how successful would I be to grow my own chicken feed?

[L*A*G*]

how successful would I be to grow my own chicken feed? I might give it a shot this spring.

 

[Katy]

Depends on how many chickens you have and how much acreage and machinery you've got to do it with.

 

[RIBill]

I would say you will almost certainly spend far more time and money to produce an inferior product which will start to spoil before you use it all. Negativity out of the way, I think it is a very reasonable goal to produce all their treats and/or supplemental feed/forage for them on a relatively small plot of land. You could easily grow things like sunflowers, corn, peas, etc. You just let them grow until they are fully mature and then dry them. The big thing is you have to make sure they are very dry or else they will grow mold. You should be able to keep whole grains/seeds for 6 months to a year without much trouble or spoilage if they are kept cool, dry and dark. It would also be possible to grow some non-grain crops if you have the proper conditions. Finally, you can plant some fruit/berry crops and give them all the ones that aren't fit for human consumption because of bugs. I can grow food for me and my family plus treats for my 6 chickens for about half the year in my small garden areas.

 

[L*A*G*]

Ive got plenty of space but not so much machinery. thanks for the help and tips

 

[Organics North]

How much space? What crops grow in your area?
Good chicken feed requires many different ingredients..

Regardless you have many options from alfalfa to sunflowers.

ON

 

[SeattleChickenHead]

pumpkins, sunflowers, corn, peas.....thats where Id start.

 

[abhaya]

I would not plan on feeding them entirely but you can do a lot to suoolement them and cut you food cut dramatically for the summer.