Winter Feed Cost and Growing Fodder

[Windywoo]

Remember guys, there are a lot of different chicken keeping opinions. We can still get along though!


I ferment feed. In the winter I keep it inside the garage or house. I feed it to them once or twice a day (depending on the weather) and they eat most of it at mealtimes, before it freezes. Then they snack on what's left before the next meal time.

I grow fodder for them, just a container every week or so. I green it in the sun (in a window in winter, not a lot ton of sun but it's something) to so that it has extra vitamins. Fresh greens in winter are really good for them!

I've started growing mealworms. They are easy and take almost no space. But it takes a while to build a sizable colony up.

I have a bag of Wild Garden Seed's "chicken lettuce/critter mix" that I plan to try soon. Basically, it's a lettuce seed mix that you can grow in a small space for animals. Haven't tested it yet but I have high hopes!

But the number #1 thing that cuts down on feed costs for me is SCRAPS! Kitchens scraps. Old leftovers and stuff. (Garden scraps in summer) You'd be amazed how well this works! Just make sure to check what foods to avoid in the Chicken Treats Chart article on BYC. I can't pull up the exact link right now, but it's called something like that.

Fodder System Success!! Greens in the winter, lots of snow and -20 Celsius View attachment 2966897View attachment 2966898View attachment 2966902View attachment 2966903View attachment 2966904

I've just started growing fodder, too, and have had a problem with white furry looking growths, possibly mold or mildew? Do you have any suggestions? This is happening after the grain starts to look like "grass".
I've really had good luck with fermenting grain and so far this has worked the best and been the easiest. I use it for a supplemental treat about 2 hours before they go to roost at night.

P.S. my flock eats "grass" like a herd of cows!

 

[Windywoo]

I can't help you out with advice on the feed but I see some good suggestions here. Are you aware that they need a certain amount of daylight to lay? We gave ours a night light, 75w bulb, to keep an owl away & so far this month they beat their record number of eggs for 3 months last year during the Summer. By the end of this month they could exceed their monthly average of last year. I was late turning the light on one evening & that's when I noticed the owl & got the light turned on just in time. We convert table scraps into eggs as much as possible. I read somewhere to boil potato peelings before feeding them to the chickens because they're toxic to them.

You could get a 24 hour timer to plug a light into and it would remember for you, lol. I love those and they are pretty cheap.

 

[Sally PB]

I've just started growing fodder, too, and have had a problem with white furry looking growths, possibly mold or mildew? Do you have any suggestions? This is happening after the grain starts to look like "grass".

Where is the white furry stuff growing? Can you post a picture?

 

[Windywoo]

I've since given up on raising fodder because of this issue. This is a pan at least 1 1/2 weeks past using. The fuzz started between the stems at seed level about the time I was going to use it. I wasn't sure whether it would hurt the chickens, so I didn't serve it.
I did read something about soaking grain with a mild bleach or hydrogen peroxide solution, then rinsing well, before sprouting it to remove any mold etc, on the grain, idk.

 

[Sally PB]

Yeah, that's some serious mold. Toss that out.

Someone (can't remember who!) said he soaked his sprouting grains in a 5% (?) bleach solution for ? hours.

This isn't much help, but I can't look up the thread atm, sorry!

 

[Silexian]

Unless you are just wanting a boredom buster for you as well. Check at local food banks. We volunteer at one here locally. They are happy to let us take produce that is out of date, but not spoiled. To feed to our livestock. Since they cannot give it out to people. We usually get a nice mix of different greens (baby, collard and mustard) kale and cabbage.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

I give my chickens all of the appropriate kitchen scraps and it really does help save feed.

You must have a small flock or a big family. We have about 30 hens (with two roosters) and it's just my husband and I, so the kitchen scraps wouldn't make a difference in how economical feeding them can be.

We have game birds and they roam free (which I thinks is what does help us to reduce the feeding bill; but I know many people don't have that opportunity), so they eat their special feed with tones different grains, eat bugs and greens around the property (clover, grass).
I was wondering about the fodder, if it would be something just for caged birds really or birds that have to stay indoors because of bad weather...?

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

Ive seen birds lose weight being fed fermented and my chickens wont eat fodder as chickens dont eat grass they eat bugs. Right now im saving on feed by buying the cheapest feed and also corn as i get that free.

My chickens (all 30 of them) eat grass and clover and other greens... And not because I thought of giving it to them, they roam free and eat it by themselves. Do not all breeds eat greens...?

 

[TOPChickens14]

You must have a small flock or a big family. We have about 30 hens (with two roosters) and it's just my husband and I, so the kitchen scraps wouldn't make a difference in how economical feeding them can be.

We have game birds and they roam free (which I thinks is what does help us to reduce the feeding bill; but I know many people don't have that opportunity), so they eat their special feed with tones different grains, eat bugs and greens around the property (clover, grass).
I was wondering about the fodder, if it would be something just for caged birds really or birds that have to stay indoors because of bad weather...?

I actually have 44 hens. I also have a large family. The main reason I want to grow fodder is that it is the winter where I live and they are staying inside a lot and bored most of the time. I am also looking to feed them fodder to give them some fresh greens in addition to kitchen scraps.

 

[NatJ]

My chickens (all 30 of them) eat grass and clover and other greens... And not because I thought of giving it to them, they roam free and eat it by themselves. Do not all breeds eat greens...?

Every breed I've ever seen was happy to eat greens. Yes, they like to wander around and eat a bit of this and a bit of that-- grass and clover and bugs and worms and so on.