How to feed your chickens for FREE!

[b.hromada]

Quote:

 

[Arielle]

Chickens are so versitile :/in what they will eat! Pigs, too. Both have a long history of supplying people with food. I remember at a farm where the kids showed my husband and I how much their hens loved worms. THe lucky girl raced about with her prize, chased by all others, until she got a brief moment to gulp it down. It seems that we can often find cheap (almost wrote "cheep"!!LOL) food to supplement but protein can become an issue. I'm going to try to raise red wrigglers on the garbage that would be headed to the compost. (I already sort: feeding to dogs, cats and remaining off to compost.) We also have a manure pile; a friend said her chickens would spend all day digging up goodies. We grow so many worms already that we have an abundant population of garter snakes. I hope they won't mind if I grab a few for the chickens!

P.S. Red wrigglers are the composting earthworms.

 

[Knittycat]

That's a great idea. I've checked with the lumber yards for twisted, split or knotty wood for my coop, so checking with the grocery store for fruits and veg couldn't hurt!

 

[MsRiderUp]

I have a lead on this that I'm waiting to 'cash in' on: I saw an ad a few weeks ago on Craig's List. Someone had 'spent grain' from a home brewery operation, and was trying to give it away. I did a bit of research and it appears that fermented grain is ok for the chickens. The person has my contact info for the next time they home brew, so have yet to see this through. I believe that we'd have to put portions in the freezer ---- not feed it all at once. Also can add it to our compost pile. Does anyone else have experience or info on this? Am trying to call a few brewery places in the Atlanta metro area --- see if they might donate.

 

[roglovsky]

All my friends and family gives me old bread. While I was working in factory they gave me all left overs

But now I accidentally learnt how to produce free chicken feed in my chicken run. Check my instructional video and make your chicken run green.

Hope you make your chicken heaven

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I work at a company that has a cafeteria in the building (think there's maybe 900 employees in the building).

They just started composting a few weeks ago, which is great, but the woman who preps fruit and veggies for the salad bar will happily fill a 5-gallon bucket with scraps for my girls if I bring one in. I've just started, but so far the girls have loved the two bucket fulls of treats I've brought them.

The woman is very nice and will even try to give them the stuff they like (and asked what they can't have). I brought her a dozen eggs on Friday as a thank you, and figure I'll keep doing that on a regular basis to make sure that the flow of treats continues.

I get a few funny looks from my buttoned-down co-workers when I'm carrying a bucket out to the parking garage, but what chicken owner wouldn't look silly for their flock once in a while?!

Once we get further into the growing season, my girls will get lots of fresh veggies from my parent's garden...over ripe corn, summer squash, and eventually butternut squash and pumpkins. I've already been to my folks house several times in the last two weeks to pick them piles of "weeds" (rye, clover, etc.) to snack on since they've got their run totally picked clean of greenery.

Plus, with a three year old in the house, we end up with plenty of wood scraps after almost every meal, so the girls do well for themselves.

They always have access to layer feed, but it's nice to feed them for free whenever possible!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

A picture of today's "treat bucket":



And the girls enjoying it:

 

[MagicPidge]

A picture of today's "treat bucket":



And the girls enjoying it:

Dangit... now I want some watermelon too

 

[roglovsky]

Yeah I totally understand you!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I work at a company that has a cafeteria in the building (think there's maybe 900 employees in the building).

They just started composting a few weeks ago, which is great, but the woman who preps fruit and veggies for the salad bar will happily fill a 5-gallon bucket with scraps for my girls if I bring one in. I've just started, but so far the girls have loved the two bucket fulls of treats I've brought them.

The woman is very nice and will even try to give them the stuff they like (and asked what they can't have). I brought her a dozen eggs on Friday as a thank you, and figure I'll keep doing that on a regular basis to make sure that the flow of treats continues.

I get a few funny looks from my buttoned-down co-workers when I'm carrying a bucket out to the parking garage, but what chicken owner wouldn't look silly for their flock once in a while?!

Once we get further into the growing season, my girls will get lots of fresh veggies from my parent's garden...over ripe corn, summer squash, and eventually butternut squash and pumpkins. I've already been to my folks house several times in the last two weeks to pick them piles of "weeds" (rye, clover, etc.) to snack on since they've got their run totally picked clean of greenery.

Plus, with a three year old in the house, we end up with plenty of wood scraps after almost every meal, so the girls do well for themselves.

They always have access to layer feed, but it's nice to feed them for free whenever possible!

I also get cafeteria scraps for my girls. Been doing it for almost a year now, when the girls see me with the bucket they come running. I probably fill a 5gal pail twice a week for them. The most surprising thing that they eat is the fennel fronds, I figured that would just end up in my compost pile but they strip all the fronds off the fennel stalks.