Post by 12540dumont on Oct 5, 2012 14:48:16 GMT -5
Synergy, Usually I plant just a 25 foot row of anything that is new to me.
1. I usually have to do a seed increase. Seed companies charge an arm and a leg for large quantities.
2. I hate spending a lot of time on something that's going to be a bust.
GRAINS:
Corn: Provides carbohydrates and fats, but is deficient in ash, protein and vitamins. Flint corn cracks cleaner and chickens are attracted to its appearance more than standard corn varieties. Cracked corn fed in winter helps keep chickens warm. Right now I'm feeding them wormy corn. They're getting the worms and the corn. The corn's not dry yet. It's really a shame that it was so wormy as I had hopes of drying some of it for them for the winter. Ahh well.
Wheat: Offers a large amount of digestable nutrients and is high in carbohydrates. Has good color, is palatable and an excellent choice for chickens. I haven't given it to them yet, it's still in bags, but I'm planning to feed it to them this winter.
Barley: Barley is comparable to wheat and provides carbohydrates and high fiber. A good choice. Tibetan Purple barley has a nice color and is a hull-less barley. It is sometimes referred to as Purple Prairie barley. I'm holding back this till winter.
Buckwheat: While not as attractive in color you can add barley to your chicken garden if your hens enjoy it. (I didn't get this planted.)
Millet: Millet passes through the chicken whole. However, Millet can be sprouted for chickens! Take a spray, wet it and throw it in a plastic bag. Toss to chickens. Mine are loving this.
Sunflower Seeds: Digestable and provides more energy than many cereal grains. Easy to grow and nice to look at as well. The entire seed heads can be tossed into a chicken coop for their feasting pleasure. This is the easiest. I've been tossing these to them all season. Now it's time to put some away.
Amaranth: An extremely tiny seed packing lots of nutritional value and high protein levels. You can soak the seeds from these beautiful, prolific plants to give your chickens fresh Amaranth sprouts. I've been giving them the whole plant and they're eating it all. Flowers, leaves, etc.
Flax Seed: Chickens will enjoy a little flax seed and it is nutritionally good for them. I haven't fed them any of this as I just did the seed increase.
When purchasing grains, try to find hull-less varieties whenever possible. It is also best to seek out heirloom and open-pollinated varieties. If your chickens aren't thrilled with the grain itself, most often due to lack of color, try sprouting the grain seeds. Place the seeds in water and let them grow. The sprouts are very nutritious to birds.
GREEN FEEDS and GRASSES:
Some of the green feeds and grasses can be planted as a "chicken lawn" in their free-range zone and around the organic chicken garden. Mow them to keep them fresh and tender. Others like alfalfa can be grown or you could purchase a single bale of alfalfa and grind it up to provide many days of feed. Many grass crops are also grown as cover crops and can therefore be used for two purposes; cover crops and cut greens for the birds. Clip and toss to the chickens daily a mixture from your cover crops.
Alfalfa (ground) or Alfalfa Leaf Ground: If you have a means to grind alfalfa it provides a fair amount of Vitamins A and K.
Clover: Easy to grow. Can mow. Stays green and tender most of the year. Wild white clover and Ladino clover. (If you plant this with your corn, the chickens can eat it when the corn is done).
I have had really good luck with the chicken pasture from Sandhill Preservation. The chickens loved the one with the turnips in it. And it was reasonably priced.
I have been using the ratio of planting 10 square feet per bird. That's to feed them all season, but you could probably do a great supplement with just an alley. I figure any day I'm not using purchased feed is a good day! $26 for 50 pounds of organic scratch yesterday.
Currently as I harvest dry beans, I have the chickens running on those fields. They are also working the millet patch and the sorghum patch (Not Atash's).
I have found that chickens also love potatoes (cooked) rice (cooked) beets (cooked), pumpkins (raw or cooked). And I must have feed them 100 zukes this year. One of the reasons I went so nuts with the pumpkins this year was to feed the chickens through the winter.
My chickens will not eat tomatillos, but have escaped twice and made a mess of my tomatoes.
When the orchard is planted, we plant to run the chickens seasonally in it to scratch.
Our chickens are fed a lot of substandard produce from the CSA.
Everyone of my customers would love to have eggs every week, which is why I started this whole trialing of different grains for chickens. I don't like anything that I have to hull for them. I don't have enough time.
Synergy, (PM me your home address and I'll send you a selection of grains and seeds that I have found that my chickens like). You can plant these in your alley and see what your chickens like and what grows easily for you).
At this time of year, my chickens are loving Swiss Chard. My chard was completely infected with leaf miners. I let the chickens eat them to the nub and then moved them (I have a portable electric fence.) Now the chard is growing back beautifully, sans the leaf miners).
