Home Feeding Ideas and Solutions Discussion Thread

[ShortAnda]

I'm beggining to really get interested in the KNF info to. I just don't see it working very well here in Arizona. It is simply much to hot and dry for a lot of the concepts to work for us. I think I will try buying some bulk rice when I have chicks this spring. According to the blog feeding these tougher rougher foods really helps the birds develop a fantastic digestive system as they mature. I also plan on growing some greens and grains near the coops to give in place of the bamboo. It'll be a fun experiment... as long as I don't kill anyone!

 

[triplepurpose]

To me, a big part of KNF is that they are working with local organisms and plants. I am not sure how these things relate for me because we sure don't grow rice and bamboo in Connecticut. That being said, it seems like the latest information is about growing microorganisms to enrich the soil (as opposed to trying to sterilize them out), so I've been doing that.

Exactly so. The key is to use the same PRINCIPLES, and apply them to your circumstances using LOCALLY available materials. That's how and why KNF was "invented" (in Korea, using locally available materials and resources--but the biological principles underlying the science of it are universally applicable).

That is both the beauty and the challenge of rejecting one-size-fits-all solutions and thinking outside the box!

And by the way, while Hawaii (where the video was filmed) may be tropical/subtropical....Korea is not in any way even close to a tropical climate. There is nothing inherently or uniquely "tropical" in any way about Korean Natural Farming.

 

[triplepurpose]

Oh I have some bamboo leaves!!!! Do you just chop them up for them? I tried once confining two adult hens in a circular pen with a bamboo plant in it and they didn't eat the leaves (but only for about 30 minutes or less). Maybe I should have let them have more time in there!

Can it be the grown leaves or does it have to be the shoots?

Yes, i know they chop them up into tiny pieces (bite size) for the chicks. And I know it's the green, growing leaves, but I haven't found much more specific info on that, so as to the details your guess is as good as mine... Let me know if you find out anything more...

It doesn't suprise me that adult chickens might not try to eat bamboo leaves right off. My adult chickens won't eat comfrey, even though everything I've read just raves about how great a food comfrey leaves are for poultry and other animals. Young chickens aren't so set in their ways, so they can be more easily trained to eat new things. A lot of things are going to change around here with my next batch of chicks....

 

[Zanna]

With feeding the young chicks uncooked brown rice I would think they would need some grit as well but can not find any mention of that. Any thoughts??

 

[Kassaundra]

Yes, i know they chop them up into tiny pieces (bite size) for the chicks. And I know it's the green, growing leaves, but I haven't found much more specific info on that, so as to the details your guess is as good as mine... Let me know if you find out anything more...

It doesn't suprise me that adult chickens might not try to eat bamboo leaves right off. My adult chickens won't eat comfrey, even though everything I've read just raves about how great a food comfrey leaves are for poultry and other animals. Young chickens aren't so set in their ways, so they can be more easily trained to eat new things. A lot of things are going to change around here with my next batch of chicks....

Mine found my comfrey, and well I'm glad it was the end of the season and it comes back from the roots (I have a bocking variety) b/c they decimated it!!!!

 

[Kassaundra]

I had no idea what type of weather Korea has, and I didn't look it up, I just equate bamboo and rice w/ tropical warm weather (even though I know some types of bamboo grow in every climate). I understood the prinicple of using local plants and microbes, but the sites I was looking on I had no idea what I could substitute for in my area. (not for feeding the chickens high fiber greens but for the different liquids they make to grow better soil and for the IMO 1-5

 

[Beautiful_Chickens]

Responding to rebel gardener's great post...

I think it is good to feed whole plants with tough parts because it keeps the chickens busy. My 80-yr-old neighbor used to always say you've got to keep the hens busy!!! But it does make sense to give them something to do that ALSO gives them nutrition.

You mentioned DE. (I have jumped into the middle of this thread, so others may have mentioned its pros and cons, but I have not read everything so hope I don't repeat too much)...There is a fair amount of info recently that DE is very harmful to breathe in...so possibly the chickens are breathing it in while pecking around in their food, so that might be why they don't like their feed as well when you put DE in it.

I wish my chickens would eat slugs! I think they must not know they are food...they just ignore them. Any ideas, anybody, on how to get them started on slugs?

 

[Beautiful_Chickens]

After reading all the creative things others have fed their chickens... i feel bad for my girls. I mainly feed store bought grain and scratch. I do let my girls out nearly everyday to forage in the yarden...but i guess i need to get them some fresh greens and more table scraps! thanks for the info, as a new chicken mom this is great !

Don't feel bad, mo puff....Foraging around in a yard is probably the chickens' very favorite thing to do and is very good for them. And they find their own bugs and weeds, that way, no problem with that...er, until they gobble up your ripe strawberries and tomatoes, ha!!

 

[cottagechick]

I was at the feed store today and noticed horse feed 36% protein for 8 bucks. Is there any reason I couldn't add that to my mix of scratch/greens/sprouts/kitchen leftovers and grazing?

 

[Beautiful_Chickens]

This thread has really inspired me. (So much that I had to become a member so I could post!)

I'm a fan of amazon so I started looking on there for bulk organic grains and came across Quinoa which is a grain high in protein (16%) and the greens of the plant are supposed to be super nutritious and also high in protein. Has anyone tried or thought about growing Quinoa or it's cousin Amaranth for feed? I found an article the said hand harvested Quinoa can produce up to 5000 lbs of grain per acre! I'm thinking about giving it a shot but I'm not sure how it will do here in SE Arizona. We are currently moving to a small farm we bought last year and I'm getting tons of ideas on how to set up my coops and runs.

Here is the very interesting article I found: http://www.saltspringseeds.com/scoop/powerfood.htm.

I just found that same article a couple of days ago and intend to grow quinoa and amaranth. Since they're related to pigweed and lambsquarters, I think they are pretty widely adapted and I would think they would grow well for you there. I also plan to grow mangels (feed beets or sugar beets) for the chickens. And cabbage. I guess cabbage keeps really well over the winter, so I hope I can get it to grow and keep. The mangels I may be able to just throw bales of hay over in the winter, and lift a bale and pry out a mangel every couple of weeks for the chickens. they get huge, I guess.