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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
sci.agriculture.poultry, alt.cooking-chat, alt.permaculture,
rec.gardens, aus.gardens Chickens – supplementing their grain diet? My Brother has some Chickens in his backyard to lay Eggs. I have to be honest and say that since Noah floated the Ark, I have been a hardcore dedicated Egg-a-holic. And then some. Add some bacon/polish sausage/ chorizo sausage……and SWISS BROWN mushrooms……and it’s game on! I particularly like Eggs where the yolks have a really rich orange colour, and are full of flavour. At the moment, the Chickens are being fed the proper Pellet Food from a local Grain & Fodder retailer, but I am trying to “supplement” their diet to make their Eggs taste absolutely A1. I don’t just want the Chooks’ diet to be “reasonably good”…..I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. At the moment, I am getting box load after box load of vegetable scraps from some local grocers – and I am continuing with this. They mainly contain lettuce and cabbage scraps, but there are often some carrots, cauliflowers, avocadoes, etc. (Some of the more choice vegetables get carefully “selected out” by my brother…..but that’s another matter entirely) I also know that the Chickens go crazy over thistles and the like. Anyway, I heard somewhere or other that, along with LOTS of greens, the addition of some protein to the Chickens’ diet can help boost the flavour of their Eggs. So I thought of worms! I’ve recently set up an ultra-basic compost pile by digging a very shallow hole in the Chicken Yard, filling it with as many food scraps as I can lay my hands on, watering them in, covering it with hessian, then watering the hessian. Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. Once it reaches this stage, I will simply remove the plastic tub and the hessian, and let the Chooks go to town. I am hoping for any and all advice, in regards to what I am doing here, particularly with the worm-compost pile. • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Chickens? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Worms? Like I mentioned before, I want the Chooks to have the best diet possible to give the Eggs the best flavour. As an aside, the Chickens seem to dig and scratch about like nothing I have ever seen. Quite funny to watch how they actually do this. I have even seem them sort of “rub themselves about” in the dust in drier weather, and this is VERY funny to watch. What is this they are doing? They often get quite aggressive when other birds, such as doves and pigeons, try to eat their food. They really are funny critters to watch. When we’re out the back having wine and beers, and play the Stereo, the music really has some sort of effect on them. They will often come over and jump up on the garden table or on the Stereo. Weird. |
#2
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
You may want to look at raising black soldier fly larvae.
"Gas Bag" wrote in message ... sci.agriculture.poultry, alt.cooking-chat, alt.permaculture, rec.gardens, aus.gardens Chickens – supplementing their grain diet? My Brother has some Chickens in his backyard to lay Eggs. I have to be honest and say that since Noah floated the Ark, I have been a hardcore dedicated Egg-a-holic. And then some. Add some bacon/polish sausage/ chorizo sausage……and SWISS BROWN mushrooms……and it’s game on! I particularly like Eggs where the yolks have a really rich orange colour, and are full of flavour. At the moment, the Chickens are being fed the proper Pellet Food from a local Grain & Fodder retailer, but I am trying to “supplement” their diet to make their Eggs taste absolutely A1. I don’t just want the Chooks’ diet to be “reasonably good”…..I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. At the moment, I am getting box load after box load of vegetable scraps from some local grocers – and I am continuing with this. They mainly contain lettuce and cabbage scraps, but there are often some carrots, cauliflowers, avocadoes, etc. (Some of the more choice vegetables get carefully “selected out” by my brother…..but that’s another matter entirely) I also know that the Chickens go crazy over thistles and the like. Anyway, I heard somewhere or other that, along with LOTS of greens, the addition of some protein to the Chickens’ diet can help boost the flavour of their Eggs. So I thought of worms! I’ve recently set up an ultra-basic compost pile by digging a very shallow hole in the Chicken Yard, filling it with as many food scraps as I can lay my hands on, watering them in, covering it with hessian, then watering the hessian. Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. Once it reaches this stage, I will simply remove the plastic tub and the hessian, and let the Chooks go to town. I am hoping for any and all advice, in regards to what I am doing here, particularly with the worm-compost pile. • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Chickens? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Worms? Like I mentioned before, I want the Chooks to have the best diet possible to give the Eggs the best flavour. As an aside, the Chickens seem to dig and scratch about like nothing I have ever seen. Quite funny to watch how they actually do this. I have even seem them sort of “rub themselves about” in the dust in drier weather, and this is VERY funny to watch. What is this they are doing? They often get quite aggressive when other birds, such as doves and pigeons, try to eat their food. They really are funny critters to watch. When we’re out the back having wine and beers, and play the Stereo, the music really has some sort of effect on them. They will often come over and jump up on the garden table or on the Stereo. Weird. |
#3
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:20:23 -0700 (PDT), Gas Bag
