Rob, plant sunflowers, millet, and sorghum near where the chickens will
be. Timing is important since the life of the broilers is short. If
you time it right, all you will have to do is bend the stalks over so
the chickens can reach the feed. No threshing necessary. Of course,
you can also grow it, thresh it, dry it, and feed it later.
Today, while topping off my garden beds, I had to dig out some old
decomposed rabbit poop. It was in a big pile and bermuda grass had
grown over the pile. Roots and stolons were throughout the pile, so it
was tedious work picking them out. In the process, shovel full by
shovel full, I found maybe 50 large white grubs-Japanese beetle larvae,
each time I found one, I tossed it to the chickens. By late this
afternoon, they all looked deformed, their crops bulging severely.
Perhaps I overdid it..lol..
But I know you are in Z7, too, and probably have the same grubby
problem. If you don't mind a day of labor once a week or so while you
have the broilers, perhaps you, too, can dig through your garden beds
and compost piles for grubs, worms, and other buggies.....Insects are
total protein.
Robert Walton wrote:
Problem is feed costs.
Growing my own grains was a dream a few years ago. I've always wanted
to do it. It is quickly becoming a necessity.
Rob - Va
--
"What Luck for Rulers that Men do not Think" Adolf Hitler
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net