Create alternative feeding for chickens with easy-to-make recipes that reduce feeding costs and provide chickens with essential nutrients.
by Amy Fewell Chickens are one of the easiest livestock to take care of, but did you know that there are different ways to feed your chickens other than regular chicken feed? While you can purchase chicken feed at the farm store, or even make your own, there are ways you can reduce the cost of feed. You can even feed whole chickens without using chicken feed.
Ultimately, the best way to steer clear of your chicken feed bill is to allow your chickens to have free range at all times — or at least during the day. You can achieve this by setting up a pasture range, or just by letting your chickens roam in your yard.
Other than that, here are some other ways you can feed your chickens!
Fermented or soaked chicken feed
If you’re looking to prolong your chicken’s feeding for longer—or help chickens digest their food better—you can ferment or soak chicken feed. This works best with pureed feed, whole grains, or ground chicken. The pellets tend to disintegrate in the water during the soaking period. Because fermented and soaked feed is easily digested, your chickens will naturally eat less chicken feed than if you did not ferment or soak it.
How to ferment chicken feed
Brewing chicken feed is easy. Since it takes about four days to ferment, you will do this daily in order to have fermented feed each day.
Day 1. In a 5-gallon bucket, add 1/2 pound of chicken feed for each chicken. You will most likely cut this down to 1/2 pound of chicken feed per chicken, but you will need to know how much your chickens are eating before changing the weight.
Add enough water to cover the chicken feed by about 3 inches. Mix well, making sure you get all of the feed to the bottom of the bucket. If the feed is not covered by 3 inches or so of water after mixing, add more.
Cover loosely by placing a lid on top (but don’t make it airtight) or by securing some cheesecloth on top with a large rubber band.
The second and third day. Repeat the first day in another bucket. By the fourth day, you will have four buckets of fermented feed, complete with one bucket.
the fourth day. Now your first bucket of day one is ready to feed the chickens. Pour the fermented feed into a cattle feeder or open a chicken feeder. Do not put it in the chicken feeder that rotates normally or drop the food. Instead, put it in a bowl or even on the ground.
Repeat the first day until you always have 4 buckets at once. Always use the oldest bucket of feed first, as it takes four days for the entire feed to ferment.
If you see any mold, discard the feed and start over.
How to soak chicken feed
We have a lot of chickens, and as a farm mom, I don’t have much time to keep up with fermented feeds. Therefore, I prefer to soak our chicken feed instead. Drenched chicken feed is simple and has similar digestive benefits to fermented chicken feed. Soaked feed is easier for birds to digest so they eat less of it, as the nutrients are better absorbed.
Start by putting 1/4 pound of feed per chicken into a 5-gallon bucket. (You can cut this in half if they don’t eat it all in one day.) Cover the feed with water and mix it well. The feed should be completely covered with water by about 3 inches. Allow the feed to soak for 24 hours before feeding to the chickens.
You can use the same bucket again when you go to soak the next batch; Just rinse it well first. We simply use the same bucket every day, because we’re feeding back into it for soaking.
Manure and chicken droppings
One of the most common ways to offset feed costs, or to completely eliminate chicken feed, is to simply give the chickens scraps and feed scraps. Leftovers, seedlings of herbs and herbs, and even foods close to expiration or that have just expired contribute to feeding chickens.
Similarly, you can also let your chickens into the compost pile every day. The compost pile contains good bugs and microbes that help feed the chickens. It’s also useful for your compost pile, as your chickens will help you turn the pile every day.
Of course, this will depend on how many chickens you have. If you’re running a larger operation with more than 6 to 10 chickens, you probably won’t be able to feed the chickens only kitchen scraps or your compost pile. However, local grocery stores or farms may have excess scraps, incomplete or expired vegetables, and more to offer if you ask.
Cultivation of feed for chickens
If you are looking for healthy grass and grains for your chickens, feed is the best way to go. You can grow forage just about anywhere. Depending on the size of your flock, you can have a simple setup at all times. Or, if you have a large herd, you may need something more sophisticated, like racks, for all the forage you’ll need to grow.
Foraging is basically the process of growing weeds with a mat system rooted (without dirt) on the bottom. Not only will your chickens eat the grass, but they will also eat the roots and the stuck grains from which the grass grew.
Grains and sprouted feeds are very dense in good nutrition for your birds. Not only will it keep your birds healthy, but it will also give you a beautiful dark orange egg yolk packed with the same nutrients. Feed is a great option for those who have chickens who can’t let go. They are especially great for winter feeding.
You can grow a few types of grains as fodder, including wheat, oats, barley, and rye. Wheat has the highest protein content, while barley and oats have the most digestible fiber content. There is higher starch in wheat and rye, while barley and oats have lower values for starch content. Barley contains, by far, the highest calcium content. Keep all of these things in mind when choosing a grain for your flock, or when mixing several grains together.
All grains become 40 percent more digestible when sprouted or grown into feed. For this reason, chickens will need to consume less feed than their normal rations, because the nutritional value is higher and the rate of absorption in the chicken’s system is greater.
Chickens need to eat 2 to 3 percent of their body weight in feed each day, if they are fed only feed per day. Serve with vitamin and mineral supplements and gravel.
How does fodder grow?
You can grow the fodder in batches as small or as large as you like. Since we don’t use them as a full-time forage, I grow them in my little greenhouse in the winter months, or on the kitchen table, when necessary. But if you want to supplement or completely replace feed, you will need to set up a complete system. You can achieve this by setting up shelves with multiple containers and planting lights or heating mats.
Supplies
- Shallow container (with small drainage holes in the bottom)
- Selected cereal
- water (unchlorinated)
directione
- Soak the beans of your choice in a bucket or food-grade bowl overnight. This will stimulate the process.
- Find a sturdy bowl, preferably something you can drill holes in, as the base for your forage. Old plastic or metal cake molds work well. Drill lots of small holes in the bottom—big enough to allow the water to drain out, but small enough that the beans won’t spill out when watered. You may have to put a plastic mesh liner in the bottom of the pan if your holes are very large.
- Add the soaked grains to the skillet, to a thickness of no more than 2 inches. I like to add a thin layer just so I can’t see the bottom of the pan anymore.
- Keep the beans moist, but not soaked, until they begin to germinate. You can do this by using a spray bottle with water, or by simply running the feed under water each day and allowing it to dry out completely.
- After 3 to 7 days, the feed will germinate well, depending on the temperature in your home or where the feed is. Once the forage has reached the desired length, turn it upside down on a clean surface and cut at the bottom where the roots are. Make 4-inch squares, or cut into squares to whatever size you want, and offer to chicken as needed.
Creating a feed can take a few tries to master, but once you master it, you will begin to put together a continuous rotation system that suits your needs.
While forage is great, putting your chickens out to pasture most of the year is your best option, space permitting. Forage serves as a substitute for pasture when pasture farming is not an option or is not available during the colder months.
If you don’t have time to grow forage, try sprinkling wheat, broccoli, peas, or other grains and vegetables into a mason jar! Simply soak them every day in water, drain them well, and watch them grow!
As you can see, there are plenty of alternative ways to feed or supplement chicken feed. Most of them are things we should do anyway! Pick and choose what works best for you and your birds, and you’ll be sure to have a healthier flock than ever before.
Amy Fewell He is an author, homeowner, and founder of Homesteaders of America. She is an author The herbal companion for the family And Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Handbook. She lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, where she and her family raise their livestock, gardens, and small homes holistically and naturally!