Turning Trash Hauls Into Feed

[SeanKriger]

Howdy!

This is going to be one of the craziest posts on the forum. I am a trash diver. I am so efficient at it that I can feed my family of 4 in about 20 minutes of work dumpster diving once a week and about an hour or two of cleaning the food (yes, I wash everything thoroughly). This provides a tremendous amount of food. Let me show you 3 hauls worth.

Pics!

https://imgur.com/a/QQ3s5Vz

The thing is, if I spent about 4 hours, two or three times a week, I could bring home 200-300lbs of scrap food every single week by hitting more locations. I am attempting to start a food share program where I am basically gifting some to people in need. But, that leaves a tremendous amount of vegetable product leftover in both scraps and just flat out stuff we won't eat. There are days when I could grab literally 100lbs of potatoes, bananas, apples, greens of all type, and more. I am genuinely not kidding when I say 100 lbs.

I have a flock of 24 birds. I have been feeding them scraps from my hauls on a treat basis. Albeit, probably more than I should, but the majority of their diet is feed. I want to figure out a way to turn large quantities of food scraps into legitimate substitutes for feed where I can cut back their store-bought feed to only 20-30% of their total feed. Granted, I will still supplement with calcium and grit as needed.

A couple of avenues here. Any feedback is great.

I can put rotting meat scraps into a 50 gallon drum, let flies infest it (or I purchase some type of bug that would infest it- any ideas?), cut holes in the bottom, and let the bugs come out into the coop and get eaten all but immediately.

I would use an industrial apple crusher to grind products into much finer "chips". I add them to 275 gallon totes to create worm towers. Where I am stuck here is the labor involved in getting the worms to the chickens. Reproduction speed isn't the issue. I could have 10-20 of these totes and just let it go slowly but surely. It's how to transfer the worms efficiently and then also the time to harvest the casings. All of these products I can sell, but really I am just after quickly turning food scraps into protein and this seems like alot of work.

What else am I missing. Has anyone tried to harvest significant amounts of trash to supplement feed? I am also going to have rabbit hutches which seem easier to substitute feed, but I sure do like eggs and chickens. Also, I should mention that production volume is of virtually no importance in this system. The trash is basically a free byproduct for me. I'd rather have 1/2 egg production and not use any feed if it were possible.

 

[nuthatched]

Unfortunately, feeding chickens nothing but scraps and larva and little to no poultry feed is a good way shorten their lives and sgns them up for a bunch of health problems.

If you're seeing low egg production, they're starving, chicken feed doesn't make them lay, it supports it.

I'd recommend you read up on what chickens need and don't need in their diet.

 

[Chixnbacn]

If you are sweint low egg production it can be the time of year feed issues sickness theres many things it could be.

 

[FrostRanger]

To clarify, from what I got from the post, op isn't complaining about low production, they are simply stating that they don't mind if production is lower than it would be otherwise (although the point about diet not affecting production as long as its sufficient still stands)

@Perris might have some ideas seeing as she feeds fresh foods to her birds rather than commercial

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I would argue that turning vegetable waste into food for chickens is a (usually) poor substitute for free-ranging. Depending on your location and situation that might be more beneficial and economical than produce. I will tag another chicken nutrition expert because I think this is a very interesting topic @U_Stormcrow

 

[NatJ]

I can put rotting meat scraps into a 50 gallon drum, let flies infest it (or I purchase some type of bug that would infest it- any ideas?), cut holes in the bottom, and let the bugs come out into the coop and get eaten all but immediately.

Do you have access to meat that is not rotting? You can feed the meat straight to the chickens, rather than trying to grow anything in it.

I see cottage cheese in your picture. That can be a source of protein. Other cheese is also a protein source. Liquid milk is more awkward to feed to chickens, and contains more lactose (which chickens do not process as well as many humans do), but there are some chicken feed recipes from about a hundred years ago that used milk as a major protein source in the feed.

Fish can be a good protein source. Also dry beans (cooked).

I should mention that production volume is of virtually no importance in this system. The trash is basically a free byproduct for me. I'd rather have 1/2 egg production and not use any feed if it were possible.

