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

[TwoCrows]

I agree with @Kusanar I always stand up my bales on end as well and cut the ties. Sheds, barns, garages even a mud room will work well to store your hay if you don't mind some hay stems laying around.

I used to peel off a flake and throw it out to the chickens either outside or in their run. But this is wasteful as much of it never gets eaten and falls away into the dirt or bedding.

So what I do now is to pull off a piece of the top flake and shake it out over a feeding tub. I shake all the leaves out and remove the left over stems. I don't worry about getting every stem out, the birds like to eat a few of them, however whats left in my feeding tub is mostly all leaves. This system of separation only takes a couple minutes to fill a couple of feeding pans and nothing gets wasted other than the stems which there really aren't all that many in a quality bale. (If you keep goats, horses or other livestock, you might feed them the stems if you don't want them to go to waste.) A bale will last a very long time this way, especially if you buy quality alfalfa with a ton of leaves.

 

[Kusanar]

I used to peel off a flake and throw it out to the chickens either outside or in their run. But this is wasteful as much of it never gets eaten and falls away into the dirt or bedding.

I wonder how chickens would do with a slow feed hay net? Small square holes in the net about an inch in size, they can peck at the hay as much as they want, but it keeps it off the ground and keeps it from getting spread everywhere.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I used a scrap piece of fencing (about 12"x18") on the outside of the fence for the run. It is wired to the fence along the bottom so it hinges up and down. When I pull tall weeds, I lay them on the scrap fence and hinge it up so the weeds are flat against the run fence. The chickens will peck at the leaves and seed heads, at the end to the day all that is left is the stems and those go on the compost pile.

 

[TwoCrows]

I wonder how chickens would do with a slow feed hay net? Small square holes in the net about an inch in size, they can peck at the hay as much as they want, but it keeps it off the ground and keeps it from getting spread everywhere.

Not a bad idea! A hay rack might well too, but now that I think about a hay rack, too much could fall out too fast. Just a thought though.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have a length of chicken wire attached morning everyone

 

[Dr.Dale]

I used a scrap piece of fencing (about 12"x18") on the outside of the fence for the run. It is wired to the fence along the bottom so it hinges up and down. When I pull tall weeds, I lay them on the scrap fence and hinge it up so the weeds are flat against the run fence. The chickens will peck at the leaves and seed heads, at the end to the day all that is left is the stems and those go on the compost pile.

Could you post a photo?

 

[Deb T]

This is a great thread. Lots of useful info. Thanks

 

[lazy gardener]

interesting article https://nypost.com/2015/04/26/why-nothing-especially-chicken-tastes-like-it-used-to/

Thanks for posting it. I also noted that the photos were laughable. Not at all representative of the captions.

I read that wheat grass was good for them. I just purchased seed and will try to made fodder with it. Any suggestions on this process would be appreciated

Even though I have a flock of 30 birds, I still sprout in lg. mouth qt. mason jars. I simply find them easy to use and keep clean. I soak grains 12 - 24 hours, then rinse and drain 2 x/day until they are the size I want to feed out at. I like to feed before the grain sheath is more than an inch long. A few hours in a sunny window sill greens them up well. I use these:

I used a scrap piece of fencing (about 12"x18") on the outside of the fence for the run. It is wired to the fence along the bottom so it hinges up and down. When I pull tall weeds, I lay them on the scrap fence and hinge it up so the weeds are flat against the run fence. The chickens will peck at the leaves and seed heads, at the end to the day all that is left is the stems and those go on the compost pile.

I just toss my weeds in the run, but your idea is brilliant!

 

[wyoDreamer]

Could you post a photo?

I will post a photo as soon as I get one, it was freezing rain for the last couple of days and I didn't get out there with a camera.

I like that it keeps the stems in one place for easy clean-up. It also makes it easy to remove those weeds that they will not eat.

 

[kiwi-chick]

There is no animal byproduct in chicken feed. It's all grain products. Check your feed bags.

Actually it depends on which country you live in I guess.

Here in New Zealand some of the commercial feed has animal byproducts and some have plant byproducts. Unfortunately they don't list the exact ingredients in all feed either. Although an accurate list of ingredients is required for Human food, it is not required for animal feed.