If the SHTF how will you feed your chickens?

[freemotion]

Yes, but, we can only free range part of the year. 4 or 5 months at best.... so I'm wondering what I can do to feed them to keep that quality up in the long long long winter we have.

I think the sunlight has a LOT to do with it, too. Other critters, like beef cattle, will have a high level of Omega III's in their fat if on pasture.

I make lawn hay in the spring/summer and feed it all winter when there is snow cover. Sprouted grains, too.

I feed no commercial feeds, only whole foods and grains. Production did NOT drop when I made the switch.

The sprouted grains provide protein, but whenever I have meat scraps that the hens can have...they go to town on them! If we were living on our land and what we can produce exclusively, I would probably can up some of the offal and boil up heads and such for the hens as well. Ick. May it never come to that!

There are always worm bins in the cellar and solder fly grubs to be raised. Future project for me.

 

[sufficientforme]

Also, check your local grocery stores, mine has a "chicken food" bin in the back of the produce section, year round. They fill it with over ripe fruit and veggies. You have to get there early though, free chicken/pig food is a hot commodity around here.

Kale is an easy green to grow and my chickens and ducks go gaga over it.

Great idea about sprouting Bee, thanks to free, I already feed my horses soaked (in whey and water) whole oats. I now am feeding less than 1/2 of what they used to eat.

I soak and rinse them in a big batch on the weekend and then store them in the "beer fridge" during the week in a covered 5 gallon bucket. So far, so good. (Fat, glossy horses, even my 26+ year old.)

BBH & FREE, a little off subject can I soak oats without whey? I do not have any. I spend a fortune on feed not having pasture. What else would be a good equivalent

 

[big brown horse]

You can use a few glugs of raw apple cider vinegar too per gallon of water, like "Mrs. Braggs".

I had a meal worm bin for one winter, I kept it in the living room, no ick factor at all. (I fed them bread, carrots, corn meal and yeast. No bad smell at all.)

 

[PunkinPeep]

If TPHTF

Well, we're blessed in that if they had to, my chickens could really survive on just the foraging. It very rarely snows around here, and there is pretty much always something growing.

But because i love my chickens, i also have plans (shamefully not action quite yet) to start raising crickets. Crickets are (from what i've read) completely sustainable once you get your initial order, and they have very high levels of protein and calcium for the chickens.

Also, we have rabbits, which make much preferred worm food.

And if that all fails, we live close enough to a lake that we can go fishing and share with our chickens.

I'm a little bit more concerned about what we'll do for the dogs, but we hope to get to the point that we're raising enough rabbits that rabbits will be dog food. Haven't gotten there yet, but we're on the road toward it.

And the rabbits will have to start learning to eat a lot more greens than pellets.

I really try to keep in mind the ss way when developing my methods for raising and feeding my animals - but i'm afraid i'm not there yet. Bingo (one of my dogs) has learned to catch and eat squirrels, so he's ahead of me. As long as he doesn't learn to catch my rabbits.

 

[freemotion]

BBH & FREE, a little off subject can I soak oats without whey? I do not have any. I spend a fortune on feed not having pasture. What else would be a good equivalent

You can just use water (preferably unchlorinated) because the lactic acid producing bacteria are everywhere, but the whey speeds up the process. The vinegar will remove the phytates, which inhibit germination, too.

I am fermenting corn for my pigs and the hens LOVE it!

 

[MorelCabin]

For those of you who live in a climate that gets little to no snow, your chickens could very well live on foraging. I tried it on three of my hens one summer as an experiment...and they were the healthiest chickens I ever had withing a couple of weeks of having to forage for everything. I was amazed! It wouldn't work in the winter here though...at least I don't think so, but who knows...maybe it would.
The problem with foraging chickens is that you can never find thier eggs, because they lose thier attachment to thier nesting boxes and use the henhouse only for night shelter. At least, that is what happened in my experience

 

[Rebbetzin]

I keep about a months worth of feed for my dog and chickens on hand. I rotate it month by month. The chickens could fend for themselves in the yard, if my fence were higher.


For years my husband has been urging the congregation...

Have on hand 30 to 90 days of non perishable food.
Keep your primary vehicle 3/4 tank full or better at all times.
Cash OUTSIDE the banking system to pay essential bills (mortgage, rent, utilities. fuel for vehicles for 60 to 90 days.)
Passports ON YOU... Where are we going? Who knows?
But... if you don't have a passport, you aren't going anywhere.

Many of us waited thinking things can't get worse, in Germany and Eastern Europe in the 1930's and '40's, but soon we were unable to get passports and leave the country. NEVER AGAIN.

 

[Farmfresh]

During the depression my Grandma Nettie said they fed their chickens road kill. Remember they ARE omnivores... they will eat anything. I suppose you could also use a dead something and grow them some nice juicy maggots.

 

[PunkinPeep]

For those of you who live in a climate that gets little to no snow, your chickens could very well live on foraging. I tried it on three of my hens one summer as an experiment...and they were the healthiest chickens I ever had withing a couple of weeks of having to forage for everything. I was amazed! It wouldn't work in the winter here though...at least I don't think so, but who knows...maybe it would.
The problem with foraging chickens is that you can never find thier eggs, because they lose thier attachment to thier nesting boxes and use the henhouse only for night shelter. At least, that is what happened in my experience

The other thing about them foraging all the time is that they won't let you take two steps in the yard without begging for food. At least that's what mine did. They always thought i should be bringing them something, and they would trip me to beat it out of me.

Maybe it would be different if i wasn't giving them anything AT ALL.

 

[ninny]

I've been free ranging mine for years now. You do not have to feed them anythingelse. They will still use the nestboxes. If they stop put a couple of golfballs in them and lock them in the coop for a week or so. They get the idea. Please feed them if your going to lock them in though.