Best/Easies Grains to Raise for Chickens

[Jared77]

Very nice. They have really become quite popular. I'm surprised the Rock's haven't made the same comeback as the Buckeye has. Maybe its because the ALBC has been pushing the Buckeye? The Buckeyes I've seen I've been impressed with.

I second the mealworm idea. We raised them when we were doing American Singers (canaries) and they were SUPER easy to keep going. Minimal care, minimal investment and we had a TON of them from a very small and simple set up. Id also look for cheap cat food on sale. A torn bag marked down is a cheap way to get a boost of protein as osmeone else I think mentioned. Couple handfuls of that tossed out like scratch grains would stretch a bag out for a long time.

 

[bobm]

A thaught... since many zoos do it... sprout barley grain in trays and grow it under flourescent lights to about 4+/- " and then feed it to the chickens.

 

[ducks4you]

I experimented with growing turnips last year, for ME, and, as they got hotter I ended up feeding them to my chickens and some that I missed that grew as big as a pound. My birds LOVED the bulbs and the greens. They grew for me like weeds, even during our drought. I used the cheapest, 10/$1.00 packets of turnip seeds, too. I started some in one 3' x 12' bed last fall, fed some to the birds, and left the rest as a cover crop, along with some odd spinach that sprouted there, too. I also feed ALL greens that I grow that aren't perfect, except tomato vines, and any "past it" purchased lettuce, or sweet peppers, all potato skins, and old sweet potatoes. I even gave them leftover giros that somebody forgot about, and who knew that they liked lamb?
I'll try any crops, except onions, and any meat, but I draw the line at cannibalism, that is, feeding cooked chicken TO my chickens. I think that they are more fussy if they just get bagged feed. Too bad last year had such big crop failures or I'd be down to cracked corn for the old layers I'm butchering Saturday bc it's usually cheaper than the feed.

 

[retiredwith4acres]

We always have lots of turnips left so will feed some to them to see if they like them. I have fed the greens but didn't realize they would like the turnips as well. We have lots of them right now. I started some old seeds in a try for fodder. We will see how that goes, on day 3 of 7 and they are just now beginning to sprout.

 

[catjac1975]

I have found with kitchen scraps that the only thing chickens will not eat is citrus.

 

[897tgigvib]

Among my mixed greens last season were I guess a few that were to be eaten as sprouts. I let them go to seed as they went to seed faster than practically anything.

Ya know, thinking, those would be great for growing greens for chickens as some could be left for more seeds...seeds that happen in less than 2 months, i didn't time it, but way less than 2 months. Some kind of Mizuna. It was in a mixed 6 pack so not sure what they are. Look like Mizuna.

Once I get a system for sending seeds things will start happening!

 

[897tgigvib]

Oh, and Tyfon Holland Greens, actually a kind of Turnip, keep on growing and growing. If you can plant some where the chickens won't peck the plants dead, they will give you hands full of large mildly turnipy leaves with nice soft crunchy almost celery like stalks all summer and fall. Mine are finally starting to look frostbitten. Ha, they may still be kickin! I originally got seed for them from bountiful gardens. I need these to survive winter because I now need this batch to go to seed. They seem REALLY SLOW to go to seed! What do I gotta do to get them to flower???

I'd so love to cross them with chinese cabbage and round red turnip! Make some multi crop turnip-greens-chinese cabbage things! There I go thinkin again...

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i would agree on doing some of the meal worms. if you can get a small container of live ones from a pet store that sells stuff for reptiles i would suggest that as a starting point. depending on the size of what they sell they may soon pupae and i think within about 10 days to 2 weeks turn into the black beetles that will then lay their eggs. you can start a small colony that after a few months could have thousands of worms! once those worms get to about an inch in length you can put them in a container in the freezer and then give them to your birds. i've also found if you have too many worms turning to pupae or beetles you can also freeze them to give to the chickens. i think this is a better way to get protein from the worms than buying the freeze dried ones from the local feed store.

the worms can't climb out of the box and the beetles don't have the ability to fly or easily climb out. i was using a plastic shoebox container and cover with holes for the past 2 years only because my chickens kept finding the box and knocking it off the shelf to get the worms they saw. every time i thought all the worms were gone and i would scooped up the wheat germ that was in the box, i found a few weeks later there must have been some eggs or baby worms still living in the bedding! so it is almost non stop! i now have my box kept in the house and away from my birds. this year i decided to move them up to a larger box. you don't need anything elaborate to keep them all in. i've been using one box to keep all 3-4 stages in together. you might have some better results doing an extra box to keep the larger worms you want to keep for pupating in, but there is no real need to take up a lot of space for them.

