What happened to the price of feed?????

[speckledhen]

Quote:
$11.50? non dusty? Porcine animal protein? Can you send me some?

You should see if any of your local feed stores can order you some Tucker Milling feeds. They are in Alabama.

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Northern Bobwhite Initiative requires us to plant things such as corn, sorghum, beans, etc. NO GRASSES.

We have to pay money for the seed, fertilizer, tractor fuel, etc. It's alot of work and requires a rather large expense to get a small return.

That's fine if y'alls is done differently than ours. I just didn't like the general reference that lumps everyone together. It don't work that way here.

I agree it's a lot of hard work and a lot of expense with very little return. No matter what the specifics of any CRP program, a piece of ground is in the program because by it being farmed it took away from some other resource. In your case quail habitat.

Katy,
We do plant Lespedza in our CRP plots. I just don't consider that 'grass.' Most probably would.

I really didn't mean to argue with you and apologize if it came out that way. But nearly all the land we farm would seem 'marginal' in Kansas. lol.
doc

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
this is one of the best ways to reduce food, not to mention its more food for you too.........I just a read a book written in 1913 talking about mulberries and persimmon as 2 of the best things you could plant for people and livestock/poultry food as well.

Well,....of course. I started my chicken/research in B.C. (Before Computers) and all my best working results came from experienced writers of the subject matter. There is a lot of information on the internet now-a-days, but most of it seems to be ideas from non-practicing want-a-bes. There is a lot of good animal husbandry information out there-----and a lot of fertilizer!!!!!

 

[JulieNKC]

Quote:
this is one of the best ways to reduce food, not to mention its more food for you too.........I just a read a book written in 1913 talking about mulberries and persimmon as 2 of the best things you could plant for people and livestock/poultry food as well.

Well,....of course. I started my chicken/research in B.C. (Before Computers) and all my best working results came from experienced writers of the subject matter. There is a lot of information on the internet now-a-days, but most of it seems to be ideas from non-practicing want-a-bes. There is a lot of good animal husbandry information out there-----and a lot of fertilizer!!!!!

I just cut down a persimmon tree because it was blocking all the sun.

My chickens weren't touching them though. There are 3 mulberry trees they adore though. Their run joins with the garden fence, I intend on letting them in there before I plant in the spring. I'm also using the cage idea, and am planning on planting squash and pea vines along their fence, which is why I cut down the persimmon, I needed more sun. There are also apple and pear trees in the yard, but I've yet to see them eat those either, although I imagine the windfall fruit attracts bugs that maybe they eat.

 

[Terri O]

Great idea Dark Matter! I love my mulberry trees...just hate the purple bird poop on my laundry!

I wish my garden wasnt all the way across the yard from the chicken area...that is a great idea to let them in there to do the work. I am planning on trying your idea with the tires and fencing to grow more food for them. I will have to say when I showed my daughter the pick of you feeding the guinea a mulberry she thought it was our back yard! Made me laugh!

I thought my feed mill was bad at over $13 for 50# of layer...it is only 4 miles away though...Terri O

 

[jamband]

Quote:
this is one of the best ways to reduce food, not to mention its more food for you too.........I just a read a book written in 1913 talking about mulberries and persimmon as 2 of the best things you could plant for people and livestock/poultry food as well.

Well,....of course. I started my chicken/research in B.C. (Before Computers) and all my best working results came from experienced writers of the subject matter. There is a lot of information on the internet now-a-days, but most of it seems to be ideas from non-practicing want-a-bes. There is a lot of good animal husbandry information out there-----and a lot of fertilizer!!!!!

permies.com is a really great site with a forum. Its based in permaculture....lots of topics on raising animals with little or no bought food etc......some good stuff

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Persimmon trees are clonal groves, there should be more sprouts elsewhere and it will probably regrow. You also require a male persimmon tree within a half mile or so to get your female persimmons to bear fruit. I got my persimmons originally by transplanting a female sprout from a clonal grove bearing fruit. I lucked out and had a male persimmon tree in my woods. You can tell the male from the female trees year round if you look at the flower spurs, females have one; males have a cluster of three.
There is another tale of fruit trees and chickens. There was this farm which planted a few plum trees that never bore fruit to ripening due to attacks from the plum curculio beetle. They gave up and allow calves into the area and chickens----that year the fruit trees bore baskets of ripe plums. It seems that the calves would rub up against the trees to scratch themselves and the beetles would drop to the ground as a defense mechanism---which didn't work in this case because the chickens ate them.

 

[Terri O]

Now I know what to do with my non-bearing plum trees! Oh yeah...if you have geese you never have any rotting fruit (pears or apples) on the ground below your trees to draw the yellow jackets! Terri O

 

[epeloquin]

Fuel prices will always have an adverse effect on prices. Everything we consume is transported using fuel so when fuel prices go up and stay up we will feel the pinch.

 

[FrenchToast]

That's funny that your chickens don't eat the apples. Mine love them !!