Treating your flock

[Driley62]

Hello all again,
Last couple months as I go to the grocery store I've been buying small ticket(dollar or two) items out of the produce section to feed our flock that I haven't grown because other than giving them would be a waste. I talked to local producers about taking any "bad" (I use the term very lightly as if it was being tossed because it's past its sellable date but still good) product to give to our flock. But they all already have people that pick it up for their farms and pick it up at a much larger quantity than I'm willing to grab it up at.

Does anyone do the same? If not how often do you go spend say 2 bucks on a head of cabbage, or go buy a couple bags of frozen veggies to give to your flock? This time at our monthly shopping outing we bought 6 bags of frozen veggies and a 2 pound head of cabbage at a grand total of 8 bucks.

 

[nuthatched]

None of the groceries in the area will let anyone take the slightly old produce, too much liability.

 

[Driley62]

None of the groceries in the area will let anyone take the slightly old produce, too much liability.

In our area we're surrounded by farms. My buddy has pigs and gets his produce, bread and anything else he can get his hands on free of charge. He stopped to the salvation army one day and asked if they had any bread that was turning and they handed him a literal truck bed load. Pigs eat anything and a lil mold on bread won't hurt them. That's why it led me to ask this question to the community to see what everyone does.

 

[Show Sebright]

None of the groceries in the area will let anyone take the slightly old produce, too much liability.

Same. Publix won’t do it sadly. I would love to do that

 

[21hens-incharge]

Stores here won't let folks have the trimmings from produce anymore either.

I buy the occasional watermelon if we are expecting high heat but other than that they get our own kitchen scraps. Yesterday 19 birds shared the peelings from 5 apples. Yup not much at all poor abused birdies.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I get plenty of scraps from my own garden. If you don't garden, but are surrounded by farms, might check with neighboring farms if they'll let you pick through their leftovers once the growing season is near the end?

Very rarely I will check in with a local farmstand that sells imperfect produce at a reduced cost, I think it's $1 per lb which is great for organic produce.

 

[Sueby]

I don't buy anything for them, I usually have enough from my own veggies to give them. They get any scraps from cooking, like the broccoli or cauliflower stems, ends & peels of the cukes, ends of romaine lettuce, strawberry tops - etc. Or this time of year they get any extras from the garden or things getting soft in the fridge. I chop everything up tiny & they eat it all, if I leave it too big they get picky.