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Someone once said that chickens "domesticated themselves" since they often don't get much of anything from people in simpler societies. They mostly clean up what larger livestock and people would waste. On that basis, they chose to come in from the wild.
When I first got a flock of my own chickens, I was visited by Grover, a family friend. This was many years ago and Grover was an old guy . . . he was more than 20 years older than Dad and Dad will be 91 in a couple months. Would that make Grover a forefather?
Anyway, Grover said, "Just feed 'em wheat, that's all we gave our chickens." So I tried giving the chickens just wheat that Winter. They promptly quit laying.
I don't think our forefathers and foremothers expected chickens to lay eggs in the Winter.
A great deal of what is in livestock feed these days is by-products. The grain or whatever has been used for other purposes and what remains is used as animal feed. I think some might be surprised at the cost of the original farm products. One way to look at it is that the modern feed industry is highly efficient.
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I have a large garden and the chickens always get a sampling of veggies thru the growing season. I've also noted how much grass they eat in the backyard. Pastured poultry folks say that up to 30% of their feed can come from pasturing. For the most part, the garden produce isn't easily stored for the Winter months. And, I'm sure, chickens can only eat a limited amount of hay.
What would I do? I'd do things pretty much as I believe our ancestors did - primarily, taking advantage of the chicken's ability to find its own feed. Beyond that, I'd make sure there weren't too many to keep thru the Winter and focus on a simple, survival diet. That, I'm afraid, would be my worse case scenario plan.
Steve
