Feed for chickens?

[On Our own]

I have one store some 12 miles away that carries feed for chickens. My chooks are free ranged much of the summer, but now they are too prone to hawk and fox attacks.

But, I got to thinking: I don't know what to grow to fed my chickens without the help of agribusiness. Sure they'll eat whatever they can, but they only eat a percentage of corn which I could grow and winter prep.

What could I grow and save for the winter months to feed my chickens? Does anyone know how to gauge how much to put up for chickens?

 

[Mini Horses]

Where it is REALLY cold this won't work in dead of winter but, early Spring will....I've taken old bales of hay or wheat straw with seeds in them, wet them & they sprout really well. You can cover them with clear plastic for warmth if needed but not so long as to mold -- maybe at night. Anyway it's also good in summer for those who have to keep their flock penned due to predators. No fuss fresh grass.

If you don't have leaves, etc., for mulches, put a couple large stepping stones or logs, etc. out and move them around once in a while.....bugs a plenty there.

And while we may not be able to raise "all" needed for a winter feed, surely what we can will help. Like others, I raised sunflowers, some milo (will volunteer from scratch if they miss the grain when fed), radishes, kale. Used a "deer feed plot" bag of see for some great clovers, Australian peas, etc. Everyone loved it -- chickens, goats, mini horses. LOL Plan to expand that this year. I also use a good amount of vetch -- good proteins. I make and freeze goat cheeses, thaw in winter and feed chickens.

We CAN feed a good amount naturally and home grown/made.

 

[FarmerDenise]

We grow broom corn, miso, popcorn and millet to suplement the purchased feed. We also let our sweetcorn dry for animal feed.
I have found that the chickens don't care much for storebought corn, but love the homegrown stuff, go figure

I toss the millet sprays to the chickens whole and they love picking out their own seeds. I will also give them broom corn sprays. Broom corn is fairly easy to seperate though, so as the winter progresses I sit in front of the tv and strip the various corn and toss it into the chicken feed bin. I also save other seeds I come across. We have mustard growing wild and I gather it up in late spring, once it has dried and toss it to the chickens as long as it lasts. They love the mustard seeds. I also save seeds from lettuces and broccoli and such. Then if I see some sort of grain or seed on sale (like bird seed, sunflower seed, brown rice, oats etc), I buy it also.

We store the chicken feed in garbage cans. One for crumble one for scratch. I put all the seed type of stuff in the scratch bin. They get this as a treat in the evenings. Since they are out in the field all winter, they are able to find their own goodies during the day.

I also dig up parts of the field, so the chickies can get at the critters and seeds that are buried. They just love it when I do that. I am always amazed at how much they find. They reward me by fertilizing the area I just dug up

I don't worry too much about providing them with a "balanced" meal, since they do get to scavange for their own food. And we have lots of good weeds growing in the field.

 

[Wifezilla]

They'll tear into you over on BYC for this, but I agree that it can be done safely!

No kidding! I suggested feeding ducks naturally and you would have though I said "feed them battery acid". Sheesssh!

There was a whole to-do over angel wing too. I pointed out that I doubted excess protein was the cause because in nature, ducks ate mostly insects, fish, larvae, and aquatic plants (all high in protein) as ducklings yet they didn't get angel wing. Ipso facto, protein (or protein levels alone) are not the issue. In the wild, ducklings do NOT eat corn, wheat or soy. Adult ducks in the fall during migration MIGHT lay over in a farmer's field and do some opportunistic munching, but a young duckling is not going to usually have access to ripe grains. Yet these items are the basis for more commercial feed. Ipso facto, it is more likely that carbohydrates which are not part of a wild ducklings natural diet is the cause.

 

[RobinL]

FD, you so funny!! Is it that time again? *devil horns are a-sproutin'*

Honey in small town TX you will find "yard bird" in everyone's front yard, heck even in the road!! I am almost positive they are all "on their own" too. My mother rarely bought chicken feed. They foraged the yard (about 1 acre), her gardens and ate scraps given out after dinner. (They helped themselves to the cat food as well.)No oyster shells, no grit. We had many chickens that lived a loooonnnng time too, they even produced eggs past their prime.

Its chickens, not rocket science! But don't tell BYC I said that.

What did you give your chickens during the winter when you can't let them free range? We have lots of coyotes, hawks, etc and they won't go out in the snow.

 

[Wifezilla]

Beets? Field peas? Amaranth? Clover?

(I am going to try and get some clover patches growing this year for the ducks)

 

[freemotion]

I have been working on this for a couple of years now. What I've come up with is VARIETY. Protein is the biggest issue, but if you raise your own meat, you should have some stuff that no one wants like lungs, kidneys, etc. Or worm bins for a smaller flock.

Veggies, "lawn hay" which I put up in sacks (especially the first mowings in spring from untreated lawn), acorns, pumpkins, etc. I have considered (but have no time for, it is in my head "just in case....) planting oats and peas for hay for the goats and harvesting it at the milk stage for the goats, then let some go to seed for the chickens and use the straw for bedding.

Gleaning is important for me since I don't have much land.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, there is just no way you can grow enough grain to feed your own flock . . . unless you have acres and farm machinery for bulk harvesting. But on a small scale you could grow oats, field peas, wheat, etc.

I have heard of some people growing a certain type of fly maggot for their chickens . . . that sounds like a concentrated food source that is manageable to an average small flock owner.

 

[big brown horse]

I have heard of some people growing a certain type of fly maggot for their chickens . . . that sounds like a concentrated food source that is manageable to an average small flock owner.

I did that last year. I used meal worms though. No smell, no mess and they multiplied easily. (They lived in a container full of corn meal, layered newspaper, a package of dry yeast and ate from a piece of bread and a few carrots that I tossed in there once a week. The chickens loved them! Now they free range during the day so I don't do that anymore.

Dont forget they will also eat "greens" like kale and lettuce.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Just wanted to add, that we are getting up to 8 eggs a day right now from a total of 14 chickens. That includes 2 hens that haven't layed in a year, one rooster, one that hasn't started laying yet and one broody hen.
I think that proves that they are well fed