extend nat feed to chickens?

[Rainey]

learning what to feed the rabbits instead of pellets over the past year has prompted me to try to do something similar for our chickens. We've had hens for years and have kept them in a coop built on a wagon frame with yard underneath so they could be moved through the growing season, then move into a winter coop.They've been fed layer pellets. This spring we'll be starting with new chicks and would like to move away from the ground up/pelletized feed--partly because it is so vague about what is actually in there.
What I've noticed is that many of the forage plants for rabbits can be fed before they go to seed. But chickens seem to need more seeds. So I wondered if feeding things like dock and clover to chickens would be a good idea. Already started giving the hens scraps when we last butchered and the bones to pick after we have a rabbit meal. Have a plan to raise the new chicks (once they're ready to be outside--if the green time ever comes) in a movable coop that moves around a central compost area, with a lightweight movable run on the other side of the coop. So the compost would be the hub and the "pasture area" would be making a wide circle around it with the coop (for night-time predator protection) between.
Would appreciate suggestions from anyone who's raising hens on any kind of natural feed. And my apologies if this is not an appropriate question to pose in this forum. (I've been looking for help on BYC but find the forum harder on my eyes and not as well organized as RT so got discouraged and came "home")

 

[MaggieJ]

I've never got right into natural feeding for chickens but since my birds free range they eat enormous quantities of plant and insect life.

If you haven't already seen this link, you may find it interesting.
http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html

Quick reminder that sprouted grain has a much higher protein and nutrient percentage than the original grain had. Chickens seem to like it.

Sorry, I wish I had more time. If other ideas occur to me, I will post them later.

 

[JessiL]

I've been experimenting with fermenting my otherwise standard chicken feed. We can get non-GMO layer pellets for not too much more than conventional, while organic is three times the price, so the non-GMO is what we're going with for now. I'm not yet convinced I'm seeing the magical results reported by devotees of fermented feed, but the chickens do seem quite happy on it, and I think it helps them stay well-hydrated during the cold months. It does seem likely that the claims about fermentation are more or less correct, in that the fermentation process helps the nutrients in the feed become more available to the chickens. I also like that I only feed what the chickens clean up in a day, rather than keeping a big feeder full, so it's helping to knock down the mouse population a bit. It's true that I feed limited amounts of the standard pellets too, but it's really the only choice with the fermented feed.

We are considering shifting to a home-mixed ration of whole grains and such, but haven't tried it yet. If I did, I would go ahead and try fermenting that too. I assume it would help make sure that the chickens ate all of the components instead of picking through for their favorites.

 

[dangerbunny]

My chickens really liked the fermented feed and I think it cut down on the amount we fed but I didn't keep good records on that last year. We are going to try an experiment this spring, with our subzero temperatures I'm not sure how I could make fermenting feed work in the winter.

 

[JessiL]

Dangerbunny, we manage to ferment feed during winter by keeping my fermenting buckets in our water heater closet. It's the warmest place in the house, and it keeps the buckets safe from marauding dogs. I have a system in which I keep three buckets going, I feed out of one for the day and then rotate to the next, not having cleaned out the "old" bucket thoroughly so that it serves as a starter culture for the fresh feed and water mix that goes into it. I do find I need to stir the bucket contents at least once a day, but that's easy, since I'm always rotating buckets. The girls get their primary feeding in the morning, and if I get home during daylight hours, I usually give them an afternoon snack or let them free range. We feed both laying ducks and chickens in this way, and everyone seems to love it.

Once it gets warm enough, I anticipate moving the fermentation system out to the garage. It's closer to the chicken and duck pens, so it will be nice to not have to lug the full buckets as far.

 

[Rainey]

I've been growing wheat fodder for our rabbits this winter and plan to sprout wheat, oats, BOSS for chickens. I haven't tried fermenting, would worry about knowing when it was "properly fermented" and when it was just spoiled. Mostly I'm trying to get away from feed that has been ground up (and perhaps then pelleted) long enough so the nutrients are diminished to feeding things that I know what they are. Have some idea that live or recently live food is better.
Would chickens get some of the benefits you want from fermented food by scratching in compost where things are breaking down?

 

[JessiL]

Rainey, your nose will tell you if you are fermenting or just rotting the feed - at least, if you are used to the smell of active sourdough cultures or things like that. I went out of town for 4 days for work, and forgot to tell my husband to maintain the fermenting food, and whew - I could tell there was something wrong when I got back! The ferment is aerobic (basically, mostly lactobacilli like yogurt) and so in my experience, needs stirred once or twice a day.

