supporting fodder with compost piles

[Bluestem chicks]

I just recently bought 6 young chickens (range from 3-5 months old) four weeks ago with the idea I could keep them in a coop/with run by feeding them fodder (2-3% their body weight) and letting them rummage through a 2 foot compost pile. I got this idea from watching two of Geoff Lawton's videos and Paul Gautschi (Back to Eden) video. These men do not feed their chickens any grain, just compost/vegetables and the like.
http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/59960-feed-chickens-without-grain
http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/64322-chicken-tractor-on-steroids

I have only had my chickens for a month now, and the oldest chicken began laying eggs 2 weeks ago, everyday since she started. The others have not started laying, but they seem to be doing fine. They keep real busy digging through the compost pile, which I turn every couple of days and let them start through it again. The run they are in is not very big, 10 X 15', with the compost pile in that area. So far, so good. I feed them fodder because I am not confident I have enough compost for them. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of method? I will add, when I first got them I had to wean them off the store bought meal they were used to eating. Like Geoff Lawton said in his second video, they did not seem to know what to do at first without the prepared meal, but soon got used to working the compost and eating the fodder. Some day I may just try weaning them off the fodder during the summer as I have more vegetation from the garden to feed them, and feed them fodder during the winter months. I hope this works, cause I can not afford to feed them that high priced stuff.

 

[foreverlearning]

Always remember they need some sort of grit to digest the new diet. While it is no longer recommended to go without store bought feed because it is supposed to be a balanced diet, it can be done. Things you may want to consider are farming meal worms and crickets for the months when bugs are not plentiful so they can still get their protein requirements. You can also run into a problem if you do not provide oyster shell as calcium is required in the egg shell process. Ways to get around this are to feed their own crushed shells back to them, making sure they have a good bug supply, or just giving in and having a bowl of oyster shell for them. 1 bag of oyster shell lasts a really long time. I am on my third year with the same bag and still have over 3/4ths of it left. You can also save space and give them more space in the run by going with the deep litter method. It is basically a compost pile inside the coop itself.