Managing flock in Collapsing Economy: Bye Bye Birdies.

[Arielle]

I'm a newbie to BYC and I recently bought 25 chicks to supplement my families food needs. Chickens have a long history as a food source for people because of their ability to forage off the land. Today, some breeds have lost this ability for obvious reasons --we feed them. Fortunately, some breeds still forage well. Years ago I learned how to feed chickens in feeds class using formulated feeds. I'm going to try a different approach. Red worms are a terrific source of protein; they eat household garbage and are easy to keep. Has anyone thought of using these to provide high quality protein to supplement the diet of foraging hens? It's another way to keep down the expense of grain--especially with the current high costs.

 

[brandislee]

I have thought about this as well and have read a little bit about it, but I haven't yet figured out exactly how to do it so that the worms reproduced at a rate where they are a reliable food source for the birds without running out of worms... KWIM??? I would have to know how many worms per chicken per week in order to figure that out, as I've found several sources stating the various reproductive rates of the red worms. Anyone actually done this? I looked into raising meal worms instead, but I like that red worms are dual purpose (consuming trash AND feeding chickens), and meal worms seem to take a lot more work... plus, I have a pretty strong constitution, but reading about them kinda grossed me out

But what I really want to figure out is the cheapest form of non-soy protein for birds, preferably either partly or wholly animal based since chickens are supposed to omnivores. I read somewhere someone suggested feeding pressure cooked chicken bones back to chickens... this would supply both protien and some calcium, right? Is there a reason not to do this (other than ethical/philisophical- like actual health reasons)?

 

[CountryPantry]

In our area you can see more and more people trying to go back to providing for their families by growing their own. Yesterday I sold 9 hens and a rooster to a family that was trying to establish their own flock. These were some of the F1 olive eggers and easter eggers, most didn't have the muffs that I breed for so they were going to the auction anyways. This gentleman asked about chickens at my yardsale and I told him $5 a piece.

He said I want at least 10 with one being a rooster.

I had many inquiries about selling chickens, not chicks at the yardsale. Most people around here are still loosing their jobs.

I am not employed any longer as of last Friday.

They are trying to put together stock to feed their families. I am lucky, I have 8 acres available to run my chickens in if I so choose to. They are on about an acre now. Feed cost is going up drastically, it has jumped $3.15 since this time last year on a 50 lb bag.

I recently tried some 15% stock feed that one of the mills gave one of the feed stores to see how we liked it. I am feeding to one pen only to see what results I get. It is affordable still, the chickens love it and egg production is very good in that pen. We have been using it for about 2 months now and these chickens are fat and sassy. I recently added the two turkey hens in that pen as they were just wandering around barking all the time because their friends were in the pens right now. This pen also started back laying before the other pen did that is on Homegrown/Purina layena. We divided the old pens so that the same age hens, pullets and two roosters were in each of these test pens so the comparison would be pretty identical. We offer grit and oyster shells in all of our pens, some just prefer to get their own.

I update photo albums on our website of the hens and roos with all their new feathers.

 

[Luvroos]

Has anyone tried breeding the red worms here? What type of food is it that you feed them verses the Purina Layena? I'm having a hard time finding organic based grains for mine and would like to place them on this for their best of health!

 

[Msbear]

It's good to know how to farm flies

if you get desperate http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Feeding-Chickens-Maggots.html

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f15/maggots-chicken-feed-4991/

 

[Arielle]

Regarding the amount of red worms or any other earthworm, it's not hard to calculate. Just need to know how much protein a day a bird needs and the worms are about 70-80% protein.

I thought the worms might balance the scraps and foraging. I read a lot about red worms and I thought I would give it a try. There are many, many sites as they are mostly used for fishing bait or in-home composting.

My grain supplier keeps me updated on the goings on in the industry and when a train car load of whole corn jumps from $17,000 to $24,000 thats an increase he must pass on. OUCH! I'm looking for economical feeding: most eggs for the least cost. AND keeping them healthy so a balanced ration will always be a part of their diet.

 

[bywaterdog]

I use produce, scraps, layer pellets, and dried duckweed to feed my girls. My yard is too small to free range( too much space taken up with gardens.)

I have 18 hens and sell my/their eggs @ $3.50 per doz. With this, my cost per egg ( excluding labor) Y.T.D. is only .07 each, I can live with this(and so can the chickens).

 

[NHchicks]

CountryPantry, so sorry to hear about your job loss! It must be really tough down there right now. Wow, you sure have me thinking twice about my emergency planning...

 

[NHchicks]

Quote:
Is that what you call it? Well, here I've been farming flies in my summer garbage bags for years and never knew it.

That will be a good one to tell my husband next time we get a maggot-infested garbage load to take to the dump: We're fly farmers.

Doesn't happen real often, but I remember last summer a bag dropped and fell open as I was trying to haul it to the car to go to the dump, and maggots everywhere. Totally freaked me out. With chickens come flies, and with flies come maggots... But, from now I'll look at them as a protein source for the "girls". Ha.

 

[kidd42]

Quote:
x2

Already got my guns, my ammo, my seeds, my chickens and my bees and a little bit of land and most importantly- some like minded friends!

x3!

X 4 here!