What do you grow to feed the chickens??

[Arielle]

Awesome thread! I'm planting a big garden this year and wanted ideas for planting things for my birds! Thanks everyone!

Hi Only Orps!!!

Go back to the beginning and read. Lots of great ideas posted over the last 2 years. Look for posters that live in a climate similar to yours.

 

[OnlyOrps]

Hi Only Orps!!!

Go back to the beginning and read. Lots of great ideas posted over the last 2 years. Look for posters that live in a climate similar to yours.

I am doing that now! Only on page four so far lol taking notes and reading reading reading!

 

[Arielle]

I did read in some of my gardening books that the compost will only give lush greens and not much fruit. They said to plant in potting soil or dirt with a little fertilizer and when the fruits come then start doing the compost teas about once or twice a week. All supposition on my part yet. lol

But I do like Bee's ideas on the clover. She said it stopped her from gardening barefooted. lol I like the idea of separate raised beds. Some people get their start with just laying down topsoil bags and cutting out the top and fertilizing and planting. It may get to that for me yet I do want to try some straw bales to get a good start on the composting.

I think I have read that too-- great for greens, not fruit. So good for kale, and spinach and lettuce . . . . .I'm too lazy to do compost tea.

I'm too cheap to buy a bag of soil, lol though I love the instant result!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Straw here is more expensive than hay-- sure which it was really cheap. I love the pics I see of the straw vegie gardens!!!

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

My family, my human family that is , eats much better now thanks to feeding the birds!!

 

[LindaB220]

Quote:
Yeah, it's $7 a bale here. But seven of them for $50 will fill a 4' x 8' by 24" tall bed. And after the first year, you just loosen the strings and let it compost in place. Next year add soil on top and keep going. It's cheaper than me trying to do it with soil brought in. Not to mention the work entailed in shoveling. I'm too old to do it but somebody can set my bales up for me and I'll condition and be ready to go.

 

[Arielle]

A good mix is really a combo of soil and humus material. Whatever gets you there!!!

 

[gjensen]

Zone 5 -- all zones are subdivided into a and b. THis is the primary info that you need. THe next is to understand what kind of soil you have in your area. Mine is very different than yours. DO contact the extension service for this. THey have pros to help.

Taking a soil sample to an extension agency is too easy not to do. Some are free, and some charge a very small fee. They will tell us exactly what we need to do. It is especially useful for a new plot. I believe in it. It makes a real difference.

It also goes along with your saving space plan, when you can get more produce from less plants.

 

[gjensen]

http://www.harvesttotable.com/2011/04/small_vegetable_garden_space_s/

An article that explains several methods to grow more than one crop in the same space.

THe key is to grow a faster maturing crop that will be harvested in realtively short time, and then leaving the other crop to fill in that space as it matures days, weeks later.

Getting there!!!

I used to grow pole beans, and I still love the plants. Now I like to grow bush green beans. They are so quick to mature that in our long growing season, I can plant them intermittently between other crops, before, after etc. I grow our green beans for canning like this, and chose varieties that are ready all at once. I chose varieties that produce over a length of time for fresh eating, or plant a pole variety.

I plant carrots where I plant tomatoes. The carrots first of course, but I am harvesting carrots as the tomatoes mature. By pulling the carrots, I am aerating the soil. I do a thick planting, harvesting baby carrots along the way.

There are some other things that I have tried and like. Some that I tried and did not like. There is a lot of possibilities.

 

[gjensen]

Can someone help me out here?

I'm looking in to grow stuff to feed my chickens this year to kinda help cut down the feed costs. I live in Eastern Idaho and am having a hard time figuring out what zone I'm in, can anyone help me?
Does anyone know of anything easy that will grow over here? (just in case I'm missing something)

What chickens need more of than anything is energy. Steamed or boiled potatoes are good suppliers of energy. They are easy for beginning gardeners, and due especially well where you are. They like warm days, and cool nights. The low humidity of your area is helpful against some of the diseases they can be plagued with elsewhere. They can be grown in wire potato towers etc. A large volume can be grown in a small area.

There hang up, there is always a hang up, is their moisture content and they are very low in protein. Appropriately balanced with other feed stuffs, they could be put to good use to help meet their energy needs. I have done this to fatten up cockerels for the table.

It is generally best to grow them supplements, but usually a large savings is not realized. It can cost as much or more than the feed itself. That is not to say that it cannot be done with some creativity and know how. The biggest cost being time and labor.

For me, the best cost savings that I have is letting them out to forage, giving them scraps from the garden and kitchen. We have plenty of rain fall here, and a long growing season.

The ladies here have a lot of good ideas, and try different things.

 

[gjensen]

Arielle, Bee's newest garden plan is the Back to Eden approach. One thing I might warn you about if you plan to use clover between the beds: It's invasive. Also, it attracts bees like crazy. Good for the plants, not so good for you when you're working the area. I have to watch every step when I walk across my lawn because of the heavy growth of white clover. It's not uncommon for my to get nailed by an angry honey bee. See my post to you in an other thread regarding bed development. I recommend a good mulch between those beds. Also, I think you'll be happier with beds that are 4' wide. That gives you 2' of growing space, easy to reach across, on each side of the bed. 3' is not as good for utilizing space.

I like 5' x 20' beds. I do have long arms, and I can work the bed from both sides. I like the 20' lengths. The even 100 sf is easy for me to calculate the qty. of lime etc.

I like landscape fabric and mulch between the beds myself. I like the low maintenance, and the mulch keeps the soil soft etc. Then, clover would not do well here other than early in the year. I used to let the grass grow between the beds, but the labor and expense of cutting that grass is a waste. Though I did dump the grass clippings right on the beds.