Winter feeding ???

[bulldog-girl]

What do y'all do in the winter when the fresh veggie and fruit scraps are nil to sparse? I just got my girls and so far they have loved the bounty of summer. I was thinking about making them homemade cornbread with no salt for winter. Along with the mentioned oatmeal.

What do the rest of you do? I have even called some local markets to be added to the "scrap" list for produce but I am already too late. Too many people ahead of me for that stuff.

Thanks!

 

[fullhouse]

If you want cheap and easy get a few plastic window boxes and plant them with grass seed inside. Take one out and rotate/replant all winter. You need a good sunny window where no one is going to knock it over though

 

[keljonma]

Winter/cold weather veggies/fruits: apples, carrots, peas, cabbage, kale, spinach, greens, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash, cranberries, sprouts.

Make corn, berry or pumpkin muffins, using your regular recipe, leave out sugar or cut in half, substitute eggs for the oil, if you want. Leave out all salt.

Our flock likes this bread -
Egg Bread for Chickens
10 egg yolks or whole eggs
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup oatmeal
1/4c wheat germ

Mix with enough water to make a batter. Bake at 300°F for about 1 hour.

 

[bulldog-girl]

Thanks so much!! I was going to plant a winter garden for the family so was hopeing to have extra to share with the girls.

Great Idea about the grass seed. I will have some empty raised garden beds. I should plant them with grass seed or pasture seed. Or maybe a cover crop like fava. Can chickens have fava?

Thanks also for the chicken bread recipe. Sounds yummy(to a chicken that is)

 

[fullhouse]

There is a treat chart here somewhere with all the OK foods listed.

Also, forgot to mention. Check garden centers/green houses for the 2008 seed packs. Ours gave us literaly hundreds free. They were going to toss them. The drug store had them 20/$1 Many can be fall grown, inside grown, or spring grown next year. Lots of spinach and lettuce.

 

[Elly]

I plan on shopping for the out dated greens and fruits at my grocery store...They always have a cart with bags of spinage, celery,carots etc. that are dirt cheap because they have gone soft or wilted. Picked up two bags of spinage for 40 cents each. I only have five hens so doing it this way doesn't get too expencive.