My motivation behind fermenting the processed pellets is to make what nutrients remain more bio-available. And the microbes should also convert some of the sugars and starches to more easily digested carbohydrates and fatty acids. And also, the wet mash at this time of year seems to really help the birds keep well hydrated. But yes, live or recently live feed would be even better. For reasons I don't understand yet, it's just as expensive to buy bulk organic/non-GMO grains in my town as it is to buy the pre-mixed pellets or crumbles. And we don't really have the storage space or equipment to mix our own feed. But if you can get all the grains and other materials for significantly cheaper than the processed version, I'd say go for it!

Chickens and compost go together like ebony and ivory... If you're not already keeping your chickens on deep litter so that they can have their own little micro-compost system, then you really should do so! And then you can just toss whatever veggie or meat scraps you have on top of the deep litter - what the chickens don't eat right away, they'll scratch into the bedding to be composted away almost instantly.

 

[Rainey]

Rainey, your nose will tell you if you are fermenting or just rotting the feed - at least, if you are used to the smell of active sourdough cultures or things like that. I went out of town for 4 days for work, and forgot to tell my husband to maintain the fermenting food, and whew - I could tell there was something wrong when I got back! The ferment is aerobic (basically, mostly lactobacilli like yogurt) and so in my experience, needs stirred once or twice a day.

[i]That's partly why I was unsure about doing it--make bread but haven't used sourdough starter and never could get past the smell of sauerkraut to taste it. Thought if I didn't like the smell it would be a chore I'd dread, having to mix and feed it every day[/i]

My motivation behind fermenting the processed pellets is to make what nutrients remain more bio-available. And the microbes should also convert some of the sugars and starches to more easily digested carbohydrates and fatty acids. And also, the wet mash at this time of year seems to really help the birds keep well hydrated. But yes, live or recently live feed would be even better. For reasons I don't understand yet, it's just as expensive to buy bulk organic/non-GMO grains in my town as it is to buy the pre-mixed pellets or crumbles. And we don't really have the storage space or equipment to mix our own feed. But if you can get all the grains and other materials for significantly cheaper than the processed version, I'd say go for it!

We can get whole grain wheat and oats--not organic but not GMO either. Just opened a new bag of the pre-mixed goat feed and they won't touch it--wonder what's wrong with it but so hard to tell with everything ground up. So they're getting moved onto the whole grains sooner than we'd planned. I'd thought about the keeping hydrated part--especially this winter when it's stayed way below freezing for so long--and saw that as one of the reasons for spouting/fodder


Chickens and compost go together like ebony and ivory... If you're not already keeping your chickens on deep litter so that they can have their own little micro-compost system, then you really should do so! And then you can just toss whatever veggie or meat scraps you have on top of the deep litter - what the chickens don't eat right away, they'll scratch into the bedding to be composted away almost instantly.

[i]When the new barn is built this summer it will have more and better space for chickens and rabbits. Part of the chicken plan is deep litter. We have a sawmill and so have sawdust and shavings from the planer. The latter we use in our worm box, 2 parts shavings to one part peat moss and it works really well. I think it should be good in the hens winter coop as well. Spring through fall the chickens are in a moving coop[/i]

 

[dangerbunny]

Dangerbunny, we manage to ferment feed during winter by keeping my fermenting buckets in our water heater closet. It's the warmest place in the house, and it keeps the buckets safe from marauding dogs. I have a system in which I keep three buckets going, I feed out of one for the day and then rotate to the next, not having cleaned out the "old" bucket thoroughly so that it serves as a starter culture for the fresh feed and water mix that goes into it. I do find I need to stir the bucket contents at least once a day, but that's easy, since I'm always rotating buckets. The girls get their primary feeding in the morning, and if I get home during daylight hours, I usually give them an afternoon snack or let them free range. We feed both laying ducks and chickens in this way, and everyone seems to love it.

Once it gets warm enough, I anticipate moving the fermentation system out to the garage. It's closer to the chicken and duck pens, so it will be nice to not have to lug the full buckets as far.

That sounds like a good setup, unfortunately we don't have room inside for something like that. I did buckets last year, had a mature batch and a just started batch going, might try using big totes if we are doing enough of it, the birds love it.

 

[JessiL]

Speaking of chickens and compost, a friend just sent this my way. It describes one family's method of feeding chickens 100% on compost.

With a full time job outside of the house, there's no way I could do this, but it might work well for some folks. Plus, with the rabbits, chickens, ducks, and geese, we are already giving away compost left and right - not enough garden beds and too many critters!

http://permaculturenews.org/2015/02/27/ ... -steroids/