I'm new here, know nothing about chickens, need advice

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Any farmer within a 20 mile or more radius that does spray a field or even has a crop duster come over, or the counties that pay for insect and mosquito spraying or another dozen of spraying scenerios will have a cause and effect on every bug on your property.

 

[moenmitz]

Not sure where you got 50 acres-I said 12. And they will be largely moved from place to place daily with chicken tractors-not going to have them roaming around to be food for the hawks and coyotes. Crop dusting just isnt done around here-though the fields are sprayed by tractor. We ahve always had an abundance of insect life on our property though-serious bug invasions, which was part of the motivation in getting birds-I would like to control the bugs without using chemicals.


I never said I wouldn't feed a commercial feed-what I wanted to know is if I could grow all of the ingredients to make my own nutritious feed. I understand that there needs to be a balance of protein to carbs, certain vitamins and minerals, etc-what I DONT know is if I can effectively obtain all of the needed things, in appropriate quantities, through foods that I can grow. So many of the modern hybrids have been designed specifically for the production of an unnaturally large number of eggs, or for unusually large size-and that does not matter to me. I want healthy birds that lay eggs in a normal fashion, as nature designed them to, not as man bred them to, or because they are fed some chemical laden "super feed" .I am getting the impression that some of you think I am planning on starving these birds through my own ignorance. If that was the case, I wouldn't have come here inquiring! I love all of my animals, and take very good care of them. They are all fed top quality food, I do not skimp for any of them. I am not some inexperienced girl from the city who got the bright idea to get some pretty chickens- I have grown up in rural Iowa, raised many animals-just not chickens. I am here to learn, and when I learn what I need to about feeding them, then I will start experimenting with what i can do. I just thought some of you had probably already done this same thing with varying degrees of success, and that you would be willing to share your own experience in that area.

 

[cluckychick]

My grandma used feed and then used the feed sacks to make clothing for herself and her children. She then sold the eggs to supplement income for feed and an extra .10 a week so my dad (the baby of the family and spoiled) could go to the movies. I have her old ledger where she kept track of every penny spent on her chickens.

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

The birds you ordered from the hatchery are all breeds that have been domesticated for a very long time. Consequently, their bodies are designed to do best on a prepared feed. But I don't know why you couldn't be the one who mixes it. If you want to do an internet search on it, there are recipes for mixing your own feed, and how to keep it nutritionally balanced. That being said, I'm not sure you can grow the variety of grains or the amount needed for a good mix on 12 acres, though. It's really not a great idea to let corn be their main grain - it should be more of a treat.

Sounds like you're determined to go for it, though. So please let us know how it goes for you - we may all learn something!

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

Quote:
Oh, that must be a wonderful treasure to have! I'd love it if you'd share some of it....

 

[ticks]

 

[fluffhead]

i wish you great luck with your experiment. do let us know how everything works out. it will certainly be exciting and loud in your yard. i have no doubt it will also be quite a learning experience. i am not sure that you will be able to grow enough to sustain them adequately (they eat a SHOCKING amount of food) to give you steady, strong-shelled eggs or good meat... but you will ascertain that soon enough if that is the case.

just one quick comment about what you said...

I want healthy birds that lay eggs in a normal fashion, as nature designed them to, not as man bred them to, or because they are fed some chemical laden "super feed" .

i just wanted to mention that nature did not design chickens. they are a product of human intervention, so it is difficult to adhere to an "all natural" way of raising them because their very existence is unnatural. wild dingos can survive on their own, but a golden retriever can't. i admire your philosophy on natural animalkeeping and certainly share that sentiment, but i just wanted to mention it because if you do end up supplementing with feed, it shouldn't be considered a failure of your natural plan. it's the way these birds have been designed. it doesn't have to be chemical-laden feed at all. it just has to meet their basic nutritional requirements.

i do hope it works, though. it would be very cool to have a totally self-sustaining farm!

best wishes to you.​

 

[d.k]

* moenmitz, you certainly can mix your own feed, no question-- and your birds certainly can forage for some of their own and some of it can be grown by you as well-- but, your birds are already on order, correct?? Do you have some crops on your property readyfor them now and what to know if they will suit??

 

[moenmitz]

Thank you-I am considering trying my hand at growing wheat and oats-thought I could combine that with the corn and some of the veggies-what I was hoping anyway. All of the recipes I have found online all seemed to have some sort of odd ingredient that just wouldn't be the sort of thing you grow- like fish meal...and a few things I cant pronounce. So I was thinking surely our ancestors didn't have these things-so there must be growable substitutes that would work as well? If I had a huge flock, this would be a lot of work, but as I said, only about ten or so will go through the winter with us-the rest will be resting in my deep freeze after a few months. The majority of the birds will be getting my concoctions as a supplement to their foraging-but my winter layers will depend on what I give them, and I want to be sure whatever I come up with keep them in good shape. Seems like making feed for only 10 chickens shouldn't be that hard. But maybe it is-really dont know yet! I get what you mean by the modern chickens not being "natural" and therefore cant live entirely as nature intended though-and I will certainly take that into consideration as well.

 

[moenmitz]

DK- I plan to feed them organic commercial feed to start with, as I do not have other options until my garden starts producing-but I was thinking longterm...