Seeds for livestock/flock feed?

[ohiofarmgirl]

Is anyone participating in Harvey Ussery's "Home Feeding Project"?

see:
http://themodernhomestead.us/

and from MEN:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Grow-Poultry-Feed-What-Chickens-Eat.aspx

I'm sitting down today to go thru all the seeds I have and what I should order so I can work on my goal of growing some/most/all of the feed we need for our barnyard this year. I know I won't get it all this year but I'd like to start moving in that direction.

I'll have to tackle the grains in a different way but this is the core of what I'll be planting:

* Pumpkins and squash
* Sorghum/broom corn
* Comfrey (thanks BR!)
* Mangel beets and turnips
* Feed corn
* Greens

Whats on your list?

 

[Wifezilla]

Clover

 

[sylvie]

I have concerns about Comfrey and quit using it many years ago.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/comfrey-000234.htm
Not certain if livestock is affected. Jon jeavons used to recommend it as a soil amendment but seems to have discontinued that recommendation. Just throwing this out there.
It sure is a gorgeous plant

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep on the clover - i guess i was throwing that in with the 'grains' but what i meant was grain/hay. i'm really excited about trying barley and such.



and yep - heard all the arguments about comfrey. i know there is a big hubbub about it. Ussery gives both sides. i took a middle position and have 'some' - but really my soil is so bad i needed something to crack it. its out of reach of the goaties and if it goes hog wild i'll get a bulldozer to get rid of it

;-)

ps WZ - your box was full a couple times - did you clean it out??

 

[Wifezilla]

Got it cleaned up

I have dutch white clover and red clover. I am planting the red inside the duck pen and the white I am going to put right on the lawn. There is a part of the yard where the mobile quail pen will go. I am hoping they will forage on that and we will move the pen as needed to give them fresh "pasture".

I also feed shredded zucchini and other squash to the ducks in winter. I take stuff that is aging in the freezer and add it to a bucket of warm water. They LOVE it.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I am interested in growing as much of my own barnyard feeds as I can.

Mostly, I want to grow what I need to feed my poultry.

 

[PamsPride]

Sunflowers

 

[Beekissed]

I tried mangels last year and they did not do well....of course, nothing in my garden did well, so I have plenty of seed with which to try again.

Pumpkins
Squash
Kale & Turnips (my fall crop after corn is done)
Mixed clovers in the paths and for green mulch.
Cover crops of winter wheat, oats, field peas after garden is done for the summer.
Will be storing apples in a better place this next year for greater longevity of storage.
Sunflowers
Shoepeg corn or Country Gentleman Dent
Mangels
Chard
Spinach

 

[Iceblink]

I grew a lot of sunflowers last year, so I know I can if need be, but it was a lot of work, and took up a lot of precious garden space. They are cheap to buy, so I don't think I'll grow them again.

I grew kale, but no-one liked it, sheep or chickens.

This year I'm planning on cutting and drying alfalfa, clover (hay) and pea/bean brush for rabbits. I have read that carrot tops can be dried and fed to rabbits too, so I plan on doing that also.

For the chickens, I am growing miner's lettuce and chickweed.

I may also try Jerusalem artichokes, both for me and the maa maas.

 

[GardenWeasel]

Just got comfrey seeds in my seed order. Left mt big comfrey plant up north and dried some root but it never came up. Antbody grew it from seed? I have clover, sunflowers, broom corn, dent corn, pumpkin, buckwheat and millet for chickens this year. Oh and their favorites tomatoes and collards.