Are you fussy about how long the chickens live and how healthy they are? Some people want each individual hen to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Other people are happy with reasonable health for a few years, and would butcher the hens when they are two or three years old.

You might find this thread handy:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/harvesting-my-chicken-run-compost-black-gold.1529564/
That person has a chicken run that doubles as a compost pile. The chickens scratch and peck and turn the compost, but they also eat quite a bit of it. You might consider something similar with the produce you have available: put it in the chicken run, let them choose what parts to eat, let them compost the rest, and they can pick earthworms and bugs out of the compost. (Most produce is rather wet; you will need to add dry material too, unless you are in a desert. Dry material could include wood chips, straw, dead leaves, paper, and many other things. Those can also make good chicken bedding, so you can put them in the coop first and then clean them out into the run where the composting is happening.)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...eat-tears-a-calculator-or-deep-pockets.78655/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/wholesome-homemade-feed-2.79307/
Here are two articles about feeding chickens from a selection of foods, rather than relying on purchased feed. (The second article is an update to the first, by the same poster.)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-it-was-done-before-commercial-feeds.1555278/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/interwar-recipes-for-chicken-feed.1605509/
Here are two threads that talk about what people used to feed chickens before purchased chicken feed was available. That may give some ideas for what you can use.

Some general ideas:
--you are planning to provide oyster shell and grit. Good.

--I would keep a commercial complete feed available free choice. Chickens usually seem to eat other things first when they can, but the commercial feed is a good backup in case you do not provide enough other things, or if they are short of particular nutrients. I would probably use a chick starter or all-flock type feed, or maybe even a turkey starter/gamebird starter feed (higher protein, but check the cost before deciding.)

--I would provide unlimited vegetables and fruits to the chickens, as many varieties as you reasonably can. It's convenient if the "compost pile" and "chicken run" are the same place.

--Protein is definitely important. Animal-based protein sources will usually have the amino acids in a ratio that is balanced enough you do not have to think about it. Plant-based protein sources tend to be lacking in some amino acids, different from one group of plants to another, which can make it more complicated to balance a chicken's diet. This is not a reason to avoid plant sources, it is just a reason that animal-based ones are easier to work with (that includes meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and probably the bugs that will grow in your compost or chicken run.)

--Chickens need a certain amount of calories for energy. They can get some from the vegetables and fruits, some from the protein sources, some from the purchased chicken food. You should also provide other sources of calories, generally starches and maybe fats. "Starches" can be whole grains, bakery products, pasta, cooked potatoes, and many other things. Fats are pretty obvious.

--Chickens do need some salt in their diet, but not too much. If you provide access to some salty things and plenty of water to drink, the chickens will probably balance their salt intake well enough. "Salty things" include most kinds of prepared foods meant for people (such as cheese or bread or lunchmeat).

--The more things you have available to the chickens, the more it will attract other animals. Make plans to deal with this (example: good fences.) If you trap predators, you could consider this poster's idea:

I feed mine mice, rats, raccoon, possum, and skunks throughout the year when I trap them.

 

[Rillowen]

Howdy!

This is going to be one of the craziest posts on the forum. I am a trash diver. I am so efficient at it that I can feed my family of 4 in about 20 minutes of work dumpster diving once a week and about an hour or two of cleaning the food (yes, I wash everything thoroughly). This provides a tremendous amount of food. Let me show you 3 hauls worth.

Pics!

https://imgur.com/a/QQ3s5Vz

The thing is, if I spent about 4 hours, two or three times a week, I could bring home 200-300lbs of scrap food every single week by hitting more locations. I am attempting to start a food share program where I am basically gifting some to people in need. But, that leaves a tremendous amount of vegetable product leftover in both scraps and just flat out stuff we won't eat. There are days when I could grab literally 100lbs of potatoes, bananas, apples, greens of all type, and more. I am genuinely not kidding when I say 100 lbs.

I have a flock of 24 birds. I have been feeding them scraps from my hauls on a treat basis. Albeit, probably more than I should, but the majority of their diet is feed. I want to figure out a way to turn large quantities of food scraps into legitimate substitutes for feed where I can cut back their store-bought feed to only 20-30% of their total feed. Granted, I will still supplement with calcium and grit as needed.

