When & If Food Becomes Scarce??

[Goodegg1]

Hello-

I have a question to all who have been raising chickens for years. Not to be bleak, or looking at the frowning side of life, but if food for chickens becomes scarce, what alternative is there to feed a brood of any size? I'd appreciate an answer from those who have been raising chicks and might have this knowledge.

Thanks,
Goodegg1

 

[Beekissed]

Hello-

I have a question to all who have been raising chickens for years. Not to be bleak, or looking at the frowning side of life, but if food for chickens becomes scarce, what alternative is there to feed a brood of any size? I'd appreciate an answer from those who have been raising chicks and might have this knowledge.

Thanks,
Goodegg1

My grandma always fed chicks cornmeal...that's all. If that even is scarce, then chicks can be raised just fine by a broody on their natural diet of bugs, worms and grasses.

 

[roostersandhens]

 

[JDchicks]

Sorry, I have not run into this problem. But I do find that we have limited greens in the winter, and we offset with growing winter wheat to feed as well.

Hopefully, more members will pipe in and can offer some additional suggestions.

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have you here

I have very little natural feed living in the desert
so I always get a large bag of the cheapest Rice
and them chickens will start making some big time
noise till they get it now

I do not believe there is a shortage of rice yet

 

[Sakmeht]

I've wondered this, too.

I have cornmeal and rice, as well as wheat berries, but they wouldn't last for long. I'd imagine if you had room you could grow some alfalfa and wheat? My chickens are in our small backyard and there wouldn't be much for them to eat in the winter time unless I had something for them.

 

[DeckDuck]

I have a wonderful book called The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe (http://www.amazon.com/The-Resilient-Gardener-Production-Self-Reliance/dp/160358031X) that talks about how to feed ducks in hard times. Some points are growing winter squash and potatoes, which can be more reliable in difficult years than grains, and boiling them to feed to the birds. She also recommends that if you do not have enough food to feed your birds completely, you should always feed them what you have before night so that: a) the birds are not locked in a coop all night with no food and unable to do anything about their hunger and b) if you let the birds free range all day without breakfast, they will be motivated to find as much food as possible for themselves. You can also create habitat that increases the amount of food available in the area you free range the birds. Plant trees and shrubs that make fruit, seed some quality forage on the ground, rotate pastures, make compost piles and mulch to scratch through for bugs, etc. Mulberry trees are supposed to be great for feeding chickens. I've also learned through personal experience that I can hang black walnut hulls and wormy chestnuts in sacks above the chicken run and lots of tasty worms will fall onto the ground for the birds.

I think that there's a lot that can be done to keep birds happy in that kind of situation. You just have to be creative with obtaining your own food for the birds. Ideally, you could take things that you wouldn't have eaten anyway (like wormy chestnuts. Eew!) and turn them into eggs this way.

 

[donrae]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hickens-when-we-cant-buy-chicken-feed-anymore

Lots of discussion here. There are also several threads on home made chicken feed formulas, and some on growing your own feed.