growing rabbit, chicken, and goat feed ???

[waterguy81]

I am working on my new hobby farm. I have chickens, rabbits, and dairy goats. I want to grow as much feed as I can for them to save on purchase cost and be more self sufficent.

what is a fast growing, hardy, year round, herbs, weeds, and grass that will work for these needs ?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[MuranoFarms]

I'm doing quinoa, amaranth and millet.

For summer feeding, I'm adding a few extra tomato plants, and some extra cukes. Just so I have plenty to toss to the critters

 

[digitS']

If I was growing "year round" livestock feed here (and I have), I'd plant alfalfa.

There in your part of the world, I suspect that there is a clover that would give you a permanent pasture/hay crop. You should check with your local Cooperative Extension agent.

Chickens eat alfalfa hay quite well. The old way to do it was to collect loose leaves under the hay and "scald" it with boiling water. Then, they would feed this to the chickens.

Harvesting alfalfa at 3 ++ tons an acre would be far better than a lot of things with little feed value for your goats, rabbits and chickens. Of course, grain crops would be a high-value feed but you would have to invest in cultivating the ground and reseeding every year.

Steve

 

[journey11]

Here's a few good ideas in this article. I first read it in Countryside magazine a couple years back. Aside from grains, vegetables and grasses, he also mentions some tree crops and raising certain worms and bugs as protein sources.

 

[hoodat]

The mainstays for my rabbits are a broad leafed chicory meant for deer browse and red clover. Both grow like crazy with little care and both are quite nutritious. I suplement that with the weeds I pull from the garden. The whole dandelion family is great for any herbivore.