Topic of the Week - "Off-grid" Feeding - Homemade feeds, etc.

[perchie.girl]

Guineas running off 1/2 mile away sounds like a dream. I love their looks but youtube convinced me to never keep them. Truth is if they didn't hang around the house I would be keeping them. Thanks @perchie.girl !

LOL.... They are not for everyone... I loved their Raucous squeeky hinge voices and even their alarm calls. My house is two miles from the Mexican border in High desert... They alerted me when anything NEW was about... From Border Patrol agents to pink bathrobe...


My bedroom is about twenty five feet from the coop... I was suffering from asthma so hadnt gotten dressed but it was late in the AM and everyone needed to be fed... I grabbed a bucket flung open the back door and OH the Screaming and FLying and the Were goinna die yellls.... Chickens just said.... "hey stupid its got foood who cares"

 

[Dr.Dale]

push came to shove, chickens could get along just fine with garden scraps and free range. But there might be a limit on the number of birds you could keep

That is my thought too. If the SHTF then I would eat chickens until my flock was the size the land could support. I would eat any loud roosters first in order to avoid attracting attention from the zombie hordes.

 

[Nardo]

Did you soak the acorns to remove the tannins? IIRC from previous reading, the native Americans would place the acorns in a basket in a swiftly running stream, and let the stream do the work of removing the tannins.[/QUOTE]

Yes and I messed up the first time, because I boiled them and then poured cold water on them to add water. This sort of 'sets' the tannin in. Ah well. Boil them and when the water is brown, Pour it off and then boil them again. And so on. The native Americans had a better idea, but I don't have a running stream. Add honey and corn meal. It wasn't a pleasant taste. It tasted...very...good for me. Very healthy good for me.

 

[Nardo]

I call that chicken "keep away" I love feeding them things I accidentally kill like lizards when I open a shed door. They keep me in stitches playing Keep away from one another.

They play keep away with snakes too. When I unearth one I throw it to them and I never thought I'd feel bad for a snake but wow.

 

[Ahavati]

Hi can you tell me where you buy your Fish Meal?

I got mine on Amazon. We live out int he country and have to utilize Amazon a lot because I can't find anything out here.

 

[lazy gardener]

Schreibergarten I remember those well @lomine the concept is so funny on your first time seeing them if you weren't born in Germany. Those little plots of land that were fenced in and clustered together with dimensions like 50x75 feet usually with a hut built on them for entertaining.

You just brought back some memories. Every one I knew who owned one always wanted to take me out to the "country" for some relaxation and beer.

Edit--I also wanted to expand a bit on this Schreibergarten are cherished items and usually passed down generationally. Especially if you are living in a tower apartment complex in a major city.

For you folks who love a good research, I pulled this up. If you don't like such, skip it please:

Germany[edit]

Allotments in Germany

Allotments in Schwabing, Munich
The history of the allotment gardens in Germany is closely connected with the period of industrialization and urbanization in Europe during the 19th century when a large number of people migrated from the rural areas to the cities to find employment and a better life. Very often, these families were living under extremely poor conditions suffering from inappropriate housing, malnutrition and other forms of social neglect. To improve their overall situation and to allow them to grow their own food, the city administrations, the churches or their employers provided open spaces for garden purposes. These were initially called the "gardens of the poor".

The idea of organised allotment gardening reached a first peak after 1864, when the so-called "Schreber Movement" started in the city of Leipzig in Saxony. A public initiative decided to lease areas within the city, with the purpose to make it possible for children to play in a healthy environment, and in harmony with nature. Later on, these areas included actual gardens for children, but soon adults tended towards taking over and cultivating these gardens. This kind of gardening also became popular in other European countries, esp. Germanic countries such as Austria (and its dependencies), the Netherlands and Switzerland.[9][10][11][12][13] In German-speaking countries, allotment gardens are accordingly generally known as Schrebergärten (singular: Schrebergarten), sometimes literally translated as "Schreber gardens". Another common term is "Kleingärten" ("small gardens", singular: Kleingarten).

The aspect of food security provided by allotment gardens became particularly evident during World Wars I and II. The socio-economic situation was very miserable, particularly as regards the nutritional status of urban residents. Many cities were isolated from their rural hinterlands and agricultural products did not reach the city markets anymore or were sold at very high prices at the black markets. Consequently, food production within the city, especially fruit and vegetable production in home gardens and allotment gardens, became essential for survival. The importance of allotment gardens for food security was so obvious that in 1919, one year after the end of World War I, the first legislation for allotment gardening in Germany was passed. The so-called "Small Garden and Small-Rent Land Law", provided security in land tenure and fixed leasing fees. In 1983, this law was amended by the Federal Allotment Gardens Act (de). Today, there are still about 1.4 million allotment gardens in Germany covering an area of 470 km2 (180 sq mi).[14] In Berlin alone there are 833 allotment garden complexes.[15]

As for giving meat to chickens, my girls get anything that the dog or we don't eat, as long as it's still edible. This includes chicken and turkey, excludes luncheon meat and ham b/c of the salt. IMO, it's anthromorphizing to say that animals should't eat their own species. Hens occasionally eat eggs, most often at the beginning of the laying season. they even eat each other if conditions are not right. (that's entirely a different subject, not appropriate for this thread). A nesting hen will eat a quitter egg. This ensures her survival and the survival of her brood of chicks. She gets the protein, and removes a non viable egg which may attract a predator b/c of it's smell. Many fish eat their own species. If it will fit in their mouth, they will eat it.

 

[Dr.Dale]

it's anthromorphizing to say that animals should't eat their own species

There is also the risk of prion diseases. But according to my reasearch there is no known chicken prion disease.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm not willing to feed chicken to chickens. This includes pet foods containing chicken. There are no known prion diseases in poultry. So far. My birds won't starve if the don't get those feeds.
Sadly, venison is off my menu now too. We have chronic wasting disease in deer here in southern Michigan. Creepy!
Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

There is also the risk of prion diseases. But according to my reasearch there is no known chicken prion disease.

Agreed, and IMO, that is b/c chickens were created with the need to "keep the nest clean" and also to elminiate the weaker members from the flock. But, again, I digress, though this subject is related to "feeding the flock" in the absence of "bagged feed". This falls into a "what may be right for me may not be right for you", and is not worthy of argument" category.

 

[lomine]

I wouldn’t normally give any animal lunch meat either, because of the salt, but it was the only leftover meat after lunch. It was the bits left from the sandwiches my niece and nephew didn’t finish. Everyone was a bit sceptical that chickens would eat meat so I wanted to show them. Everyone was highly amused by the game of keep away that ensued after a hen found the first piece.