What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[Finchbreeder]

I love to shop 2nd hand and recycle. The stuff you get - as long as you look carefully - is as good as new. And no environmental effect from creating more of something that there is already plenty of.
Hubby has made some great furniture out of recycled timber from demolition sites too.
Also with 2nd hand clothes you can have twice as many outfits to chop and change at the same price. So do check the quality - sometimes it is 2nd hand because it is rubbish (rag quality only) but sometimes it is real top stuff that is handmade and outgrown or a quality brand that I would not pay that price for, but will snap up 2nd hand when someone has outgrown it - or just plain is "updating" their wardrobe.

 

[gtaus]

Grass Clippings and Backyard Chickens

I cannot let my chickens free range due to Bald Eagles and hawks overhead all day. They are all confined safely in a chicken run with bird netting on top. They don't normally have access to fresh green grass out in the yard.

Since they don't have the ability to free range, I bring the free range to them in terms of grass clippings. Tonight, for example, I mowed up a small section of my yard and dumped two bins of grass clippings into the chicken run. The chickens love to scratch and peck thorough the grass clippings. I imagine they find a number of tasty bugs in the grass clippings, but I am sure they probably eat some of the clippings as well.

I don't live in town, so I have the luxury of mowing just part of my lawn at a time. That way, my chickens can have fresh grass clippings every few days. I don't mind if my lawn looks a bit uneven.

Chickens don't need grass for their diet. I am sure they would do fine on their commercial feed. But I have noticed that when they have access to fresh greens, the egg yolks are a darker orange. I think that must be a good thing, but I don't know. So, I did a little online research...

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A darker orange egg yolk is generally richer in nutrients and may have a better taste compared to a pale yellow yolk. The color of the yolk is influenced by the hen’s diet, specifically the presence of carotenoids, which are natural pigments found in foods like marigold petals, corn, and leafy greens.

Nutritional Differences​

• Darker yolks tend to have higher levels of antioxidants, including lutein and zeaxanthin, which support eye health.
• They may contain more omega-3 fatty acids, depending on the hen’s diet.
• Pasture-raised hens that forage naturally often produce deeper-colored yolks, which can indicate a higher nutrient density.

Taste Differences

• Some people find that darker yolks have a richer, creamier taste, while pale yolks can be milder.
• The fat content in the yolk can influence texture and flavor, making deep orange yolks more flavorful.

While yolk color is not the only indicator of nutrition, it often reflects a healthier diet for the hen, which can translate to better quality eggs.

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My chickens don't fill themselves up on fresh grass clippings, but it's a nice supplement this time of year. Most of the grass clippings will get scratched and mixed into the chicken run compost litter (mostly leaves), making my end compost even better.

My commercial feed bill goes down almost 50% in the summer when the chickens have access to fresh grass clippings. Some of that is due to them eating grass, I am sure, and all those bugs and worms they find in the chicken run compost.

Depending on how many chickens you have, I recommend only dumping enough fresh grass clippings in the run that they can work through in a short time. It only took about 20 minutes for my 14 chickens to scratch and peck through two bins full of fresh grass clippings, leveling the piles down to nothing, and mixing it into the compost litter.

Those grass clippings will dry out in a day or two and make great litter for the run. If you dump too many grass clippings all at once, a big pile of grass clippings can heat up and smell bad. You want to avoid that. Bad for the chickens, bad for you.

If I have too much grass all at one time, I'll spread the piles around the chicken run so that I don't end up with one large, hot, smelly pile of rotting grass. It's not rocket science, but if you do end with too many grass clippings, you can either add more browns or just bury/mix the grass clippings in the run litter if you have enough.

Grass clippings is one of my great resources. It feeds the chickens, saving me money. It makes better compost when mixed in with browns, like leaves, and that helps me to grow more food in my gardens. I have not had to buy commercial compost for 5 years since I got my backyard flock. That has saved me a lot of money while at the same time my chicken run compost is better than the bagged compost I used to buy.