A couple of avenues here. Any feedback is great.

I can put rotting meat scraps into a 50 gallon drum, let flies infest it (or I purchase some type of bug that would infest it- any ideas?), cut holes in the bottom, and let the bugs come out into the coop and get eaten all but immediately.

I would use an industrial apple crusher to grind products into much finer "chips". I add them to 275 gallon totes to create worm towers. Where I am stuck here is the labor involved in getting the worms to the chickens. Reproduction speed isn't the issue. I could have 10-20 of these totes and just let it go slowly but surely. It's how to transfer the worms efficiently and then also the time to harvest the casings. All of these products I can sell, but really I am just after quickly turning food scraps into protein and this seems like alot of work.

What else am I missing. Has anyone tried to harvest significant amounts of trash to supplement feed? I am also going to have rabbit hutches which seem easier to substitute feed, but I sure do like eggs and chickens. Also, I should mention that production volume is of virtually no importance in this system. The trash is basically a free byproduct for me. I'd rather have 1/2 egg production and not use any feed if it were possible.

You need to look into black soldier fly production. Also duckweed.
As a side, I'm going to share my long term goal with you,
AQUAPONICS! You buy an IBC tote, cut the top off, put water and fish in, have the water routed through plants to clean it, get amazing plant growth and fresh fish for the family, and chickens! My goal is a small green house for this, filling with bluefin carp (cold resistant) with a secondary tank next to the first tank made from the top, much shorter, and fulled with shrimp and duckweed (which would also be added to the big tank occasionally) but with the tap to the original tank on full blast so any fry end up in the second "grow out tank", this is the tank that would empty into the garden beds and eventually be pumped back up into the main tank, after being naturally filtered by feeding your plants!
The best benefit of this is that between the black soldier flies, the chickens, and the carp you have a good source for any and all food waste you find to be turned into viable healthy food for you and the family. The carp get a full diet from BSF, duckweed, shrimp, and scraps. With the shrimp, duckweed, carp, and BSF you would basically have a complete chicken feed if you just add brown rice, greens and herbs regularly. (But you may want to look into other sources for amounts/balancing on that)
This might be more work than you want to do, but most found food i have stumbled across was on the edge of edible, so I wanted to share a more complete "upcycling" plan for it for you.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You need to look into black soldier fly production. Also duckweed.
As a side, I'm going to share my long term goal with you,
AQUAPONICS! You buy an IBC tote, cut the top off, put water and fish in, have the water routed through plants to clean it, get amazing plant growth and fresh fish for the family, and chickens! My goal is a small green house for this, filling with bluefin carp (cold resistant) with a secondary tank next to the first tank made from the top, much shorter, and fulled with shrimp and duckweed (which would also be added to the big tank occasionally) but with the tap to the original tank on full blast so any fry end up in the second "grow out tank", this is the tank that would empty into the garden beds and eventually be pumped back up into the main tank, after being naturally filtered by feeding your plants!
The best benefit of this is that between the black soldier flies, the chickens, and the carp you have a good source for any and all food waste you find to be turned into viable healthy food for you and the family. The carp get a full diet from BSF, duckweed, shrimp, and scraps. With the shrimp, duckweed, carp, and BSF you would basically have a complete chicken feed if you just add brown rice, greens and herbs regularly. (But you may want to look into other sources for amounts/balancing on that)

I'm looking into aquaponics. Its neither cheap nor easy. I'll be doing it - already have the totes (2) and have laid out the plumbing. Getting the water temps and pH into an acceptable range can be challenging, same with the nitrogen cycle. Local laws may impact which fish you can use as well. I'd love to use tilapia, they are the easiest/ most pH and temp tolerant for me, but also illegal for use in hydroponics in my state. Catfish are nearly as good.

Not saying it can't be done, just that you should expect some failures along the way.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Howdy!

