How to feed your chickens for FREE!

[Gypsy07]

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I am in Glasgow, Scotland and this has been my experience too. Most supermarkets lock their bins and their general backyard area. Smaller stores in the city centre like Tesco Metro and M&S Food who put their rubbish in a big commercial size wheelie bin out on the street, well, I've seen the staff bursting open packets and cartons and pouring yoghurt over loaves of bread specifically to discourage dumpster divers. Plus I actually work in a supermarket and they won't even let the staff take home damaged or out of date food. Their reason is, if we were allowed to, we would deliberately burst open packets and cartons and hide food at the back of shelves till it went out of date so we could get it for free. The amount of food that gets wasted is just disgusting. Everything that we throw away, at least 70% of it is perfect and another 25%+ would be fine with a rinse off. Less than 5% of it is genuinely rotten and inedible.

I'd LOVE to be a freegan but I've investigated it and it's just not possible here.

The best I have managed to arrange so far is a binbag of stale rolls a couple of times a week from the lovely guy who runs our local corner shop. I give him a couple of boxes of eggs every so often in return. We eat a couple of rolls toasted, with bacon and egg, then feed the rest to our cows, who really seem to like them as a treat.

 

[linmar]

Great news.

Actually, my stores, like whole foods and the Coop already send their trimmings to local organic farmers. South of Lebanon at Riverside Farms, their trimmings go right to their chix---I asked.

Another possible source is grain from breweries--but not so sure about this.

This spring I am planting a lot just for the chix--all sorts of greens, And corn, amareth, buckwheat and quinoia. I'm interested in eating some of these grains myself, but a lot will go to the chix.

We have an acre, in grass and trees, bad bushes. This land is better used planting buckwheat and soy. Of course, we really do not know what we are doing and would appreciate helpful feedback.

I think we should get a study group going to look into the interaction of individual scale organic gardening and chickens.

I saw a tip on a gardening DVD last nite. The gardner puts dried corn cobs in the hole before he puts in the tomato plant.

Well, we grow the corn, eat it. Give the cobs to the chix to pick over, then dry those cobs for next year's tomato planting.

Let's stop eating and feeding commercial food.

 

[annageckos]

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The problem is that people are so sue happy in this country. I suggest trying independent and small stores, you will have better luck. The bigger places, normally won't take the risk. Even if you sign a waiver.

Good luck to everyone.

 

[vtgirls]

Here the trouble is that every farmer has pretty much covered the area, so there arent very many places left to approach as all of them already have so and so picking up twice weekly. I think Leb NH you have the right idea - I would be very interested in knowing what people in a similiar geographic location to our own are up to. I have expiremented with sprouts this winter and found them popular as well. Any other growing ideas aside from the grains already mentioned?

 

[Organics North]

IMO it is an organic mindset.. Try small organic stores..

Sad the stuff goes in the trash because of the lawyers..

ON

 

[jockey1975]

I have been doing this ever since I started getting chickens. They eat lettuce, cabbage, collards and I even get the out of date bagged spinach (they LOVE that). I usually go to the local Piggly Wiggly two or three times a week. Matter of fact going in just a few minutes.

 

[jockey1975]

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Nope. Mine still have free choice laying mash plus the veggies. I have 15 leghorns and avg 13-14 eggs a day from them. Plus my home raised hybrids--have 7 avg 6 eggs a day from them.

 

[wolftracks]

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My daughter is manager of a big chain grocery store in the Central Valley and it's against policy. I couldn't even pull the "not even for your mother?' line. I got "sorry mom, I hate that we can't do it but it's corperate policy." No produce for my birds in less I buy it (which I do) or grow it (which I'm working on), but I'm going to try some of the fruit stands and see how that goes.

 

[feathersnuggles]

It's changing. As late as spring 2010, I could was able to get our various supermarket produce departments to give me their trimmings and non-saleable produce for my chickens. I could do the same thing with our small organic stores and organic cooperatives. Then sometime around last summer, this all changed. They refused. Now I get the standard response, "Its against store policy." Even a signed waiver doesn't matter to them. Their dumpsters are locked now, too, where a few years ago, freegans used to dive for food in those same dumpsters.

Some small organic grocery stores are giving their salvage produce to food banks or soup kitchens now... so that's good. And any of their really spoiled uneatable produce is collected for compost. But, not all stores are making sure to keep their produce out of the landfill.

Anyway, I am resorting to certain neighbors and friends with gardens who are happy to donate their insect-damaged veggies and fruit to my chickens. And sometimes at the farmers market, I can pick up bruised and damaged produce for a big discount.

 

[sawmane1]

I used to do that with my school they gave me tons of left overs that had no reason to be thrown out