get some wheat germ from the local grocery store, or some rolled oats. i've been doing a mix of both. this will be both their bedding and part of their food source. they will occasionally need a source of water so a slice of apple, carrot or potato will work. i find the potato works the best and doesn't mold as much as the apple. watch for any humidity in the box because there might be too much moisture from the veggie/fruit you're using for a water source. keep them warm and don't let their temp drop below the low 50's or they could die off. the beetles i've found are a little hardier than the worms but will still die if completely frozen. keep the box someplace that doesn't get a lot of light and they should be fine.

oh, almost forgot this since this happened during my the start. if there is an ammonia smell from the bedding it could be too much moisture and you should mix in some new wheat germ but try and remove any clumps that are forming or carefully break them up. change out the water source and don't put one back in for a few days. they will not starve for water but this will help dry out any old bedding and help keep any eggs and baby worms you might not see alive. you shouldn't have to toss out any old bedding because there will always be worms or eggs in the bedding. you also want to remove any beetles that have deformed backsides or look to be albino.

 

[catjac1975]

I draw a line at growing worms for my chickens!

i would agree on doing some of the meal worms. if you can get a small container of live ones from a pet store that sells stuff for reptiles i would suggest that as a starting point. depending on the size of what they sell they may soon pupae and i think within about 10 days to 2 weeks turn into the black beetles that will then lay their eggs. you can start a small colony that after a few months could have thousands of worms! once those worms get to about an inch in length you can put them in a container in the freezer and then give them to your birds. i've also found if you have too many worms turning to pupae or beetles you can also freeze them to give to the chickens. i think this is a better way to get protein from the worms than buying the freeze dried ones from the local feed store.

the worms can't climb out of the box and the beetles don't have the ability to fly or easily climb out. i was using a plastic shoebox container for the past 2 years only because my chickens kept finding the box and knocking it off the shelf to get the worms they saw. every time i thought all the worms were gone and scooped up the wheat germ that was in the box, i found a few weeks later there must have been some eggs or baby worms still living in the bedding! so it is almost non stop! i now have my box kept in the house and away from my birds. this year i decided to move them up to a larger box. you don't need anything elaborate to keep them all in. i've been using one box to keep all 3-4 stages in together. you might have some better results doing an extra box to keep the larger worms you want to keep for pupating in, but there is no real need to take up a lot of space for them.

get some wheat germ from the local grocery store, or some rolled oats. i've been doing a mix of both. this will be both their bedding and part of their food source. they will occasionally need a source of water so a slice of apple, carrot or potato will work. i find the potato works the best and doesn't mold as much as the apple. watch for any humidity in the box because there might be too much moisture from the veggie/fruit you're using for a water source. keep them warm and don't let their temp drop below the low 50's or they could die off. the beetles i've found are a little hardier than the worms but will still die if completely frozen. keep the box someplace that doesn't get a lot of light and they should be fine.

 

[so lucky]

Catjac, I know it sounds pretty creepy to have worms in the house on purpose, but our meal worms have been a great source of fun and learning for the grandkids. They get brave enough to pick up the worms pretty quickly, but they really have to steel themselves to handle the beetles. We don't hand feed our chickens, tho, for the simple reason that they would eat the hand that feeds them, to get to the worms.

But learning about the life cycle of the worm, and being able to watch one pupate is pretty cool.

Right now I am trying to figure out a better system for keeping them, as the shedded skins build up and get kind of nasty looking. I also think they stink, if there are enough of them. Maybe I have too many! On the BYC website, several people have worm bins set up with screen on the bottom, to keep the bigger food particles (like rolled oats) and worms up top, and have the babies fall through the screen to the bottom bin, along with the fine waste material. I'm not quite sure how that works. I think Kassaundra had something like that? She has a lot of knowledge about their growth and habits.

And yes, there are lots of eggs and tiny babies in the bedding that you can't see. It takes months of checking and picking the little ones out, before you are sure you aren't throwing out baby worms. And I have heard that the waste bedding makes good organic fertilizer. Don't know why it wouldn't, but it sure is dry and will fly up in your face if you try to toss it on a windy day! Ask me how I know.