1. I usually have to do a seed increase. Seed companies charge an arm and a leg for large quantities.
2. I hate spending a lot of time on something that's going to be a bust.
GRAINS:
Corn: Provides carbohydrates and fats, but is deficient in ash, protein and vitamins. Flint corn cracks cleaner and chickens are attracted to its appearance more than standard corn varieties. Cracked corn fed in winter helps keep chickens warm. Right now I'm feeding them wormy corn. They're getting the worms and the corn. The corn's not dry yet. It's really a shame that it was so wormy as I had hopes of drying some of it for them for the winter. Ahh well.
Wheat: Offers a large amount of digestable nutrients and is high in carbohydrates. Has good color, is palatable and an excellent choice for chickens. I haven't given it to them yet, it's still in bags, but I'm planning to feed it to them this winter.
Barley: Barley is comparable to wheat and provides carbohydrates and high fiber. A good choice. Tibetan Purple barley has a nice color and is a hull-less barley. It is sometimes referred to as Purple Prairie barley. I'm holding back this till winter.
Buckwheat: While not as attractive in color you can add barley to your chicken garden if your hens enjoy it. (I didn't get this planted.)
Millet: Millet passes through the chicken whole. However, Millet can be sprouted for chickens! Take a spray, wet it and throw it in a plastic bag. Toss to chickens. Mine are loving this.
Sunflower Seeds: Digestable and provides more energy than many cereal grains. Easy to grow and nice to look at as well. The entire seed heads can be tossed into a chicken coop for their feasting pleasure. This is the easiest. I've been tossing these to them all season. Now it's time to put some away.
Amaranth: An extremely tiny seed packing lots of nutritional value and high protein levels. You can soak the seeds from these beautiful, prolific plants to give your chickens fresh Amaranth sprouts. I've been giving them the whole plant and they're eating it all. Flowers, leaves, etc.
Flax Seed: Chickens will enjoy a little flax seed and it is nutritionally good for them. I haven't fed them any of this as I just did the seed increase.
When purchasing grains, try to find hull-less varieties whenever possible. It is also best to seek out heirloom and open-pollinated varieties. If your chickens aren't thrilled with the grain itself, most often due to lack of color, try sprouting the grain seeds. Place the seeds in water and let them grow. The sprouts are very nutritious to birds.
GREEN FEEDS and GRASSES:
Some of the green feeds and grasses can be planted as a "chicken lawn" in their free-range zone and around the organic chicken garden. Mow them to keep them fresh and tender. Others like alfalfa can be grown or you could purchase a single bale of alfalfa and grind it up to provide many days of feed. Many grass crops are also grown as cover crops and can therefore be used for two purposes; cover crops and cut greens for the birds. Clip and toss to the chickens daily a mixture from your cover crops.
Alfalfa (ground) or Alfalfa Leaf Ground: If you have a means to grind alfalfa it provides a fair amount of Vitamins A and K.
Clover: Easy to grow. Can mow. Stays green and tender most of the year. Wild white clover and Ladino clover. (If you plant this with your corn, the chickens can eat it when the corn is done).
I have had really good luck with the chicken pasture from Sandhill Preservation. The chickens loved the one with the turnips in it. And it was reasonably priced.
I have been using the ratio of planting 10 square feet per bird. That's to feed them all season, but you could probably do a great supplement with just an alley. I figure any day I'm not using purchased feed is a good day! $26 for 50 pounds of organic scratch yesterday.
Currently as I harvest dry beans, I have the chickens running on those fields. They are also working the millet patch and the sorghum patch (Not Atash's).
I have found that chickens also love potatoes (cooked) rice (cooked) beets (cooked), pumpkins (raw or cooked). And I must have feed them 100 zukes this year. One of the reasons I went so nuts with the pumpkins this year was to feed the chickens through the winter.
My chickens will not eat tomatillos, but have escaped twice and made a mess of my tomatoes.
When the orchard is planted, we plant to run the chickens seasonally in it to scratch.
Our chickens are fed a lot of substandard produce from the CSA.
Everyone of my customers would love to have eggs every week, which is why I started this whole trialing of different grains for chickens. I don't like anything that I have to hull for them. I don't have enough time.
Synergy, (PM me your home address and I'll send you a selection of grains and seeds that I have found that my chickens like). You can plant these in your alley and see what your chickens like and what grows easily for you).
At this time of year, my chickens are loving Swiss Chard. My chard was completely infected with leaf miners. I let the chickens eat them to the nub and then moved them (I have a portable electric fence.) Now the chard is growing back beautifully, sans the leaf miners).
