lots of free food

[picklespickles]

yeah!!!!!! one of the people i work for was cleaning out her fridge and pantry. there were lots of grains and old veggies and such. she said, here will your animals eat these? yeah. i turned down the moldy bread, ick, but the rest i know they will love. even peanuts in the shell and such. yeah. when i get home from work tomorrow, they'll have a good new years treat. i got two whole paper bags plus a little extra! oh, those chickies will be happy. i can freeze the rest for later. yeah!

i have two other friends who save odd scraps for the animals plus neighbors will, too. i think people like feeling like their food isn't going to waste.

do other people spontaneously give food to your chickens or have you asked for stuff before?

 

[Scrambled Egg]

I asked the manager at Foodlion the other dya about getting/buying/whatever the green stuff in the veggie section that had broken off or was wilting...he wasnt even nice about it and told me everything went to the food bank. I wanted to argue that even folks getting food from the food bank didn't want green stuff that breaks off and falls on the floor or wilting stuff, but that didn't work either...so, I bought fresh collard greens and lettuce and likely he threw away the stuff I asked about. I wasn't trying to get something for nothing but he must have thought that. You are lucky on your haul, hope your babies enjoy their treats!!! Darlene

 

[picklespickles]

i asked for dog bones the other day and the meatman directed me to a package costing more than ten dollars! i wound up buying a couple dollar package of beef hearts. what happend to the day when you could get something for free or just a nominal fee?

 

[Scrambled Egg]

People took advantage and our world became an "I deserve, I want and I will take" place rather than an "I need and will work for" place.....so there isn't as much helping and doing for one another without the trust I guess. I guess if today were biblical times the widows and the orphans would have to find a way to pay the re-sale opportunists that gathered up the crops left in the field. Does make you wish for simpler times...maybe that is one of the reasons we all have chickens, to remind us of simpler, kinder times....

 

[picklespickles]

i also think with the grocers and produce that they are afraid of being sued for giving away somehow contaminated food. i remember at one store years ago that they would say, if you need food for an animal we put it out at the dumpster at this time. they didn't care who took it or for what, but the policy was they could not officically give it to you and could not admit that it might go for human consumption for some people.

anyway........

i still have some grapes (from my yard) and tomatos (from neighbors) in the freezer from summer. wish i had a chest freezer like i used to for stuff like this. i guess i could dry it, though, too, if necessary. or even blend it together into mush and put into ziplocs in the freezer. that might be a good way to store it in a small space.

 

[picklespickles]

okay. they got a wild mixture when i got home from work just now. oats, tomatos, peanut in the shells, eggs, and a little leftover pumpernickel for binding. they were tickled.

 

[picklespickles]

i also gave them a little bit of beef heart and they LOVED it. so i sectioned it up in little plastic wraps in the freezer and they can have little bites of it later.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

They really do seem to like the meat...I gave mine the leftover hambone soup yesterday and of course they liked the beans but they were snatching and grabbing the ham scraps!! The all time favorite ever with mine though is still plain cooked pasta, elbows, spaghetti, shells, whatever, just the plain boiled macaroni, they love it to death! Glad you have a little treat stash now Pickles!

 

[luvzmybabz]

my husbands grandmother goes to a food bank ( depression era woman who has $ just wont spend it) 2 weeks ago she called and needed husband to come pick her up as she usually rides the bus so he drove the 29 minutes into the city the food bank was way way overstocked on yougurt. They gave her 12 cases so we got 6 it is the plain and vanilla in the 32 ounce tubs 6 to a carton you should see my freezer has more chicken feed then people feed right now.

 

[nightshade]

I have found locally here the only place that will part with stuff that they normally throw out, is a few small restruants. I asked what they did with the veggie scraps that they have after making salads. First they look at you kinda funny but after awhile it works out. I know get two - four 5gal buckets of veggie scraps and a loaf of so of loaf ends cause they just though them out too , A week. The girls love it. Exspecially this time of year when there is snow and not much is growing.