Fingerlakespermaculture mailing list

[Thomas Shelley <tjs1 AT cornell.edu>]

Dear Friends--Please pass this along to anyone raising chickens who might be interested.

I have started buying 60 pound bags of mixed organic flour and grain products from Farmer Ground Flour in Trumansburg.  See http://farmergroundflour.squarespace.com/ for information on this business. 
I am paying 10 cents per pound for a high-quality base for chicken feed for our 90 or so laying hens.  The mixed grains are corn, wheat, oats, buckwheat and maybe a couple of other grains.  The texture is mostly flour or meal-like with some course ground material and occasional whole grains.  I purchased a 40 pound bag of Fertrell Nutri-Balancer for poultry and a 60 pound bag of fish meal from Hilltop Organic Distributors in Dundee NY.  When mixed together they make a high quality layer mash that is very similar in appearance and texture to the layer mash distributed by Lakeview Organic Grain -- for which we pay c. $24 per bag for a 40 pound bag!  My "homemade" layer mash is about 1/5 of the cost of the Lakeview mix which makes for a much more sustainable chicken feed, as well as supporting a local business.  If you would like more information please feel free to contact me.  Have a wonderful day.   Tom

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Tom Shelley
118 E. Court St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607 342-0864
tjs1 AT cornell.edu

Learn more about the Sustainable Chicken Project at http://steephollowfarm.wordpress.com/

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Compost Educator and Sustainability Scion*

What Does Zero Waste Mean?
"If it can't be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production."
Berkeley Zero Waste Resolution
See  http://www.cityofberkeley.info/council8/newsletter.pdf

*noun:  a shoot or bud of a plant, esp. one for planting or grafting