Feeding Chickens Without Buying Feed

the prepper project

what chickens need

Chickens will survive on some pretty minimal fare. They are tough little birds and can get by on a diet that would make us die from malnutrition. However, hens won’t lay eggs unless they get a certain minimum amount of protein and calcium along with plenty of carbohydrates. A rough breakdown of a complete diet would contain 17% protein, 3% calcium and 80% carbohydrates.

Cool-season roots for chickens:

Turnips
Radishes
Jerusalem artichokes
Carrots
Mangels
Beets
Rutabagas
Parsnips
Onions
Garlic
White potatoes (this may be a warmer-season crop if you live up North)

Other sources of protein include:

Meat scraps from the table/butcher
Fish waste (Do you fish or have a fisherman friend? Have him save fish guts for you. Freeze and use as needed to feed birds. Been there – done that.)
Crickets
Wild game
Roadkill
Duckweed
Kale
Collards
Feral Cats
Beans
Maggots

Lovely list that last one.  Wild game waste could work.  Let's say you set up for deer hunting on your land.  Once a deer is bagged and processed, there should be plenty of waste to feed the birds.  Maggots don't sound so good.

Update:

This site also has an article about collecting rainwater.  It mentions snails, which can also be fed to chickens.

Snails that eat algae would work out great.  Micro snail farm video here.  Mealworms work too.  Nutritional facts about spirulina, not heavy on carbs.

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