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

[rachelisneat]

We’ve tried some wire frame grasses, but our frames were too small to prevent the girls from digging the roots. Would try that again, or even sprout on the porch away from the chickens; and we also compost in the chicken yard. It uses a lot of hay though, and we still get that commercially.
Both our chickens and our dogs have been on my mind as the supply chain goes wonky; but even though we are in the city, we’re close enough to farm stores, and the farms themselves, so that I am not worried about our small flock of hens. Rather, I’m depending on them and feeling blessed to have them and the eggs our chickens provide in these trying times!

 

[amyduck]

I'm in a quarantine zone and while all my local feed stores are closed to the public. All will take your order over the phone, you drive up and they load it into your car. I know that doesn't really answer your question. I live in the city so there's no way my hens would get enough to eat in my tiny garden. They are also older hens and really need their calcium and balanced nutrition to lay eggs.

I don't know where you are in the Bay Areas, but Mike's Feed & Pets in San Leandro was open after the shelter in place order had started, they said they were considered essential. They had 800 people through the day before the order went into effect.

 

[eulogos]

I would have to downsize. My 75 or so chickens have a large area but not enough to feed them. Despite tall fences, if not fed enough they find ways to free range the entire neighborhood which makes some neighbors unhappy. Also they get into my vegetable garden and eat what I want to eat. I am hoping that no one believes feed stores are inessential! Heading there tomorrow early.

 

[EggWalrus]

There are 4 imaginary hens of standard size. The entire imaginary roof is 150x150. The imaginary coop and run take up one third of the roof.
Why panic? It’s all imaginary. Just have fun.

It's time to quit worrying about roofs and pick breeds that sleep in trees.
If you have certain breeds, they will take care of themselves. Winter or summer, they sleep in dense trees so owls can't get them easily. They will forage for 90%of what they eat. And even when they are getting skinny, they can hatch off a brood and still be alive to raise the babies up to do the same.
We're in for some really tough times ahead, worse than our parent's and grandparent's Great Depression.
This time it's not gonna last just 16 years like from '29 till V-DAY.

Our World Has Changed.
If you were of age, pre-9/11, you'll be able to follow me.
We lost lots of our freedoms, some of our rights and we're conditioned to accept all that as the "New Normal". TSA groping, internet censorship, gov acceptance of rape and perversion in the name of "diversity". Gov rejection of national pride. Even to the point of ostracizing Patriots and those who don't fall down and worship The New Order.
For years "They" have tried to institute a "Cashless Society". The Commie Socialist have also wanted a "Universal Basic Income". I don't agree with the concept of UBI, but with advances in A.I. and robotics, we can't possibly re-train over 50%of Americans for jobs that we don't even know will exist in another 10 years.
Could our gov be taking advantage of a crisis to issue in this "New Normal" they have been planning for... Agenda 21? Or trying to get ahead of the inevitable AI revolution? WW3? Biowarfare? Population control? Cashless Society?
There's a thousand variables possible as for what/who is behind it all.
But the one thing that's constant is, theres no going back.

The World has Changed! (and not for the better)
Adapt now, or...

 

[Black Choctaw]

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.

To first clarify, I shouldn't have jumped into this discussion because I can free-range but I was so intrigued by your question because I've been thinking of ways to decrease my overall feed bill. I live on a 2+ acre homestead with more animals than I really need or should have breaking all the POA covenant rules there are, but now that I'm one of the Directors, oh well. I've lately been researching other ways to provide feed for my animals and have found some wonderful systems that I want to implement which maybe someone else is thinking of.
1. is using a gutter system on my animal coop to harvest rainwater directly into a barrel they can drink from - got that from Mother Earth News
2. a fodder system to turn grains into nutrient dense feed
3. fermenting some of the feed I give my friends
I already give them mealworms and black soldier fly larva but now I'm thinking about raising them myself to save money.
I can and try to free-range my animals but only a few chickens will go outside the Kitchen Garden fence along with both sets of geese, I have African and Chinese, the pig goes out because he likes to follow the horse around but then gets chased by my dwarf-pygmy goat and high tails it back. And my Cayuga ducks rarely go out but I'm expanding the garden area to include their coop and that will give them more free-range opportunities. I'll also give them their own garden because they literally destroyed the one had going but I'll start one over again.

 

[Kristinsraising3]

I personally don't think animal feed stores will be running out of stock like supermarkets are. I mean there are more people than farm animals in most medium sized towns, and animals aren't affected by the virus (I have heard varying opinions on that) so I won't worry unless the situation gets way worse

In Spokane, one of the stores had all of their duck supplies gone. I know you can use chicken feed and supplement but still disconcerting. Scared people do crazy things. I start hoping they trip over all of their toilet paper.

 

[LynnsFlock]

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.

