Massive incoming grain and food shortages

[lovemychickensandkitties]

I have already started supplementing my chickens with crushed up whole cooked egg with the shell. They love it. I have two adult chickens and try to feed them my older eggs that I have hard boiled in the Instapot once a week. I also have eight young chickens that will not lay until the fall. I plan on using their eggs to help supplement feed them also. My cats love the cooked eggs crumbled up without the shell, as well as my dog. Eggs are a good supplementation for their food also. I love to cook and eat eggs myself. So having chickens and feeding the eggs to them and your other pets and yourself and having a good size vegetable garden will help you through the crisis that is coming. You can preserve your vegetable garden for winter use. You can also grown in the winter if you can protect the vegetables with frost covers or cold domes. I am feeding the adult chickens layer pellets but only in their coop. Squirrels were getting in their coop and eating the food. So I now close the door of the coop during the day. They free range during the day and that is when I feed them the hard boiled eggs and shells crumbled up. That seems to get them by until they get closed in their coop for the night.

 

[AGeese]

Well lots have changed for the worse since I last visited this topic. And gas prices continue to climb... $97 bucks to fill my tank. My friend just got back into trucking right before the real hike, it's good money, but fuel costs will put a dent in it for some.

 

[lovemychickensandkitties]

I just heard truckers were having a hard time getting diesel. Everyone needs to prepare now for the families and livestock.

 

[RiverOtter]

Well, so much for a second year of wheat in the field near us. They treated it with roundup (or something), killed it, and turned it under. Maybe that was the plan all along.

It's called "green manureing" and is a common way to fertilize.

 

[affacat]

What is acceptable to feed chickens if feed is gone? I have tons of dried grains…barley, millet, amaranth, rice, oats…for us humans. Plus a garden full of greens until October hopefully. I wouldn’t do this unless absolutely necessary of course. I actually found some amaranth seed so I might plant that in a corner of our property as well.

We feed them almost all our leftovers minus a few things the internet tells us to avoid. The old flip a board trick is nice.

I also farm maggots for them. It's quite easy to turn compost into a significant food supply for chickens. We use feed as a primary source, of course, but if it gets really really bad I'll increase my maggot farming operation.

For those interested, the best case scenario is getting a black soldier fly operation going, but if that's too much trouble and you don't mind the stink it's literally no skill or knowledge required for house fly maggots.

We are also fortunate to have enough land to free range them.

Let's hope we figure out a way through all this without it getting much worse (diesel, etc), the ramifications/reverberations of the current state of things will be bad enough.

 

[Opiumbrella]

Well lots have changed for the worse since I last visited this topic. And gas prices continue to climb... $97 bucks to fill my tank. My friend just got back into trucking right before the real hike, it's good money, but fuel costs will put a dent in it for some.

Yep. And it’s only going to get worse sadly. We are only starting to feel the effects. Not just grain, but the entire supply chain is starting to break down. War, avian flu, fires, and more. All culminating in a very bad situation. We’re only driving when we have too. It’s just too much to pay for gas.

 

[Oddyseous]

I'm currently working on a chicken tractor 7'x14'x4ft. They have to be 4 feet tall because my Jersey Giants are 2 feet tall, well, the rooster is.

Their first job will be to cut down the grass and spread manure around where I'm going to be growing their feed. Their 2nd job will be do it to the rest of the property.

Point is, I'm going to be growing and making my own feed ASAP. Prices alone make it worth it. Plus I'll know everything in their food for once.

 

[Regina Larsen]

I have already started supplementing my chickens with crushed up whole cooked egg with the shell. They love it. I have two adult chickens and try to feed them my older eggs that I have hard boiled in the Instapot once a week. I also have eight young chickens that will not lay until the fall. I plan on using their eggs to help supplement feed them also. My cats love the cooked eggs crumbled up without the shell, as well as my dog. Eggs are a good supplementation for their food also. I love to cook and eat eggs myself. So having chickens and feeding the eggs to them and your other pets and yourself and having a good size vegetable garden will help you through the crisis that is coming. You can preserve your vegetable garden for winter use. You can also grown in the winter if you can protect the vegetables with frost covers or cold domes. I am feeding the adult chickens layer pellets but only in their coop. Squirrels were getting in their coop and eating the food. So I now close the door of the coop during the day. They free range during the day and that is when I feed them the hard boiled eggs and shells crumbled up. That seems to get them by until they get closed in their coop for the night.

We boil our extra duck eggs as treat for the chickens and ducks both. Pm treats mean not chasing critters and yelling DAMMIT GO TO BED!
I have plans for cricket and BSF breeding and im stocking up in whole grains and rolled oats to have on hand vs milled food. Whole grains in mylar can keep for years. Even still sprout.

 

[Regina Larsen]

I just heard truckers were having a hard time getting diesel. Everyone needs to prepare now for the families and livestock.

Agreed.
I have been getting a weird vibe since 2017. Been making ready since then.

 

[Anime2lover]

Be careful, I had been using purina, and got almost 20 bags of rotten feed. Like, not feed that had rotted in the bag, but that was made with moldy/spoiled ingredients. I can only assume that it was stuck in shipping due to supply chain issues (the grain) and molded, and they didn’t want to lose money so they used it anyways. Also even in the best conditions, pellet feed is only really storable for a few months. Especially over warmer and wetter seasons. Dry/cold conditions longer, but not much. And you don’t want to spend a ton on feed you can’t use when you need it. Thankfully I found a local company (beaver) that has amazing feed, and who also has a center that will hand mix any special types you want, or sell you anything in bulk for great prices as well. Which is great for now. And I will never use purina again. That’s for sure.

We had a problem with Purina making our birds sick to.