is an excellent post!!

I have a milk goat coming in March, and I cannot wait to be able to give my chickens raw goats milk!

And thank you for the link to the kefir thread!

 

[trilyn]

It couldn't be because you are in the desert, could it?

I'm in upstate NY and lemme tell ya..this ain't no desert! The feed goes for 11.50 to 16.00 or more depending on what protein percentage/brand you buy. Its getting outrageous!

 

[CluckyJay]

Just started defrosting a fifteen or so pound rock fish for the ladies!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Right now my poultry feed for a 50lb bag is about $18.00

 

[littleflocker]

Sell Some Eggs! My 7 chickens pay for their own feed.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Sell Some Eggs! My 7 chickens pay for their own feed.

No ones laying right now!

Lazy bums need to finish molting and start laying!

 

[TwoCrows]

Wow, I just read thru this entire thread and of course having known how the grandparents used to raise chickens, compared to now a days is interesting. My parents kept chickens when I was really young, however I don't remember much. And when I started raising chickens last year, my husband was of the same mind as the old folks, raise em' on cracked corn and table scraps. But I went ahead with the modern days methods of processed starter and layer feeds.

My birds do fine with it, although they do get to range around in gardens. I offer them alfalfa hay leaves when there is nothing growing in the winter. But I have often wondered if the feeding methods really made much difference, as a few of you have tried both methods and didn't see a huge difference.

Well, thank you all for the good read here! Oh, and to the starter of this post, I hope you find a method that works for you and you get to keep your chickens.

 

[gg706]

I whole hearted agree! Tough times calls for growing more of your own food. I would NOT get rid of the chickens...they are a source of food everyday from eggs..and if it gets really bad you can butcher them. I would build a few wooden boxes throw some soil in them sprinkle with rye seeds they will grow QUICK! rotate a few boxes to the birds...feed on one.. grow on another...chickens will eat most anything! I don't know where you live but here in Georgia I could grow most cool weather crops in my garage in wooden boxes. Without supplemental light they wont grow into human food...but you could grow alot of things the chickens will love! Maybe you can figure out a way to light the chickens and the plants to get both producing food for your family! Good Luck, Hang in there times will get better!

I try to encourage people to learn how to raise livestock with no budget. People have gotten to use to having money an the means to just go buy what they need off the shelf. Not sure if it will be in my lifetime or not but at some point the economy will tank. Chicken feed will go away just like everything else an the people that already know how to raise chickens on nothing will be much better off. When people say something about not having the money for chicken feed people start talking about it being time to get rid of the chickens. I think that means its time to raise more chickens.

When I first started I kept hens in an apple tree. I fed them scraps an corn just before dark so they would hunt there own food all day. Now my chickens are in pens eating chicken feed because I can. If finances tank I will go back to free range an corn or even cage an corn an I will not feel bad about it. My family having food on the table comes first. Only then do I worry about how happy that food was.