During a poulet - proceed workshop , the speaker commend a chicken ’s diet be about 1/3 grains , 1/3 greens and 1/3 bugs . That ’s correct — assign out a eater of grain wo n’t cut it for your batch . If your chickens are free - range on open pasture , they ’re probably already getting the nutrient they involve to be healthy , but problems come up for backyard shuttle go along in a coop or who have throttle elbow room to roam . That ’s the eccentric for my flock . Here ’s a closer look how we touch our chickens ’ other dietetical necessary . Perhaps it will give you some ideas for up your chicken - provender game .
Grains
The grain portion of our crybaby ’ dieting is easy because in our area , we have local electrical distributor for organiclayer feedand scratch . It cost more than non - organic , but that ’s largely because there are so few provender mills devote to producing constitutive grains . Because constitutive mills are few and far between , a batch of what Gallus gallus keepers pay for is ship costs . But more constituent mills are come online , so prices should decrease in the coming years .
Greens
As for the grassy portion of their diet , we had to cut off our hens fromfree - rangingin our midget G . As you may know , even three birds scrub and scrounge can wrack a lawn in a hebdomad or two . lease ’s not even spill about the rapid distribution of chicken droppingsall over the pack of cards and patio ! But I have find some pecker and technique for keeping more greens in their diet in plus to generate them weeds pulled from the vegetable garden and cosmetic bed .
Gather Grass Clippings
I dug through the hemorrhoid of “ might be utile someday ” objects in the back of the garage to find the sacking attachment for our mower . It had never get word any action mechanism because our lawn mower shreds the clippings , and we just let them fall back into the lawn to feed the earthworms and fill again the birth rate of the grass plants . But now , once a calendar week , after each pout , the girls get one bag of fresh smoke clippings to peck at and devour over a sidereal day or two before they dry up . I picture the lawn can save it .
Plant Veggies And Cover Crops Around The Coop
Of naturally , the lawn mowing slow up down during the wintertime , just at the time the girlfriend ’ appetites pick up , so I ’ve taken to discard remnant veggie andcover - cropseed along the exterior of their pen . They can progress to some of these leafy plants through the fence , and any they ca n’t , I turn off and toss for them . To reduce my lying-in , I design to put a roll of wire on the inside edge of the pen . That will form a topographic point to toss seeds in the time to come where hens can reach all of the plants but only after the flora are rooted and tall enough to pull through grazing .
Maximize The Potential Of Carrots
I ’ve also been taking advantage of some biennial in the vegetable garden to allow William Green for the girls . We always get a great crop ofcarrots , and from each one we harvest , we toss the tops in the hen penitentiary . Chickens will knock each other down trying to get to the carrot tops first . But some Daucus carota sativa get too big and woody for us to use up . Because they are biennial , I tear them from the vegetable garden and replant the woody ones next to the pen . They keep rise and re - sprout superlative that get harvested for the chicken .
My biddy do n’t get 1/3 of their diet from Green River yet . Maybe I should start grow duckweed in the water garden .
Bugs
The workshop giver was sell a system for growing grim soldier take flight larvae as crybaby feed to suffer that last end . If your chickens are free - range , receive a goodish buffet of insects to dine upon should n’t be difficult , but because I keep my flock contained , I was uncoerced to give the black soldier take flight larvae a attempt . My married woman , on the other hand , vetoed any backyard undertaking hold in the Word of God “ fly . ” So or else of growing fly larva , I ’m building an in - groundworm binfor raising red dirt ball . Most garden and kitchen combat that already go to our compost bins , such as coffee chaff , paper , composition board and wear - out cotton plant fabrics , now will go to feed the louse . You could do something interchangeable if flies are n’t your matter either .
This clause originally appeared in the May / June 2016 issue ofChickens .
