What do you grow to feed the chickens??

[Kikiriki]

I know almost nothing about fermentation, but I remeber seeing a documentary on how they did it in some real poor place just using bags. I have seen a lot of people post about it on here, but I would be afraid of wasting all that time on a bad batch... One other thing I recall is that once you open a bag you either have to use it all or ensure all air is out of the container. Don't remeber why...

 

[Peaches Lee]

NOthing like nice loose soil to dust bathe!!

Do they eat the non-fruit portions of the tomatoes? That is the poisonous part-- maybe they know? Maybe the same reason they don't touch the peppers?

No, they only eat the fruit. Oh the deliciousness...

 

[Ashburnham]

I planted fig, apple and pear trees in my chooks runs 20 years ago.
They get a lot of free food from the fruit now.

 

[Frost Homestead]

we plant rye grass for our chickens and they love it. they eat it well enough that we never have to mow

 

[Estephanie]

Mine love banana leaves haha they go Crazy for the leaves on my banana Trees.

 

[nikki1]

My girls LOVE the insides of canteloupe, along with the rinds. They also like corn on the cob. Last year I wound up sharing the tomatoes with The Girls. They got all the ones they could reach, and I got the ones at the tops of the vines. (I have a fenced garden this year! :0)

--Nikki

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
It is tropical, but it grows fast enough to start harvesting after 3 months. If you plant a bunch of them like an annual crop (start seeds indoors in warmth) you can use them. You can grow them as an indoor potted tree by cutting off the top, but it needs full light... I would try to keep one tree growing indoors. It gets seeds after eight months. Which would provide your "annual crop" seeds.
THank you!!! Very interesting plant-- I've seen it in a few places now.

 

[Arielle]

I know almost nothing about fermentation, but I remeber seeing a documentary on how they did it in some real poor place just using bags. I have seen a lot of people post about it on here, but I would be afraid of wasting all that time on a bad batch... One other thing I recall is that once you open a bag you either have to use it all or ensure all air is out of the container. Don't remeber why...

Air causes cracked or milled seeds to oxdize; and if it has oils, the oils go rancid. All cracked or milled feed should be used within a short time of that process to get the most from the feed.

Storage of whole grains lasts MUCH longer.

I looked at an experiment done by a BYCer using fermented v not fermented. It was a good experiment with a few flaws-- the next step would be to repeat the experiment with larger numbers of chickens. The inital experiment showed that ferment feeds resulted in healthier birds with better growth.

I think this could be duplicated by adding braggs acv to the water IMO, or adding FastTrack( or other brand) of inteastinal good microbes to the birds via treats.

I have found this true for my own body--I use not yogurt as it has too few, but rather a capsule of 5 billion units. This has kept my GI in far better health. SO I would expect the same for these birds.

Especially birds kept in artificial environments and cannot get to a natural source found by pecking and scratching outside and eating greens and dirt.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: :

YEah-- smart birds!

 

[Arielle]

I planted fig, apple and pear trees in my chooks runs 20 years ago.
They get a lot of free food from the fruit now.

Great minds think alike!!!


I recently thought about growning ( planting) more fruit trees to feed the animals. I would love a fig-- too cold hear and no garage to store it in for the winter--boohoo-- I love love love fresh figs.