How to become self-sufficient (kinda) with chickens.

[rebecca100]

I tried to get my dh to build a straw bale house........ He finally agreed to maybe a shed, but then we found out how much bales of straw go for around here and deceided we just couldn't afford the nearly $5 a bale they were asking. He liked the bags filled with rice hulls idea, though.

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

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Be very careful on this one. Botulism is very deadly. I suppose, if you are doing something that could be sealed with a wax plug, like jam, you'd be ok, but I'd check with the local extension office.

 

[Beekissed]

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I've heard it's still cheaper to buy the hay than it is to buy all the lumber and insulation that the bales displace. Cover those bales with cob and the savings would go up even further. Then the energy savings from this kind of structure would keep paying off.

 

[The Zoo]

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Be very careful on this one. Botulism is very deadly. I suppose, if you are doing something that could be sealed with a wax plug, like jam, you'd be ok, but I'd check with the local extension office.

I'd never reuse lids - I'm too afraid of getting sick from canning!

 

[country lady]

So that no one misunderstands my comment about reusing canning lids, I certainly wasn't advocating reusing. I was simply stating a fact that because of the shortage of lids, my aunt was evidently desperate to can. I would never reuse myself. I am meticulous when preparing food. Sorry if anyone misunderstood my comment.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

We just canned dill pickles last night. Mine will not last til next year. Mmmm.....

A moment back to the OP. Q: How to be self-sufficient with your chickens? A: Feed them something they don't like, and not realize it. They find their own ways to eat...unless you pen them up 24/7.

so here's what happened....
I switched my girls from crumbles to pellets a few months back. It did seem much more efficient. The pellets were lasting much, much longer. I did notice a drop in egg production, but figured it was because they were about a year old. Free-ranging worked well, except for their bad habit of jumping the fence. I want to be a good neighbor, so I had been working on a pen for them. I could watch them free-range for a couple hours each day without them becoming a nuisance.

Then, I went on vacation. Their egg production dropped even more. I was starting to wonder if something else was wrong. They were particularly wild about their treats, and had started getting more adamant about the pecking order. They used to be a very placid flock. I kept checking the feeder, waiting for it to empty before I opened the new bag of pellets. It never seemed to get much lower.

Doh! I feel so dumb.

They weren't eating the pellets, except when under duress. I was starving my birds. When I took away their free-ranging, they stopped laying. They had been shunning the commercial pellets, and eating my veggie treats, bugs, weeds, and my neighbor's hill of wild oats.

I don't think it would be that hard to feed them adequately without commercial feed if I could let them free-range most of the day. However, in my suburban backyard I have to pen them most of the time. Their feeder now has crumbles again, but I will be trying to find ways to replicate what they had been getting on their own. They're pretty smart after all.

 

[mylilchix]

Mine are the same way!

They hate pellets. Goofy birds. I'd love to let my birds free range, but the fox prevents me from doing that. I just give them all of the yummy fruit and veggie scraps from the house.

Sonja

 

[boxermom]

My birds free range at least half of the day. Most days, they get the entire day. However, their feed consumption has gone through the roof! I have found during the hot part of the day, they go back to the barn and pork out. Silly birds.

 

[Whispering Winds]

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Be very careful on this one. Botulism is very deadly. I suppose, if you are doing something that could be sealed with a wax plug, like jam, you'd be ok, but I'd check with the local extension office.

I was digging through a free box at the thrift store the other day, and found TWO perfect mason jars . . . I even took them up to the check out and asked to make sure they were FREE. Check around there. Menards, (a home improvement store) had cases of them for $3.97 a few weeks ago, and you could buy up to 12 cases, so watch for specials like that!! Put an ad on freecycle and see what comes up . . .I almost gave all mine away, and soooooooooooo glad I didn't. . .

 

[dragonlaurel]

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They probably want people to grow more GMO stuff so they can see what the differences are. Then they will say they are equal so their chemical company friends don't lose money.