The Buckeye Thread

[buckeyechicken]

Is your friend free ranging his birds or does he keep them in a moveable coop? Birds not kept in a coop will hustle around and find alot of their own forage.That's the beauty of the heritage (old timey) breeds; they were developed at a time when people expected their birds to go out foraging and find at least part of their own grub. As to what to plant, I'd check with the state Department of natural Resources or the Audubon Society. Pretty much any native shrub or plant that provides food and cover for wild birds (especially ground birds like turkey, quail and pheasant) will be appreciated by your chickens as well. Depending on your state's budget, you might be able to purchase native plants inexpensively, it's worth asking about. Remember too, that plants that are attractive to insects are good, because your chickens will spend many happy hours chasing down bugs. Compared to the average suburban lawn, you'll be planting alot of weeds.

But right off hand, I'd suggest sunflowers, holly (native and evergreen european varieties), and Sumac.

If you plant Sumac make sure you are not allergic to it it is like poison Ivy, and poison oak. and it spreads fast or in my area it does.

 

[cgmccary]

nevermind

 

[campbellorchard]

We free range some of our bucks and silkie crosses. But , we always make sure they have feed as well every day to help with the balance of protein they need to grow to a healthy size and weight. As well as some scratch in the colder Ohio temps to help keep them warm. The sheen our buckeyes have from their balanced nutrition makes them shimmer in the sunlight.
Our local mill is awesome at helping us formulate the right grower mix for our birds. Free range is great. Just not all we do for our birds.
Good luck!

 

[sahmhomesteader]

Cgmmcary that is awesome! Perfect harmony!

Campbellorchard, I plan to grow feed for them as well. I just have a goal to buy as little prepared feed as possible

 

[007medic]

sahmhomesteader,

You might look into sprouted and fermented feeds- there's a shockingly large amount of information on the interweb regarding these programs. I strongly suggest you read through the differing approaches and see what works best for you. Some of these authors apparently have no other responsibility than to produce feed for their birds and can invest 4-8 hours daily. That's not me (and I suspect it's not you either). One super thing I have found as a treat for the girls in deep winter to supplement their green intake is sprouted wheat berry or flats of wheat grass. I get the wheat berries dirt cheap at the grocery store where they keep the bulk cereal in bins and it's dead easy to grow. I use aluminum sheet pans and no dirt! as long as the berries stay watered they'll leaf and grow! If your girls don't show interest, you can always juice it for yourself- if you juice you can mix the pulp in with their regular feed....ours get all the pulp and ejecta from juicing at our place and they love it.

 

[AletaG]

sahmhomesteader,
You might look into sprouted and fermented feeds-
One super thing I have found as a treat for the girls in deep winter to supplement their green intake is sprouted wheat berry or flats of wheat grass. I get the wheat berries dirt cheap at the grocery store where they keep the bulk cereal in bins and it's dead easy to grow. I use aluminum sheet pans and no dirt! as long as the berries stay watered they'll leaf and grow! [edited for brevity]

You betcha! There's the https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds/ thread, going strong, and the https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713334/growing-fodder-for-chickens Fodder thread... and that's just BYC. I have 21 chickens. We spend maybe 5minutes in feed-related chores per day. Rinsing seeds, adding grains, feeding, checking on mealie worms https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/492636/mealworm-farming . I spend way more time reading about it and noodling different ideas around than in actual implementation. Have fun!

 

[sahmhomesteader]

sahmhomesteader,

You might look into sprouted and fermented feeds- there's a shockingly large amount of information on the interweb regarding these programs. I strongly suggest you read through the differing approaches and see what works best for you. Some of these authors apparently have no other responsibility than to produce feed for their birds and can invest 4-8 hours daily. That's not me (and I suspect it's not you either). One super thing I have found as a treat for the girls in deep winter to supplement their green intake is sprouted wheat berry or flats of wheat grass. I get the wheat berries dirt cheap at the grocery store where they keep the bulk cereal in bins and it's dead easy to grow. I use aluminum sheet pans and no dirt! as long as the berries stay watered they'll leaf and grow! If your girls don't show interest, you can always juice it for yourself- if you juice you can mix the pulp in with their regular feed....ours get all the pulp and ejecta from juicing at our place and they love it.

You're right that isn't me lol. I will check out your tips. Thanks!

 

[AinaWGSD]

Yay! My husband got the little coop from our old house out of the backyard this morning!

We were sad we were going to have to leave it, but now if we can get it onto a trailer we can haul it to the farm where the birds are and use it as a coop in a breeding pen. He's even gotten a little ahead of himself, saying we could even build a few more small pallet coops and have multiple breeding pens. Now we just have to get it down here in one piece and get some fencing up and build a door/gate....

The coop at the old house, not long after we built it:




So, for breeding pens what does everyone prefer? We kept four cockerels to grow out a little longer (planning to cull back to two, though with additional housing we may change our mind) and four pullets, plus the three older pullets from the January hatch. The little coop is 4x5' not including nest boxes. At the old house we had about 7-8 hens in there with access to the back yard, though I've decided that would be a few too many birds during the snowy winter months if they don't go out as my old laying hens were reluctant to do.

 

[buffalogal]

No they free range in many many acres...weird.

Seriously thank you so much for helping me. I am trying to read as much info as I can, but it only leads to more questions

One thing, there is a lot of honeysuckle (I think) outlining the field. Is that poisonous to chickens? The red berries they produce...

Maybe he thought you weren't going to feed them anything else? From late fall to mid spring you'll need to supply most of their feed while the grass is dormant and there aren't any insects out. Whole grains, commercial pellets, even meat will work. If there's a butcher in your area, ask about getting "frazz" also called "sawdust". It's the finely ground residue left over when they use a bone saw to cut up a carcass. It contains muscle, fat, gristle and bone and birds really like it. Honeysuckle is fine and so are all species of Rhus (Sumac). Sumac can refer to one of several small decorative trees that produces red berries, (there's a very colorful variety called "Tiger Eyes" that isa popular landscape plant) and it can also mean one of the small woody plants or vines that will cause a rash on humans like poison ivy that have white berries - called drupes - and they'll eat those too.

 

[buffalogal]

Yay! My husband got the little coop from our old house out of the backyard this morning!

We were sad we were going to have to leave it, but now if we can get it onto a trailer we can haul it to the farm where the birds are and use it as a coop in a breeding pen. ...

That is quite attractive, I can see why you wouldn't want to leave it. (makes mental note to show the Honey Lamb to inspire him to help me build one)
I use dog runs for breeding cages, the kind that people buy to keep their hunting dogs in. I use several roosts and a tall feeder, and they're tarped to keep the rain and varmints out, but the only house they have is a doghouse to lay eggs in. Individual birds are only in them about 45 days at a time, then I swap them out .so they don't have to stay in chicken jail for too long.