This is going to be one of the craziest posts on the forum. I am a trash diver. I am so efficient at it that I can feed my family of 4 in about 20 minutes of work dumpster diving once a week and about an hour or two of cleaning the food (yes, I wash everything thoroughly). This provides a tremendous amount of food. Let me show you 3 hauls worth.

Pics!

https://imgur.com/a/QQ3s5Vz

The thing is, if I spent about 4 hours, two or three times a week, I could bring home 200-300lbs of scrap food every single week by hitting more locations. I am attempting to start a food share program where I am basically gifting some to people in need. But, that leaves a tremendous amount of vegetable product leftover in both scraps and just flat out stuff we won't eat. There are days when I could grab literally 100lbs of potatoes, bananas, apples, greens of all type, and more. I am genuinely not kidding when I say 100 lbs.

I have a flock of 24 birds. I have been feeding them scraps from my hauls on a treat basis. Albeit, probably more than I should, but the majority of their diet is feed. I want to figure out a way to turn large quantities of food scraps into legitimate substitutes for feed where I can cut back their store-bought feed to only 20-30% of their total feed. Granted, I will still supplement with calcium and grit as needed.

A couple of avenues here. Any feedback is great.

I can put rotting meat scraps into a 50 gallon drum, let flies infest it (or I purchase some type of bug that would infest it- any ideas?), cut holes in the bottom, and let the bugs come out into the coop and get eaten all but immediately.

I would use an industrial apple crusher to grind products into much finer "chips". I add them to 275 gallon totes to create worm towers. Where I am stuck here is the labor involved in getting the worms to the chickens. Reproduction speed isn't the issue. I could have 10-20 of these totes and just let it go slowly but surely. It's how to transfer the worms efficiently and then also the time to harvest the casings. All of these products I can sell, but really I am just after quickly turning food scraps into protein and this seems like alot of work.

What else am I missing. Has anyone tried to harvest significant amounts of trash to supplement feed? I am also going to have rabbit hutches which seem easier to substitute feed, but I sure do like eggs and chickens. Also, I should mention that production volume is of virtually no importance in this system. The trash is basically a free byproduct for me. I'd rather have 1/2 egg production and not use any feed if it were possible.

There's a commercial garbage operation that composts the piles and lets chickens free range it. I'll find the links. It involves a LOT of assumptions, and you have to accept that your birds will be less productive than they potentially could be. Will benefit from choosing less "purpose built" birds whose nutritional needs tend to be higher in favor of leaner, lighter, less frequent layers. You have also introduced a significant disease vector.

BSFL is a great idea when it works, they need a particular temp range. Too hot for me - I tried it. Other, similar, ideas have differing desired temp ranges - find the one that works for you.

After that, not much I can add. The inputs are unknown and unknowable, so no accurate calculations can be made, except to say that the food is of low nutritional density, so they will have to eat a lot to meet their daily nutritional needs.

 

[Rillowen]

I'm looking into aquaponics. Its neither cheap nor easy. I'll be doing it - already have the totes (2) and have laid out the plumbing. Getting the water temps and pH into an acceptable range can be challenging, same with the nitrogen cycle. Local laws may impact which fish you can use as well. I'd love to use tilapia, they are the easiest/ most pH and temp tolerant for me, but also illegal for use in hydroponics in my state. Catfish are nearly as good.

Not saying it can't be done, just that you should expect some failures along the way.

Oh great! I have been wanting someone wit experience to talk to about it. We are allowed talapia in my state, but also blue fin. Since blue fin carp have a wider temperature range and pH (we are zone 6, so they will need to tolerate beliw 40) thats my pick for now. I was going to route the water pipes through a 5ft section of ground dug 4ft deep, so the geothermal effect would make the water going back in warmer, or colder in summer, apx 50° year round where we live. Between that and the black paint on the tote in a green house it should stay plenty warm for the bluefin, but hopefully cool enough in summer. The ph I havnt quite planned out yet. I'm not sure how much the shrimp and duckweed will change things. I know duckweed is very efficient at converting nitrogen. I was also going to grow tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries in it since they are all acid and nitrogen loving/absorbing, with a plot of greens towards the end. The best nitrogen absorber is melons, but i think their aggresive root growth might break things. Past that im not really sure.