[crittermommy]

I'm a newbie to this forum and also a newbie to preparedness and homesteading. This is the first year we have had chickens and I'm learning a lot on another site called backyardchickens.com But, I was wondering, what do you do if for some reason you cannot obtain or cannot afford chicken feed? My chicks do free range but I don't think they could survive doing that. Suggestions? Would you stockpile their feed just as you would food for yourself? Thanks!

 

[Prepping]

I know nothing about chickens, but I happen to like eating them and I want to ensure their continuation...

A guy raising a whole lot of chickens confirmed something I suspected, if you live in temperate, decent part of the country and have the right chickens and a whole lot of land, you can use chicken tractors, but you gotta keep moving them, sometimes even daily.

In a pinch, can't you eat the chicken scratch if need be?

 

[kev]

But, I was wondering, what do you do if for some reason you cannot obtain or cannot afford chicken feed? My chicks do free range but I don't think they could survive doing that. Suggestions? Would you stockpile their feed just as you would food for yourself? Thanks!

Processed chicken feed is good for a couple of months, then it starts to degrade. I would not advise stockpiling hundreds of pounds of chicken feed over a long period of time.

Oats - oats stored in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers can stay viable for close to 20 years, if stored properly.

Corn - dried corn stored in mylar bags can be ground and fed to chickens.

Worms - worms from compost bins.

Table scraps - as long as the scraps do not contain anything that will harm the chickens.

Foraging - given enough land, and variety of greenery, chickens can do well.

The problem with foraging is that during the winter months bugs for protein will probably be scarce. And, if you live in a northern state at gets a lot of snow, the ground will be covered.

If you live in a southern state that does not get any snow, then the chickens should be able to forage.

Keep in mind chickens come from a wild jungle fowl. Chickens love to dig around in leaves, around trees, through the grass.

When I let my chickens free range, they will eat the leaves off the weeds until the weds die. They eat just about anything and everything.

 

[Grendle]

You can grow their feed. Plant a small patch of wheat and oats or some other grains. They will get a lot of their food in the summer if they free range but they must be fed to get decent weight gain and egg production. Feed them you scraps too.

Grains grow as easy as grass. Grow it and store it. You can also make good use of the strw as winter bedding for them and them mulch for the garden.

 

[Grendle]

Oh, and road kill too. They like meat and bugs.

 

[crittermommy]

Wow, thanks, I didn't expect such a quick response. We live in the Pacific NW so even though it doesn't get below freezing here very often, we do get snow. Also, as you know, it rains constantly. I will think about growing some grains for them to store, and they do get table scraps. Ironically, we also have a worm business, but don't want the chickens to eat all our profit!

 

[kev]

Wow, thanks, I didn't expect such a quick response. We live in the Pacific NW so even though it doesn't get below freezing here very often, we do get snow. Also, as you know, it rains constantly.

In that kind of situation with the rain, you will need a way to keep the chickens dry.

A good chicken coop is what you will need for sure.

I will think about growing some grains for them to store, and they do get table scraps. Ironically, we also have a worm business, but don't want the chickens to eat all our profit!

Grains, greens, veggies.

Cabbage, rutabagas, turnips, radishes,,, for a few examples.

My chickens do not care for spinach too much. But they will tear moist dog food up.

If the cat or dog does not eat the last bites of moist food, I put it out for the chickens. They almost fight over it.

Spam - my chickens love spam. I can dump a can of spam onto a plate, put it out for the chickens, and they will tear that spam UP.

 

[hanzy4200]

I'm gonna throw all my neighbors cats in a wood chipper for my hens. It'll be like a peanut scramble.

 

[Prepping]

Wow, thanks, I didn't expect such a quick response. We live in the Pacific NW so even though it doesn't get below freezing here very often, we do get snow. Also, as you know, it rains constantly. I will think about growing some grains for them to store, and they do get table scraps. Ironically, we also have a worm business, but don't want the chickens to eat all our profit!

The info I was passing about the free range chickens was from the Puget Sound Area...the guy runs a mix of chickens, says that he's found buff orpingtons are his favorite for egg layers in this area and someone else I know who did a lot of research went with them as well.

Me...I just wanna keep eating those eggs...


Worm business!?!?!

Neat!

 

[kev]

If you wanted to do some long term grain storage forum your chickens, I would store oats and corn. Both sealed in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and stored in the house should last anywhere from 15 - 20 years.

Oats are a good source of protein. Supplement foraging with oats, cracked corn, and maybe some vienna sausages or spam.

I would be a little worried about the salt content in the canned meats.

Even table scraps with meat would help the chickens protein intake.

I wonder how cooked pinto beans would be for chickens?

 

[Wombat]

Kev has just about covered it. You may want to look into finding the nearest acorn(Oak) tree, and put away a few pounds. In the shell, and bug free they last for a few years, Hulled and in vac bags or the freezer they last much longer.

 

[FarmerJohn]

I would add on the free range keep traps out so you can catch the critters that want to eat your food

 

[ColoradoGal]

go to fermented feed completely and implement a fodder system to supplement their free ranging.

 

[prettypaisley]

Not just road kill but the maggots that come from the road kill. I killed a couple of snakes a few weeks ago and threw them out in the woods. The maggots came fast and to speed it up (and make all just go away) I poured some feed on the snake/maggot mess and the chickens thought they had hit paydirt. So you could literally gather road kill and bring it home to your birds.

 

[Meandmine]

My chickens eat anything we do and a lot of stuff that we never would. they love anything cooked. Some stuff they will eat cooked before they eat it uncooked if they eat it then at all. Garden leftovers, whatever you have.

I get all kinds of grain form the bagging plant at work and feed mine some every day but they are 100% free range, roosting in trees and such. I sour grain for my hogs and have found they chickens love the stuff after it has soaked, more so that dry. Kind of like cooking it I guess.

 

[CRC]

Dont forget that when you have surplus eggs (and you will!) You can scamble some eggs and feed them to the chickens. Its a great source of protein for the chickens and is better for them than processed meats. Just be sure to scramble them, you dont want to feed the chickens raw eggs because that can encourage some chickens to eat the eggs in the nest. You can also bake the shells and grind them to feed back to the chickens.

Oh, ditto on the Buff Orpingtons.....they are my favorite breed. Calm, easy to handle and very reliable layers

 

[wilderness bushman]

my understanding was not to feed your birds raw meat ,,,it tends to bring on canabalism?sp?
but if you used road kill to produce maggots ,,,that should work

 

[rextex]

My chickens are little piggies! They go through food like a hot knife through butter...

 

[Oldvernie]

Put an ad in the paper or an Craigslist asking for weevily wheat!

 

[Harvester]

The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers

by Harvey Ussery

best all around chicken book. Talks about growing feeds for chickens. broody hens. breeding. chicken tractors and all that, he uses his chickens to till his garden. also has a web site. http://www.themodernhomestead.us/