As someone who has thought of this becoming an issue, biggest feed source I have for them is sharing what they produce.
Hard boil their eggs and feed it back to them, along with the (minimal) food scraps you'd have in this situation, and whatever else you can find where youd let them range.
Hopefully none of us end up having to do this.

 

[Black Choctaw]

@Cryss that's where I'm at "weeds" some of our "weeds" include wheats, and a variety of grasses that seem to produce good seeds. We also have wild sage, yarrow, roses, and juniper, which are useful in different ways. One thing I wish I knew more about was all the different plants that grow locally and how they can be used. I feel like I should at least own a book on this that I can reference as needed/desired.

Contact your local extension, they should know, and you can research online, I do for the wildflowers that come up each spring, seems they are always different kinds.

 

[CountryHillTopHomeschool]

Hi, I am an experienced gardener and I do put up a lot of food for my family. I live in Upstate NY on top of a hill with 2.5 acres. Once the winter winds get going here, not much fun to be outside. I do not have a flock yet but my daughter has started dreaming about keeping chickens. To feed my family over the winter months, several years ago I built a root cellar, insulated it floor, ceiling, walls, then installed a *CoolBot device with an air conditioner in my basement. It drips water out the back of the AC unit into a bucket on my already wet basement floor. If that's inconvenient then you'll need an exterior window where you can let it drip outside, but I didn't want to be cooling down from higher ambient temperatures, or dealing with winter freezes, so my root cellar needed to be below ground in my basement. In that 4'wide x5' H x6 Long room I have stored amazing amounts of foods. I'm not sure what hens would want to eat but for the cost of running a small air conditioner unit daily, I can buy or grow a ton of food and keep it all winter long - all summer long. I have stored 16 bushels of apples and still had room for lots of other stuff. Root veggies, cabbages, potatoes, last fall's wild grapes, fall fruits I want to extend their ripe period a few weeks or longer, etc. Bins of greens will keep for a month if fresh when they go in. I always have a bushel of leftover immature peppers when the first freeze hits and they would keep at least a month or two. Certainly if you can buy bins of discount produce from a grocery store, that food would be kept from spoiling while the chickens get fed daily. The CoolBot tells the air conditioner to keep running far below it's normal temperature range, and it consistently maintains a temperature of 39F. When it comes to that much space to store food cold, compared to a walk in cooler or refrigerator, it is very afforable. I have heard that commercial cold rooms cost $800 and up just for the chiller, and then all the metal construction materials and plumbing and the maintenance fees when they break. It's $8000 for a restaurant size cold room. Mine cost $500 in materials, a curb side digital air conditioner, $325 for the CoolBot device, and the cost of electric to operate it monthly. I don't think it's more than $1/day. I think of it as my insurance plan - a couple crates each of carrots, beets, potatoes, cabbages, and apples for the humans could easily be expanded to having enough alternative feed for the hens, like how about all those pumpkins that go to waste in the fields after every Halloween! Stack them up in the cold root cellar. Hand them out once a week to the girls. If there were no way to get to a feed store, there probably will still be electric, although I'm not sure how every power company works, perhaps even more so in the case of someone who has solar panels or wind generator. I'm glad you posted this question, it's a good creative exercise for how to avoid buying feed. One of the deterrents to me getting a flock started is being able to afford organic feed! I will have to research how much food a chicken needs to eat in a day to understand the volume of alternative food that I'd need to have on hand. Assuming that chickens can survive on the types of storage foods I described, can anyone chime in on that? Thank you!

 

[Black Choctaw]

It's time to quit worrying about roofs and pick breeds that sleep in trees.
If you have certain breeds, they will take care of themselves. Winter or summer, they sleep in dense trees so owls can't get them easily. They will forage for 90%of what they eat. And even when they are getting skinny, they can hatch off a brood and still be alive to raise the babies up to do the same.
We're in for some really tough times ahead, worse than our parent's and grandparent's Great Depression.
This time it's not gonna last just 16 years like from '29 till V-DAY.

Our World Has Changed.
If you were of age, pre-9/11, you'll be able to follow me.
We lost lots of our freedoms, some of our rights and we're conditioned to accept all that as the "New Normal". TSA groping, internet censorship, gov acceptance of rape and perversion in the name of "diversity". Gov rejection of national pride. Even to the point of ostracizing Patriots and those who don't fall down and worship The New Order.
For years "They" have tried to institute a "Cashless Society". The Commie Socialist have also wanted a "Universal Basic Income". I don't agree with the concept of UBI, but with advances in A.I. and robotics, we can't possibly re-train over 50%of Americans for jobs that we don't even know will exist in another 10 years.
Could our gov be taking advantage of a crisis to issue in this "New Normal" they have been planning for... Agenda 21? Or trying to get ahead of the inevitable AI revolution? WW3? Biowarfare? Population control? Cashless Society?
There's a thousand variables possible as for what/who is behind it all.
But the one thing that's constant is, theres no going back.

The World has Changed! (and not for the better)
Adapt now, or...

It's called Revelation