HYPOTHETICAL DISCUSSION: What to feed your chickens when we can't buy chicken feed anymore

[TexasLisa]

everyone has spoiled chickens, this was the 1st year I was able to get them to eat table scraps--we kind of made it a game from the breakfast room window. we started out with bread--they jumped up and grabbed it and ran off. now we are up to scraps of watermelon, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peaches, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, grapes(holy crap you should see the rooster pop a whole grape down, hilarious) corn on the cob empties, basically any fruit or vegie I use to throw the scraps in the garbage go out the window now. we have crap loads of apple trees here, so the apples are falling now and they are eating them very well. my feed bill is down by over half right now but winter is coming.... my daughter fed one of the chickens cooked chicken(it loved it)--ethically I was in a quandary(but they do eat egg)- but they have ate cooked beef and pork, macaroni and cheese, left over rice that the dog didn't get--pieces of left over lunch sandwiches, stale potato chips, corn chips, peanut butter crackers, (stale cereal they were not fond of- but pecked at it)
I have been trying a variety of things-- I just don't feed spoiled--
just get a spot that they know its treat time and start experimenting--when they hear the window crank open at my house, its like watching mini raptors run from every direction to see who gets there first for the treats.
fyi--yes, I free range, yes, I have predators, but since I keep everyone locked up at night now like fort drum, I only had 3 issues this year so far(knock on wood) in the country on 13 acres--I have lost over the years-ducks to fox, owls, bobcats, snapping turtles, minx, raccoon, and have lost chickens to fox, coyote and red tail hawks and bald eagles--it took a while but I learned by trial and error what seemed to work well--my rooster sweet as he is will face down a coyote and fox(some day he will be someone's dinner because he is so brave)
well, there it is.---thanks redneckgurl for pointing out this discussion! we all have to prepare and at least have ideas on what we are going to do when tshtf!!

I am finding out the same thing. I have owned chickens for only two years and have just recently tried them on all kinds of table scraps. My goodness, they are little pigs! I free range mine also. Unfortunately they are in the pen for the day. A huge hawk has been flying around the past couple of days.

Lisa

 

[houseofknauss]

I am finding out the same thing. I have owned chickens for only two years and have just recently tried them on all kinds of table scraps. My goodness, they are little pigs! I free range mine also. Unfortunately they are in the pen for the day. A huge hawk has been flying around the past couple of days.

Lisa

ya, fortunately here, we have lots of shrubs the chickens can hide in from flying predators!

 

[gypsy767]

I am certainly glad to see your question brought to the attention of the folks on this board.

We have been preparing for a long time for the calamity that is SURELY ahead of us...maybe sooner than we might want to think. And yes, we are some of those "dreaded preppers" ha!

We have 16 BO's, a nice sized coop with roosting boards and a 32' X 40' fenced run that is 6 ft 2" tall covered with inexpensive deer/bird netting...we can walk around in the run with ease.

We built an 8 X 8 compost area inside the run and we put ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING we do not eat into that compost area...ALL table and garden scraps, a wheel barrow or two of fresh grass clippings are added about every two weeks.



After 5-7 days NOTHING that goes into the compost area is recognizable...just a very good compost is left that has been enriched with their poop which aids in the breakdown of everything. Of course they don't eat everything that goes in...some things they just simply do not care for. However they do turn it over & over in their pursuit of all the good things they DO like to eat. By adding everything we have available every day to the compost it provides the perfect environment for all the bugs, grubs, worms and micro-organisms they they do LOVE and is so very healthy for them.

Every few weeks we take out some of the compost, pile it up with some of the shavings/litter from their coop, cover it with a tarp and wait until we can put it in the garden...Very rich and invaluable compost accumulates very quickly this way.

Our chicks are 18 weeks old, healthy as can be and we just got our 1st egg monday. We have bought very little feed from the feed store. It is and has been available to them 24-7 but they mostly ignore it preferring grass, bugs and what they scratch up in the compost area. I scatter about 3/4 of a quart of scratch (boss & a little cracked corn during the hot weather, more corn when colder) over the compost area morning and evening. Since they are beginning to lay I have stopped the morning scratch so they have to eat the laying pellets and they have started eating more of it...however I think they would do just fine without it and would get all the nutrition they need for egg production without the pellets. I have oyster and egg shells available all the time also.

