If feed stores closed and you can’t free range...

[MrsCaryk]

I do not want to start a panic, rather a conversation. No I haven’t heard rumors of feed shortages. Yes we all are aware of the virus situation in the United States and everywhere in the world.
Just for the sake of conversation If someone needs to decide to stop buying feed and could not free range what would be your go to way of feeding your flock?
Yes we all know free range is the ideal. This discussion is about a situation where that is not an option, neither is purchasing grains. Let’s just include the thought that this is not a farm with fields to grow tons of grain but perhaps a “backyard garden” could include a bit dedicated to chickens. Let’s discuss this in terms of various seasonal and environmental conditions. Let’s also include that you are not open to the idea that you should stop raising chickens because you can’t afford them. This isn’t about affordability. It’s just a discussion.
What would you feed your flock? What would you grow for them? What would you do in winter?
If this discussion becomes problematic I request moderators to remove it. Let’s just enjoy exchanging ideas.
I’ve had some thoughts. I have a small framed chicken garden in their run so they can eat greens through a wire barrier without destroying roots. Perhaps I could expand that idea with frames of various heights to allow more mature growth an possible fruiting. Maybe grow a protected amaranth plant to allow the grain to fall for the chickens to eat.
I have other thoughts to share but let’s start there.
Your turn.

I plan to speak to my neighbors and offer them eggs in exchange for their kitchen scraps.

 

[great08]

I remember back when I was in the Army in Iraq. I spent some time with the locals a ways North of Baghdad.

Anyways, They obviously do not have feed stores there in Iraq.

Yet... every kid kept boiled eggs in a cloth sack they shoved into their waistband every day to keep for lunch as we worked together.

I wish I had taken the time to go to their homes to see what was going on with their animals.

 

[igorsMistress]

I would like to point out that it's typically impossible to grow and process enough food to feed you and your chickens if you live in a city or town. At least not unless you're already capable of that BEFORE SHTF. Eventually you'll have to let them free range and expect losses from predators. If you live on a farm and don't coddle your flock it's not as difficult but you have to plan for losses. If it got that bad, how many people are truly capable of that?
I think this should be seen as a learning lesson. Everyone needs to have a few months worth of feed on hand for their animals and be just as prepared for themselves as well. If not, when this happens again then everyone will be in the same predicament. Don't say it won't happen again, remember SARS and MERS? Not that long ago.

 

[Shadrach]

I remember back when I was in the Army in Iraq. I spent some time with the locals a ways North of Baghdad.

Anyways, They obviously do not have feed stores there in Iraq.

Yet... every kid kept boiled eggs in a cloth sack they shoved into their waistband every day to keep for lunch as we worked together.

I wish I had taken the time to go to their homes to see what was going on with their animals.

The model is similar all over Asia and North Africa from what I've seen, albeit many years ago.
The important factor is the breed of chicken. The prolific egg producers favoured by many backyard keepers was not the type of chicken I saw.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I plan to speak to my neighbors and offer them eggs in exchange for their kitchen scraps.

This has really worked well for us. We have become close to these neighbors, their sons fish and not only do we get food scraps for the chickens, we get nice redfish filets sometimes as well. We also have a person who works with us who trades eggs for fresh pecans. It can become a nice little trading idea as well.

 

[centrarchid]

This global boat ride is going to last months. Feed supplies in my area (central Missouri, USA) are in my opinion likely to go uninterrupted. There are two problems that will still be arising. First is travel restrictions where common sense will get hopefully the majority of people to reduce the number of shopping runs to limit exposure or disease spread. I lot of people in my area are still in the Doubting Thomas stage which is going to cost everyone in the coming weeks. Secondly many of us are likely to experience an interruption or decrease in income. To compensate most will do like what my family is doing, become more frugal making meals of a size that involves less waste. Leftovers will be less likely to sit in fridge long enough to go bad.

Egg production I am targeting will be what is needed to provide a binder in food preparation, or as a treat.

I hatch chicks and will do so this year as well. The problem is that pushes my feed bill up to the highest it gets during the year further reducing my budget. Chicks for the table will be harvested earlier as a result. I will also be culling and eating hens that are under performing.

Crank up those gardens and compost bins. Set out light and pheromone traps if available and appropriate for insect community in your area . Seed what yard you have with a diversity of legumes and lets parts of the yard grow taller by not mowing as often. Even though insect productivity may not increase much, insects moving through will land and more likely stay in the deeper grass.

Black Soldier Fly cultures will likely be more appropriate than Meal Worm cultures for supplying an animal protein source for your birds, even though the former will be active only on a seasonal basis.

The concept of scratch grains needs to be revisited as a supplement reducing need for complete feeds rather than the high minded assertion that scratch grains should only be used as treats.

Many readers are likely to again discount concerns. You can be reminded of that lack of concern in the coming weeks to months.

 

[Shadrach]

I would like to point out that it's typically impossible to grow and process enough food to feed you and your chickens if you live in a city or town. At least not unless you're already capable of that BEFORE SHTF. Eventually you'll have to let them free range and expect losses from predators. If you live on a farm and don't coddle your flock it's not as difficult but you have to plan for losses. If it got that bad, how many people are truly capable of that?
I think this should be seen as a learning lesson. Everyone needs to have a few months worth of feed on hand for their animals and be just as prepared for themselves as well. If not, when this happens again then everyone will be in the same predicament. Don't say it won't happen again, remember SARS and MERS? Not that long ago.

What happens when that few months worth of feed runs out? The assumption seems to be always, that things will return to how they were.

 

[Mtnboomer]

This is how it seems to work in many other parts of the world.
If you can feed yourself, then you can feed your chickens. When the balance for this tips, you eat your chickens. It is a bit simplistic but one of the attractions of chickens as livestock is they are omnivorous, they will eat whatever you do.
This I understand was part of the reasoning behind keeping chickens as domestication developed. One could provide enough food (there were no feed stores or commercial feeds) to keep the chickens in the locality. They would roam free and forage. They were left to breed and the males were eaten.

More true for those who keep chickens as livestock, have the space to free range, and live in warmer climates. Im fortunate enough to fit the bill except the warm climate, but now that spring is here, we are in good shape.
For those who see their birds more as pets, its going to be hard for them to consider eating their feathered friends

 

[wlgaasch]

I am learning so much as a new chicken owner. Please keep those ideas coming. Thank you

 

[Ajensen2713]

I live in suburban Orlando. My 5 hens are illegal and I house them in two very larg hen houses in my back yard. Most of my neighbors know I have them. If it comes down to it, I would reach out to my neighbors and ask them to toss any food scraps into a 5 gallon bucket that I would hang on the fence. Any leftover meals or anything going bad, I would let me girls eat all the refuse in addition to grass cuttings, I Might even make a mobile pen so I could set them up in parts of the yard that they don't already have access to. I currently don't let them out of their pens because they dig holes and kill my annual flowers and its the time of year where I garden, but in the fall/winter (december- January) I let them free range in the backyard. I get 4/5 eggs a day most days while they are laying. I would also eat them too if it came down to it but I think they are more valuable as egg layers each of them producing at least their body weight in eggs a year so I would try to sustain that for as long as possible.