HOW TO FEED YOUR CHICKENS if there is no scratch or pellets?

[2geesegal]

With the current events and talk of no fertilizer. The fear of losing animal feed is real. So I've been researching going through all of my homesteading books trying to find ways to feed my chickens and keep them healthy and producing with no layer pellets and no grains. I have found a few amazing videos as well, on composting with chickens which I've been doing since I've got my chickens. (Last spring) That was one reason I was really thrilled to have my own so I didn't have to go to my friend's house and beg poop from them.

What I'm finding is that composting and letting your chickens pick through compost, they eat the bugs they turn the compost and they leave their own little nuggets of nutrients behind. Is an excellent way to grow my crops.
Also there are crops you can grow just to feed your chickens which I was doing last year to supplement but now know, that there are ways to feed and I don't have to grow an entire crop of corn for the girls, which I have been failing miserably at, just trying to grow for our own table.
Hoping that my chicken poop would help me yield a better crop of corn for our family plus all my other veggies. But I do not have to grow another crop just for my chickens?
Which I just do not have the room.

So I thought I would start sharing some of the things that I am learning on how to feed your girls and boys, if there is no rural King to supply you with your chicken feed.
Anyone else interested in this? Anyone else have their own advice to give an ideas to share? I'd be happy to hear.
Just for fun, this is fluffy. Who's not so fluffy at the moment. She's molting. Lol

My donkey and goat poop piles seem to be too far from the coop to entice the girls. Lazy or just "chicken"?

 

[springvalley123]

My donkey and goat poop piles seem to be too far from the coop to entice the girls. Lazy or just "chicken"?

Would your chickens have to walk across an open area to get to the compost buffet? Scared of the hoofed animals??

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm puzzled concerning the unsuccessful problem with growing alfalfa . With all of the cattle in FL surely someone has been growing alfalfa . Maybe a soil sample to the state agricultural would be beneficial . You can check the amounts of different soil classification percentages using a quart jar and water . Take 3 or 4 samples in different locations and using these fill the jar about 60 % soil then add water to nearly full . Shake the jar vigorously for a minute then allow to set until the next day . The different soil classes will separate by density .

Your error is a tiny one in assuming that all of Florida is a sandbar. Probably 98% of it is a sandbar suited to alfalfa, though some of it is underwater. I made the same assumption myself. However oh, my property is spitting distance from Alabama, about 150 feet in elevation higher than most of the state. My soils have a large percentage of what I would previously call Georgia red clay. I do all right with some clovers and of course the Subterranean clover. It's quite possible that with a lot of effort I could do Alfalfa here as well, but without that effort it does very poorly in my soil. If I drove 40 miles south it would be a whole different story.

 

[Weeg]

I'm no expert, but feeding soy has been detrimental to the reproductive health of mammals for decades. IMO, we'd be better off replacing farmland with more corn and soil recovery crops.

I buy a soy free feed currently. I've always been concered about spraying, though I haven't done much other research on it. That is interesting. I'll look into other things to grow then to replace the soy. Seems alfalfa was mentioned earlier.
Just out of curiosity, do you have any reading on this? I love to do research.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I buy a soy free feed currently. I've always been concered about spraying, though I haven't done much other research on it. That is interesting. I'll look into other things to grow then to replace the soy. Seems alfalfa was mentioned earlier.
Just out of curiosity, do you have any reading on this? I love to do research.

I'm using speech to text so I apologize if this is unintelligible. For cell phone connection right now. The health concern with soy relates to the presence of phytoestrogens. To the best of my knowledge, all legumes contain phytoestrogens. Alfalfa certainly does. Which phytoestrogens are present and in what concentrations, relates to the age of the plant, whether or not it's flowering, to some small extent on the location and climate where it's grown, and also how it's processed.

And while it is true that in laboratory conditions it has been demonstrated that some estrogen needing human breast cancer cells can do just fine on the presence of phytoestrogens as a substitute, the research is much less clear on the health effects of soy generally oh, and the phytoestrogens within it specifically. If you are my age, you probably remember back when the health benefits of a high school boy diet were widely held by reference to the various cultures which make use of soy as a substantial portion of their dietary protein intake. I can easily find literature from respected sources both supporting and refuting claims that high diets cause any number of Health maladies. I just don't know. But I have looked into it.

 

[cddiven]

With the current events and talk of no fertilizer. The fear of losing animal feed is real. So I've been researching going through all of my homesteading books trying to find ways to feed my chickens and keep them healthy and producing with no layer pellets and no grains. I have found a few amazing videos as well, on composting with chickens which I've been doing since I've got my chickens. (Last spring) That was one reason I was really thrilled to have my own so I didn't have to go to my friend's house and beg poop from them.

