How to Grow & Mix Your Own Chicken Feed
Chickens are economical to raise for food purposes if you can cut the cost of their diet. The easiest way to do this is to grow and mix your own chicken feed instead of purchasing feed from a co-op or agricultural depot. As a bonus, homemade chicken feed will be nutritionally superior to what you would buy in a store. This will give you healthier, tastier birds that produce a larger number of eggs. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Grain and corn seeds
- Compost
- Pebbles, oyster shells or other grit
- Fish meal
- Tiller
- Storage containers
Instructions
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Mark off a plot of land near the south side of your chicken coop. The south side of the coop will receive the most sun to support your feed plants.
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Clear the plot of land you've selected and work up the soil as soon as the danger of frost has passed in your area. Add natural fertilizers like compost to the plot to make sure the soil has plenty of nutrients for the feed plants.
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Plant corn around the north, east and west sides of the plot. This will make a natural barrier and protect the other feed plants from wind and animals.
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Plant chicken feed basics like soybeans, wheat, alfafa, oats, barley and sunflower seeds in the rest of the plot space. Most of these plants will grow to roughly the same height, but take care to plant the tallest plants on the north end of the plot so they don't block the sun from the rest of the plants.
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Water and fertilize the plot regularly during the length of the growing cycle.
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Harvest the plants as they mature. Store them in containers away from moisture and do not husk the corn until you are ready to use it so nutrients are not lost.
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Grind your corn and other plants together with fish meal and grits like pebbles or oyster shells. The grits are necessary for the chickens to digest their food, as chickens have no teeth to grind what they eat.
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Store your feed mix in an large airtight container away from moisture to prevent mildew and rot.
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Tips & Warnings
Different feed recipes abound. Mix your recipe with percentages according to the type of chicken you have. For example, laying hens will need a different mix than young chicks. Some recipes to try are available on the Lionsgrip website.
Chickens love feeding on fresh greens and insects. Throw in some critters from your compost pile (including small worms) and combine the feed with plants like lettuce right before you put it in the feeding trough.
Let your chickens forage on your compost pile. As pointed out by Harvey Ussery of the Motherearthnews website, they'll naturally aerate the compost and help it biodegrade so it's in better shape to put on your plot through the growing cycle.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit chicken image by Sergey Goruppa from Fotolia.com
