Successful 100% forage diet experiment (long post)

[ShrekDawg]

I also found these articles pretty interesting.

http://www.plamondon.com/wp/how-many-chickens-per-acre/

http://www.plamondon.com/wp/save-money-on-chicken-feed/

 

[Perris]

I'm fascinated with this post, I would like to see if it would be possible to scale it down to a smaller homestead. We have 1 rooster and 21 hens and they live on about a 1/4 acre section of our backyard in Florida.

My idea is to grow as much forage as possible for them in this small area.

So far, I have a lot of:

1. Mexican Sunflower which self propagates when the branches touch the ground (it is a perennial that is high in protein), our chickens love it Chickens eating Mexican sunflower leaves

2. Bananas which multiply in clumps without my effort (chickens eat the leaves and the fruit)
Here is one of our hens eating banana leaves

3. Moringa trees which are highly nutritious and grow abundantly

4. Cranberry hibiscus which is another perennial and has highly nutritious leaves

5. Arugula which self seeds easily

6. Tons of woodchips which the chickens scratch through to get bugs and worms

Any other suggestions of perennials I could grow for the chickens?

This is very interesting. How do you find out how nutritious these plants are?

 

[TooCheep]

Any other suggestions of perennials I could grow for the chickens?

Won't work in Florida, but anyone else might want to check out the Siberian Pea tree. Produces pea pods that are very high in protein. Grows in zones 2-7.

I've read a lot that comfrey grows really quickly and is fairly nutrient dense. It's one to consider. I may plant some myself next spring.

Comfrey can be hard to control. I grow some in a large planter because it does have good medicinal properties and is good for helping to make compost tea (a form of fertilizer). The hens take occassional bites, but really don't go after it much.

 

[TooCheep]

Which are you referring to? True Comfrey or the Russian varieties? I've read a ton about the russian varieties (Bocking 4, Bocking 14, etc), but not a lot about true comfrey. As I understand it, true comfrey spreads rapidly and can take over an area quickly. The russian varieties spread too, i think, but slow enough to keep them where you want them. I've only ever tried to grow Bocking 14, but winter temps kill it every time. But then, if growing it for forage, then maybe true comfrey would be a better choice?? Hmmm. Seems like I've got some research to do...

The primary difference is flower fertility. True comfrey can spread via roots and via seed. Comfrey hybrids are sterile and can only spread via roots. I have the latter and have it in a planter to greatly slow down the spread. Still didn't stop it entirely as the roots made their way out the bottom of the planter and started creating small plants around the planter.

 

[DogAndCat36]

I am honestly very fascinated by this thread. You should maybe try to document them on the 3rd gen. I am very interested in seeing their hierarchy.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Which are you referring to? True Comfrey or the Russian varieties? I've read a ton about the russian varieties (Bocking 4, Bocking 14, etc), but not a lot about true comfrey. As I understand it, true comfrey spreads rapidly and can take over an area quickly. The russian varieties spread too, i think, but slow enough to keep them where you want them. I've only ever tried to grow Bocking 14, but winter temps kill it every time. But then, if growing it for forage, then maybe true comfrey would be a better choice?? Hmmm. Seems like I've got some research to do...

Good questions, @AccidentalFarm - I fear I’m still in the early Googling phases myself, so not real clear on advantages of the varieties. Please share any tidbits you uncover, and I’ll do the same.

My chicken area backs up to woods, with a fence keeping the flock out of the woods. I was thinking a row of comfrey along the fence line on the wood side.

Far enough back that the birds can’t destroy it through the fence, but not deep enough in that it won’t get enough light or be a long haul when I cut it to toss to the chickens.

 

[TooCheep]

Far enough back that the birds can’t destroy it through the fence, but not deep enough in that it won’t get enough light or be a long haul when I cut it to toss to the chickens.

Comfrey doesn't like full sun. They need at at least partial shade.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Good questions, @AccidentalFarm - I fear I’m still in the early Googling phases myself, so not real clear on advantages of the varieties. Please share any tidbits you uncover, and I’ll do the same.

My chicken area backs up to woods, with a fence keeping the flock out of the woods. I was thinking a row of comfrey along the fence line on the wood side.

Far enough back that the birds can’t destroy it through the fence, but not deep enough in that it won’t get enough light or be a long haul when I cut it to toss to the chickens.

Sounds like an ideal placement for the Comfrey. I wanted to get it started along one of the creeks here, but was never successful enough growing it to even get to the point of trying it over there. Plus, if deer like it, I'm screwed. lol

I'm really liking the idea of growing intentional forage. There is some good background and varietal information here: http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Types_of_comfrey/

And following a link from that page, takes you here: http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Feeding_comfrey_to_livestock/ which interestingly states that:

"Comfrey can be used to replace up to 10% of chickens' feed without lowering egg yield (though chickens are the most sensitive to excess roughage of all the livestock mentioned, so you might not want to go much higher than that.)"

I may be reading that wrong, but it seems like it is saying that excess roughage in general lowers egg production?

 

[Newyorkrita]

I also found these articles pretty interesting.

http://www.plamondon.com/wp/how-many-chickens-per-acre/

WOW!! Exceptional Article. And that site has many more Articles. Nice to have so much knowledge in one easy to access site.

I always wondered but never knew how many free range chickens per acre was best. Learned a lot.

 

[Weeg]

This is so cool! I loved reading this! Thank you for sharing this! If I could I may try this in the future, It was very interesting to me who much healthier and smarter they were! This is truly an amazing read full of lots of detail! Bookmarking as a shared bookmark now, great job with your birds!