Is there a cheaper way?

[kstaven]

Quote:
I use the large black plastic pans you see at the greenhouses that they put all the starter pots in. Really cheap and effective. Put the clear pastic tops on them and they hold humidity just perfectly.

 

[peapickinchicks]

My biddies LLOOOVVE mashed potatoes, I had some left over from dinner and some butternut squash I was freezing mixed them together and took it out to them and Oh my word they went bonkers for it, I heard not to give them raw potatoes, cooked was fine.

 

[SandraMort]

How about a cotton cloth laundry bag? Put in the seeds/grains, soak, hang to drain, soak, hang to drain, etc... then just dump out!

 

[moenmitz]

Quote:
Would they actually sprout that way? Without light? I am curious to try this, sounds like a great idea! I would love to have fresh greens for them this winter! Also want to grow my own meal worms...mmmmm

Right now we are giving our hens a mix of certified organic whole grains- oats, wheat & rye, will be adding cracked corn as it grows colder. Plan on adding sunflower seeds as well-and we give them our leftover garden veggies, many of which we have frozen. The grain is mixed with an organic starter "base" $57 for a 60lb bag, and it makes 400 lbs of feed. We started adding the whole grains about 20/ 80, upped it a bit every few days. They now gobble it up with NO problem. A "layer" base is available as well, but since we will have a few roos sharing the feeder, I don't want to go there unless it appears they are becoming deficient in some way...

I keep a pan of oyster shells out, and the hens pick at it is they wish-so hopefully that will take care of the calcium aspect.

We feed our broilers turkey starter, but mix whole grains in about 40/ 60-they continue to gain just fine!

Plusses to this- the litter stays drier-poo is not so wet and stinky!

Because crop strength increases by eating unground grains, when coccidia eggs are ingested, they are actually ground up-thus no need for coccidiastats! That part is still being researched and has yet to be proven 100% conclusively, but so far results have been very promising. As for us, so far so good, for us anyway. We battled coccidia with our goats, and I am SO hoping this will prevent an outbreak amongst the chickens!

We were buying bagged organic feed, and it was SO expensive-$20+ for 50 lbs! Doing it this way actually figures out to about $10-$12/ 50lbs of feed. We bought our winters supply of grains...now the tricky part will be if we can keep them fresh throughout the winter...

 

[Opa]

You can buy oats at most feed stores. Cheap and sprouts well

 

[Anny]

The more t he free range the less they will need to eat from the feeder.

 

[hinkjc]

Cheaper is not always better if you want a healthy, productive flock. The money you save in feed, could result in unthrifty birds dying younger and not producing many eggs. Just something to keep in mind.

Jody

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

Just be opportunistic with what you find. A local store were selling Wild Bird Seed in 25lb bags for 3.00 per bag during the summer. I bought a whole pallet of the stuff and mixed a little in with their feed. Food scraps are good if they aren't too old to be used. We do feed ours potato skins which we cook the same time we cook our own potatoes. They also get some of our garden produce too. These things help out a lot. They still get their pellets, chick feed etc. If you can find a feed mill it will help with the cost of feed too.

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
What is the 'next thread'? Don't forget, things don't stay in the same order, so I want to read what you mean, but can't figure out which thread it is

 

[flakey chick]

I accidently sprouted some flax seed for them and they did love it. I would not recomend buying flax seed to sprout `cause it is expensive. Also it tends to go bad (tasting) quickly- so you might be able to get it out of date seed that will still sprout