new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[TexasBlues]

You are not alone; you've been misinformed. I buy 25kg of whole wheat for £8. How does that compare with your bag of feed?

Alright Amigo, I called the local feed store and its $20 for 50# of wheat. The feed I get from them is $40 for 50#.
Besides wheat, what other grains should I source? Corn, Oats, Peas?

 

[TexasBlues]

I was brainstorming with a friend the other day about alternative feeds that I could source locally and free. I collect a lot of pecans and feed them to the flock. He said what about acorns? There are unlimited amounts of them here in the fall I could collect. I haven't tried to feed them yet. I know wood ducks, squirrel, deer and hogs love them.

 

[Molpet]

Well, I’m still learning. To be honest I’ve been too lazy to work on providing all the food for the chicks.
I would like to grow some of the staple crops like corn.
I would like to set up a black soldier fly bin.
I would like a bigger space so the chickens could have more fresh grazing.

I was brainstorming with a friend the other day about alternative feeds that I could source locally and free. I collect a lot of pecans and feed them to the flock. He said what about acorns? There are unlimited amounts of them here in the fall I could collect. I haven't tried to feed them yet. I know wood ducks, squirrel, deer and hogs love them.

My chickens and turkeys like acorns and walnuts mowed up so they can get into the meat.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Fair warning, however, my ducks love Acorns. During that time of year when Acorns are readily available, their eggs turn a most unpleasant shade of green. Can't taste the difference, but it's certainly not attractive.

 

[Perris]

Besides wheat, what other grains should I source? Corn, Oats, Peas?

Peas and other legumes are good to balance the AAs. Pseudo-cereals often have better vitamin and mineral profiles than cereals but may be tricky to source initially. What grows where you are?

 

[Perris]

He said what about acorns? There are unlimited amounts of them here in the fall I could collect. I haven't tried to feed them yet. I know wood ducks, squirrel, deer and hogs love them.

They are a historic famine food (people make them into bread when regular cereals fail), but there are 00s of types of oak and acorn, and some may suit this purpose better than others; the ones left behind by the ducks, squirrels, deer and hogs are left for a reason. Often it's because something tiny has eaten the contents already.

 

[TexasBlues]

Peas and other legumes are good to balance the AAs. Pseudo-cereals often have better vitamin and mineral profiles than cereals but may be tricky to source initially. What grows where you are?

Corn and amaranth will grow well here.
Sorghum, millet, barley, and winter oats are commonly grown here.

 

[TexasBlues]

They are a historic famine food (people make them into bread when regular cereals fail), but there are 00s of types of oak and acorn, and some may suit this purpose better than others; the ones left behind by the ducks, squirrels, deer and hogs are left for a reason. Often it's because something tiny has eaten the contents already.

I have a friend that makes flour from acorns. He says burr oak works well because it’s big and easy to collect. We have a park close by that has loads of burrs, reds, live oaks and chinkapins.

 

[Perris]

Corn and amaranth will grow well here.
Sorghum, millet, barley, and winter oats are commonly grown here.

they're all good. I tried to grow amaranth but it didn't like it here. Sorghum (aka milo, dari) is popular with my flock, barley not so much, oats are appreciated in any form at any time, especially as porridge in winter .

 

[TexasBlues]

Oh! And sunflowers love it here. I didn’t think about that one