Successful 100% forage diet experiment (long post)

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Would you even need to supplement in winter if they have access to forage from the larger livestock?

I’d think it’d depend on what kind and how many other animals, and how many chickens.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

I imagine even that can put damper on forage growth.
...and was wondering about the middle of summer, high heat and maybe drought have an affect in reducing their forage options?

Whether forage options are reduced seasonally or not depends on what type of (and how large) forage areas you have.

At my place, changes in plant matter forage are greater in grassland and pasture areas, while in wooded areas and riparian zones, there is little to no seasonal change. Prolonged drought affects these areas similarly, the pastures always being hit the hardest. However, plant matter does not seem to be a preferred forage for my chickens, so this isn't proving to be a big concern here.

A less biodiverse area might see enough of a drop in forage options to make supplementing necessary.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Would you even need to supplement in winter if they have access to forage from the larger livestock?

That is a very situation-dependent scenario and I would err on the side of caution and go ahead and supplement feed if there is any doubt about adequate forage.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

If anyone is interested in yolk color, these are some of yesterday's eggs from the forage flock. The photo is unedited except to tag and crop.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Wow, those are some DARK yokes! Clearly, foraging agrees with them!

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

Wow! This was a very interesting read. I love what you have done with these birds! Out of curiosity, and I may have missed it in the post, although I read it all, how much land do they forage on?
As for the darker yolks, I believe I have read that some plants that will turn the yolks dark orange and red.
I would be very keen on trying this myself. My ducks forage for almost all of their food, except for whatever they can eat early in the mornings before they get let out, and before they go to bed at night.

First of all great post and experiment. We built new house on our place and built a new coop at the new house site which is about 125 yards from our old house. We had several chickens that roosted in our pecan tree down there. All of those chickens but one lone fat black Cochin moved to the new house with us. She moved from the pecan tree to the porch. It has been over a year now and every attempt to get her to move up here has ended with her walking back down the hill the first chance she gets. The ither chickens are not particularly hard on her or anything. I don’t feed her. She is still fat and seemingly healthy. She lays until the darkness sets in. When I pick her up her crop is almost always full of whatever she finds. She never comes up here voluntarily. We just call her old house chicken.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

First of all great post and experiment. We built new house on our place and built a new coop at the new house site which is about 125 yards from our old house. We had several chickens that roosted in our pecan tree down there. All of those chickens but one lone fat black Cochin moved to the new house with us. She moved from the pecan tree to the porch. It has been over a year now and every attempt to get her to move up here has ended with her walking back down the hill the first chance she gets. The ither chickens are not particularly hard on her or anything. I don’t feed her. She is still fat and seemingly healthy. She lays until the darkness sets in. When I pick her up her crop is almost always full of whatever she finds. She never comes up here voluntarily. We just call her old house chicken.

Old house chicken. LOL
I rarely name my birds. Those that DO get names are similar to this... an odd ball bird + an oddball situation = an oddball name.

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

Old house chicken. LOL
I rarely name my birds. Those that DO get names are similar to this... an odd ball bird + an oddball situation = an oddball name.

Hahahha. Exactly. It helps with the oddball names when the kids help. We also have Snake Squeeze, Lardo, and False Lardo. Snake Squeeze was rescued by the kids with a pitchfork as it was already being squeezed to death. Lardo is just a fat chicken and False Lardo just looks like her.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Hahahha. Exactly. It helps with the oddball names when the kids help. We also have Snake Squeeze, Lardo, and False Lardo. Snake Squeeze was rescued by the kids with a pitchfork as it was already being squeezed to death. Lardo is just a fat chicken and False Lardo just looks like her.

Too funny. Lardo and False Lardo remind me of couple of identical yellow labs we had...named Todd and NotTodd.

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

Too funny. Lardo and False Lardo remind me of couple of identical yellow labs we had...named Todd and NotTodd.