What I'm finding is that composting and letting your chickens pick through compost, they eat the bugs they turn the compost and they leave their own little nuggets of nutrients behind. Is an excellent way to grow my crops.
Also there are crops you can grow just to feed your chickens which I was doing last year to supplement but now know, that there are ways to feed and I don't have to grow an entire crop of corn for the girls, which I have been failing miserably at, just trying to grow for our own table.
Hoping that my chicken poop would help me yield a better crop of corn for our family plus all my other veggies. But I do not have to grow another crop just for my chickens?
Which I just do not have the room.

So I thought I would start sharing some of the things that I am learning on how to feed your girls and boys, if there is no rural King to supply you with your chicken feed.
Anyone else interested in this? Anyone else have their own advice to give an ideas to share? I'd be happy to hear.
Just for fun, this is fluffy. Who's not so fluffy at the moment. She's molting. Lol

I am very interested in this topic as well. Growing my own feed. Have land but Short growing season.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I am very interested in this topic as well. Growing my own feed. Have land but Short growing season.

Then in addition to the equipment you need to work the land oh, you also need a rodent proof place you can store your crops for months at a time, and a way to dehydrate them so that they are less prone to mold mildew and bacterial colonization.

 

[saracarver3]

Since we do not have room for a large garden, we always have sprouts growing for the girls. They are easy and fast to grow and my chickens love them. It does help stretch the feed.

Where do you buy your sprouting seeds in bulk?

 

[preciouschick]

With the current events and talk of no fertilizer. The fear of losing animal feed is real. So I've been researching going through all of my homesteading books trying to find ways to feed my chickens and keep them healthy and producing with no layer pellets and no grains. I have found a few amazing videos as well, on composting with chickens which I've been doing since I've got my chickens. (Last spring) That was one reason I was really thrilled to have my own so I didn't have to go to my friend's house and beg poop from them.

What I'm finding is that composting and letting your chickens pick through compost, they eat the bugs they turn the compost and they leave their own little nuggets of nutrients behind. Is an excellent way to grow my crops.
Also there are crops you can grow just to feed your chickens which I was doing last year to supplement but now know, that there are ways to feed and I don't have to grow an entire crop of corn for the girls, which I have been failing miserably at, just trying to grow for our own table.
Hoping that my chicken poop would help me yield a better crop of corn for our family plus all my other veggies. But I do not have to grow another crop just for my chickens?
Which I just do not have the room.

So I thought I would start sharing some of the things that I am learning on how to feed your girls and boys, if there is no rural King to supply you with your chicken feed.
Anyone else interested in this? Anyone else have their own advice to give an ideas to share? I'd be happy to hear.
Just for fun, this is fluffy. Who's not so fluffy at the moment. She's molting. Lol

I am interested in this topic also and will definitely follow. My husband went to tractor supply and they had no pine shavings. I may need to rethink that as well. We did find some at another TS store. but what happens when there is none. I do grow things for my chickens. I grow sunflowers, but need to plant a lot more. Also kale, pumpkins, squash and herbs. I utilize my greenhouse in winter. I like the composting idea as well. My chickens dont free range but they might have to in the near future. Can someone give a more indepth, on how and more what to put in your compost.
thank you

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I am interested in this topic also and will definitely follow. My husband went to tractor supply and they had no pine shavings. I may need to rethink that as well. We did find some at another TS store. but what happens when there is none. I do grow things for my chickens. I grow sunflowers, but need to plant a lot more. Also kale, pumpkins, squash and herbs. I utilize my greenhouse in winter. I like the composting idea as well. My chickens dont free range but they might have to in the near future. Can someone give a more indepth, on how and more what to put in your compost.
thank you

What's your property like, since you mention a lack of pine shavings, and an interest in composting???

I happen to have acres, so I gather leaves from the fallen trees for a "deep litter" system in my coops. That's nothing but chicken droppings on deep litter (inches deep oak leaves, mostly, with some others mixed in, and even small twigs). Pile in another 4-6" about 4x yearly. Once a year, shovel out a rich mix for my raised beds. Without the sticks, fallen leaves are fine for bedding material in the nesting boxes, too - as is straw or even pine needles (assuming your boxes stay dry - poth straw and pine needles can mat down, and matted anything plus moisture is a problem.

Note that deep litter is a SLOW compost system. I put about 20" in, I get about 2-3" out, after 12 months. It is nothing but brown (the fallen leaves) and "green" - the very high nitrogen chicken droppings.

Conventional composting is a mix of brown and green, 50/50, with the "green" provided usually by fresh grass clippings and kitchen scraps. Its a hot process, and a fast process, made faster by aeration and/or turning. Assuming the composting doesn't get "stuck" (usually due to being trapped under a matted layer of pine needles, or a high water level from rains), composting usually completes in 3-4 months. Tumbler systems can do it even faster, though with very small quantities at a time.