Our house was built in what used to be a pasture and there is a good bit of clover and alfalfa in the yard so the grass clippings are enriched with that.

We have a separate pan for meat scraps and they get them all...they fight over every bite...! Also, at times I will turn the compost over with a shovel and scatter a bunch of boss and bury it. When they are scratching a few days/week later they run into the sprouted boss and again...the fight is on...!!!!

As an experiment we planted some of the boss right out of the bag to see if they would grow and as you can see they did fine, so we will plant a lot more for next year. I am told that when the seeds in the flower are dry you can store them in covered tubs barrels, garbage cans etc, and just toss in the whole sunflower head during the winter for a very tasty and high source of protein.



Again, thanks for broaching this subject...seems to have a lot of people thinking about it. I feel Certain that the best times ahead of us are going to be MUCH more difficult for all of us than they have been in the past...

 

[TexasLisa]

I hadn't even thought of throwing the BOSS out to sprout. When I lived in Indiana, the bird seed sprouted under the bird feeders and they loved it. Thanks for 'jiggling' my ole brain!

Lisa

 

[ChocolateMouse]

BOSS are easy to grow and make a great snack for chickens. Even better than tossing in the whole head is to scrape some of the seeds off and sprout them! It really adds to the nutrient value, even though all you "add" is water!

I'm growing sunflowers next year!

 

[gypsy767]

I hadn't even thought of throwing the BOSS out to sprout. When I lived in Indiana, the bird seed sprouted under the bird feeders and they loved it. Thanks for 'jiggling' my ole brain!

Lisa

Morning Lisa...my chooks love the sprouted boss...but I have to bury them under several inches of compost or they will find them b4 they sprout...

 

[Katt66]

This is a very interesting topic of discussion that we've brought up and considered many times over the past few years.

What we can do now to stockpile while supplies are available and what we can do to prepare for the inevitable day when we can't just go to the store. I love the sunflower idea. I've considered corn because it grows like crazy with minimal care. And when we had chickens when I was a teen they loved when we'd take the cobs and run them through the little hand grinder that took the kernals off cob. We also fed ours all the table scraps, peelings, etc from meal preparations and anything we cleaned out of the fridge that wasn't overly spoiled but just "old" Their cue was the creak of the back screen door opening and I'd stand on the porch and yell "Here Chick Chick Chick!" And they'd all come running. Hilarious watching them fight over spaghetti noodles. XD

Sunflowers are another no brainer though that I'd never even thought of.

 

[pinkwindsong]

heck yeah... they will have to be protected like gold. a pair of chickens could easliy become the difference between life and death.

 

[SunnySkies]

Sunflowers are sure easy. I surrounded my entire garden with them this year, and when they are ready, I'm cutting the heads off and drying them, so I can put a head out in the dead of winter and let the birds snack on something relatively fresh. All I did was plant them per the packet -- I did several varieties -- and add support as needed for the tallest ones (like 12 feet tall). I did not water, but we had plenty of rain this summer.

As far as free range...LGDs I'll make sure mine get food so they can keep the chickens safe.

I dare say I would also select for birds capable of looking after themselves. My Silkies and birds that won't free range would be the first to be eaten, except for maybe a couple broody hens. The Swedish Flower Hens, a breed created via natural selection, would likely be the ones that I keep.

Don't forget to store some heirloom seeds you could grow. Modern hybrids won't allow seeds to form or they don't grow well, so you can't save seed year to year.

 

[pinkwindsong]

lots and lots of bugs I have found that chickens are much like cats.. ya just cant starve them.. as long as they are able to hunt for themselves of course... they will eat bugs grasses seeds .. but I do believe if that day came when we ere all in a fix and had to keep our families and our stock safe and fed. I would have to keep them in close proxcimity day and night from both animal and human preditors. they and the goats would be such hot comidities