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

[gypsy767]

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.

BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) is what you want to grow/feed your chicks...the other giants and ornamentals are not nearly as rich in protein as the boss.

 

[SunnySkies]

[COLOR=000080]BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) is what you want to grow/feed your chicks...the other giants and ornamentals are not nearly as rich in protein as the boss.[/COLOR]

yes. You can also find feed varieties from the heirloom seed companies. The birds are crazy for them. I had to cover some with netting to keep wild birds off of them.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Missa; To be fair to you, in the WILD most wolves will kill dogs. It's very rare for a dog/wolf or wolf/coyote hybrid to exist in the wild. Wolves are quite dedicated to their own kind. But it HAS happened when other wolves were hard to find or there was just tons of dogs around. And until recently it was thought that wild wolves NEVER bred with anything but. We now know that's not quite the case.

Many people in domestic situatiosn breed dogs with wolves or coyotes on purpose, though. And their offspring is completely fertile. There's not much of a genetic difference between most canines.

Everything I've read on guinea pigs has said they're one of the best no-supplement meat sources. Even rabbits can't get by with modern production levels on just grass but guinea pigs can!

If you do supplement, you supplement with water and a little ACV. Not too hard to make happen!

Choc-Mouse!! I thought you were joking about the guinea pigs! Well...I'll be. It'd be hard getting around the kids who love pets.
BTW I saw a great documentary about domesticating wolves versus foxes. Hands down the foxes won and over generations became like dogs in their behaviours. Not so pure wolves. Just a point of interest. Thanks for all the good info you provide to the this thread.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Nope! There's a lot of info on eating guinea pigs out there and in places like South America where they're native everyone keeps a pen of guinea pigs in their kitchens. Because they produce large litters off of nothing but pasture and weeds they're sustainable. Because their offspring are born after 70 days they are born ready to run and they can escape most predators faster. Because guinea pigs like making a home nest and staying there you don't have to worry about them running away from home when free-ranging or penning them in.

You dip them in boiling water and scrape with a butter knife to remove the hairs just like chicken feathers, and then you cook 'em. It's called "cuy".

So you set up a large penned in back yard where your chickens are anyhow, and you dig a bit of a hole and you put some guinea pigs there with a tight pen until they're established. Then you wait a few months and just start eating whatever looks smallest and let them multiply throughout your pen, setting up even more burrows. Always eat the smallest ones first so the bigger ones will breed. In south America many breeds of guinea pigs are something like 10lbs!

Mind you I've never had guinea pig yet. I've heard they taste like a meatier rabbit, like how turkey is to chicken guinea pig is to rabbit. But I'm working on it!

I will be keeping guinea pigs as part of my sustainability plan!

 

[Missa Chickabee]

TripleWillow...please keep us posted when your results eventually come in. ( I have long-since stopped being a 'chicken-racist'

(please don't stomp on my neck, anybody...it's red enough))
I'm enjoying the cross-breds and the incredibly fun or beautiful outcomes appearance-wise and certainly lots of flightiness there...but I'm waiting to see how the eggs turn out.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Nope! There's a lot of info on eating guinea pigs out there and in places like South America where they're native everyone keeps a pen of guinea pigs in their kitchens. Because they produce large litters off of nothing but pasture and weeds they're sustainable. Because their offspring are born after 70 days they are born ready to run and they can escape most predators faster. Because guinea pigs like making a home nest and staying there you don't have to worry about them running away from home when free-ranging or penning them in.

You dip them in boiling water and scrape with a butter knife to remove the hairs just like chicken feathers, and then you cook 'em. It's called "cuy".

So you set up a large penned in back yard where your chickens are anyhow, and you dig a bit of a hole and you put some guinea pigs there with a tight pen until they're established. Then you wait a few months and just start eating whatever looks smallest and let them multiply throughout your pen, setting up even more burrows. Always eat the smallest ones first so the bigger ones will breed. In south America many breeds of guinea pigs are something like 10lbs!

Mind you I've never had guinea pig yet. I've heard they taste like a meatier rabbit, like how turkey is to chicken guinea pig is to rabbit. But I'm working on it!

I will be keeping guinea pigs as part of my sustainability plan!

Please let us know how they are, Choc Mouse when the time comes.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned milk. Those with milking animals would have a good source of protein. Of course, you still have to feed the milking animals.

YUP. We're getting ready for a couple of doeling Nubian goats in the early summer. Milk's must! yogurt, cheese. More to goats than meets the eye, they say.

It's been said, though, that goats eat anything and I think that's not far from truth but they can also have some serious digestive issues so it looks like our work will be cut out for us.

Fortunately we have a hay field and farmers near by who would barter if I had something to trade for grain......however....grass is way better for milk, I understand, as well as meat. And grain us usually for the monkey-mouthed goats who can't tear off the grass because of a poor bite.

Gosh, there are threadlets all over this thread. It's fun and instructive to hear from folks that have been really thinking about possible things to come.

But I'm thinking you meant giving chickens any kind of milk, sour or not? Mine love it!

 

[Triple Willow]

TripleWillow...please keep us posted when your results eventually come in. ( I have long-since stopped being a 'chicken-racist' (please don't stomp on my neck, anybody...it's red enough))
I'm enjoying the cross-breds and the incredibly fun or beautiful outcomes appearance-wise and certainly lots of flightiness there...but I'm waiting to see how the eggs turn out. 

LOL I will let you know. I suppose it will be next year before I will have any up and laying. I have Black Australorp and Columbian Rock pullets that are laying but the Anconas and Leghorns are only about 12 weeks old. I'm expecting them to be laying by October - hopefully. If I would get ambitious I could hatch some out and hopefully have them laying by spring. Purebreds definitely have their place and thank goodness some people are dedicated to keeping the purebreds going but I also believe that there is a place for crossbreeds too. Shoot, that's where a lot of the breeds come from, crossing different breeds. I haven't done any "chicken breeding" lol but years ago I did do some university research projects using cross bred cattle. A whole lot of times when you cross two really good breeds you end up with an offspring that is better than either parent (hybrid vigor). I'll be glad when these birds are all grown and doing their job - laying eggs! Baby chicks are cute for about two or three days to me then I've had my fill of the cuteness and want them grown! LOL

 

[houseofknauss]

this is such a great discussion!

 

[RedneckGurl]

Glad you found us houseofknauss...I liked your story about your chickens and how they respond now to the sound of a window opening...like cats and the can opener. All it takes for mine to run like mad to the fence is to see me walking in their direction. They KNOW I can't walk out to the garden, which borders the coop/run area, and not throw the something - whether it's a few cherry tomatoes or a watermelon that's started to rot. I just love treating them. It's so entertaining.