wrote: • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Chickens? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Worms? I've long heard that coffee grounds are not good for worms. And here is a link I found while researching the same thing primarliy for self-sufficiency purposes: http://www.lionsgrip.com/recipes.html Hal |
#4
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
In article ,
"Amy Blankenship" wrote: You may want to look at raising black soldier fly larvae. "Gas Bag" wrote in message ... sci.agriculture.poultry, alt.cooking-chat, alt.permaculture, rec.gardens, aus.gardens Chickens – supplementing their grain diet? My Brother has some Chickens in his backyard to lay Eggs. I have to be honest and say that since Noah floated the Ark, I have been a hardcore dedicated Egg-a-holic. And then some. Add some bacon/polish sausage/ chorizo sausage……and SWISS BROWN mushrooms……and it’s game on! I particularly like Eggs where the yolks have a really rich orange colour, and are full of flavour. At the moment, the Chickens are being fed the proper Pellet Food from a local Grain & Fodder retailer, but I am trying to “supplement” their diet to make their Eggs taste absolutely A1. I don’t just want the Chooks’ diet to be “reasonably good”…..I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. At the moment, I am getting box load after box load of vegetable scraps from some local grocers – and I am continuing with this. They mainly contain lettuce and cabbage scraps, but there are often some carrots, cauliflowers, avocadoes, etc. (Some of the more choice vegetables get carefully “selected out” by my brother…..but that’s another matter entirely) I also know that the Chickens go crazy over thistles and the like. Anyway, I heard somewhere or other that, along with LOTS of greens, the addition of some protein to the Chickens’ diet can help boost the flavour of their Eggs. So I thought of worms! I’ve recently set up an ultra-basic compost pile by digging a very shallow hole in the Chicken Yard, filling it with as many food scraps as I can lay my hands on, watering them in, covering it with hessian, then watering the hessian. Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. Once it reaches this stage, I will simply remove the plastic tub and the hessian, and let the Chooks go to town. I am hoping for any and all advice, in regards to what I am doing here, particularly with the worm-compost pile. • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Chickens? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Worms? Like I mentioned before, I want the Chooks to have the best diet possible to give the Eggs the best flavour. As an aside, the Chickens seem to dig and scratch about like nothing I have ever seen. Quite funny to watch how they actually do this. I have even seem them sort of “rub themselves about” in the dust in drier weather, and this is VERY funny to watch. What is this they are doing? They often get quite aggressive when other birds, such as doves and pigeons, try to eat their food. They really are funny critters to watch. When we’re out the back having wine and beers, and play the Stereo, the music really has some sort of effect on them. They will often come over and jump up on the garden table or on the Stereo. Weird. Classic perennial of possible interest Russian broadleaf comfrey. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...&sa=X&oi=spell &resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Russian+Broadleaf+comfr ey&spell=1 Bill -- Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA |
#5
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
g'day gas bag,
you pretty much covered it all, except maybe to say give them all and most kitchen scraps, no meat scraps generally but any other food stuff you might throw out. you will be needing a very large worm farm if you want to raise enough worms as regular food for the chooks diets, so the regular home kitchen farms i don't think will do the job ubnless you run about 4 or 5 or so of them. then all yor kitchen scraps will be going to the worms instead of the chooks. unless you start collecting scraps from your neighbours. maybe collect material from your local vege' shop ie.,. cabbage and lettuce leaves, carrot tops damaged fruit etc.,. On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:20:23 -0700 (PDT), Gas Bag wrote: snipped With peace and brightest of blessings, len & bev -- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand." http://www.lensgarden.com.au/ |
#6
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
Gas Bag wrote:
sci.agriculture.poultry, alt.cooking-chat, alt.permaculture, rec.gardens, aus.gardens Chickens – supplementing their grain diet? My Brother has some Chickens in his backyard to lay Eggs. I have to be honest and say that since Noah floated the Ark, I have been a hardcore dedicated Egg-a-holic. And then some. Add some bacon/polish sausage/ chorizo sausage……and SWISS BROWN mushrooms……and it’s game on! I particularly like Eggs where the yolks have a really rich orange colour, and are full of flavour. At the moment, the Chickens are being fed the proper Pellet Food from a local Grain & Fodder retailer, but I am trying to “supplement” their diet to make their Eggs taste absolutely A1. I don’t just want the Chooks’ diet to be “reasonably good”…..I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. At the moment, I am getting box load after box load of vegetable scraps from some local grocers – and I am continuing with this. They mainly contain lettuce and cabbage scraps, but there are often some carrots, cauliflowers, avocadoes, etc. (Some of the more choice vegetables get carefully “selected out” by my brother…..but that’s another matter entirely) I also know that the Chickens go crazy over thistles and the like. Anyway, I heard somewhere or other that, along with LOTS of greens, the addition of some protein to the Chickens’ diet can help boost the flavour of their Eggs. So I thought of worms! I’ve recently set up an ultra-basic compost pile by digging a very shallow hole in the Chicken Yard, filling it with as many food scraps as I can lay my hands on, watering them in, covering it with hessian, then watering the hessian. Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. Once it reaches this stage, I will simply remove the plastic tub and the hessian, and let the Chooks go to town. I am hoping for any and all advice, in regards to what I am doing here, particularly with the worm-compost pile. • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Chickens? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Worms? Like I mentioned before, I want the Chooks to have the best diet possible to give the Eggs the best flavour. As an aside, the Chickens seem to dig and scratch about like nothing I have ever seen. Quite funny to watch how they actually do this. I have even seem them sort of “rub themselves about” in the dust in drier weather, and this is VERY funny to watch. What is this they are doing? They often get quite aggressive when other birds, such as doves and pigeons, try to eat their food. They really are funny critters to watch. When we’re out the back having wine and beers, and play the Stereo, the music really has some sort of effect on them. They will often come over and jump up on the garden table or on the Stereo. Weird. In the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A natural History of Four Meals", author Michal Pollan describes the routine of a super-efficient all-natural farm in Virginia. The farmer rotates his fields with clock like precision and the one process that might give guidance applicable to your situation is the sequence of animals on a given field. First comes the cows. They stay for a while eating the grass and dropping manure. Then the cows are moved to the next field and the first field is left for a number of days. This allows the cow flops to attract flies and develop a good crop of maggots. Then the chickens are moved to the field where they happily peck apart the flops, eat the maggots, and spread the manure in the process. Consumers claim that this farmer's eggs and chickens are absolutely the best to be had at any price. They happily pay a hefty premium and sometimes travel long distances to obtain them. Not that I'd expect you to invest in cows for your egg production but it would pay to keep in mind that chickens really love their protein in the form of insects and it does wonders for their taste and egg production. -- John McGaw [Knoxville, TN, USA] http://johnmcgaw.com |
#7
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
Save the eggshells. Dry and pulverize them. Never a soft egg...
-- Dave "Gas Bag" wrote in message ... sci.agriculture.poultry, alt.cooking-chat, alt.permaculture, rec.gardens, aus.gardens Chickens – supplementing their grain diet? My Brother has some Chickens in his backyard to lay Eggs. I have to be honest and say that since Noah floated the Ark, I have been a hardcore dedicated Egg-a-holic. And then some. Add some bacon/polish sausage/ chorizo sausage……and SWISS BROWN mushrooms……and it’s game on! I particularly like Eggs where the yolks have a really rich orange colour, and are full of flavour. At the moment, the Chickens are being fed the proper Pellet Food from a local Grain & Fodder retailer, but I am trying to “supplement” their diet to make their Eggs taste absolutely A1. I don’t just want the Chooks’ diet to be “reasonably good”…..I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. At the moment, I am getting box load after box load of vegetable scraps from some local grocers – and I am continuing with this. They mainly contain lettuce and cabbage scraps, but there are often some carrots, cauliflowers, avocadoes, etc. (Some of the more choice vegetables get carefully “selected out” by my brother…..but that’s another matter entirely) I also know that the Chickens go crazy over thistles and the like. Anyway, I heard somewhere or other that, along with LOTS of greens, the addition of some protein to the Chickens’ diet can help boost the flavour of their Eggs. So I thought of worms! I’ve recently set up an ultra-basic compost pile by digging a very shallow hole in the Chicken Yard, filling it with as many food scraps as I can lay my hands on, watering them in, covering it with hessian, then watering the hessian. Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. Once it reaches this stage, I will simply remove the plastic tub and the hessian, and let the Chooks go to town. I am hoping for any and all advice, in regards to what I am doing here, particularly with the worm-compost pile. • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Chickens? • Certain foods that are particularly good or bad for the Worms? Like I mentioned before, I want the Chooks to have the best diet possible to give the Eggs the best flavour. As an aside, the Chickens seem to dig and scratch about like nothing I have ever seen. Quite funny to watch how they actually do this. I have even seem them sort of “rub themselves about” in the dust in drier weather, and this is VERY funny to watch. What is this they are doing? They often get quite aggressive when other birds, such as doves and pigeons, try to eat their food. They really are funny critters to watch. When we’re out the back having wine and beers, and play the Stereo, the music really has some sort of effect on them. They will often come over and jump up on the garden table or on the Stereo. Weird. |
#8
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:56:38 -0400, John McGaw wrote:
Not that I'd expect you to invest in cows for your egg production but it would pay to keep in mind that chickens really love their protein in the form of insects and it does wonders for their taste and egg production. Lol, I could just imagine the neighbours rection to having a cow in out backyard. |
#9
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain di
Gas Bag writes:
Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. You are starting in winter, so by Christmas if you're lucky. A better way to grow worms is to get a pile of cow manure and leave it undisturbed (away from the chooks). In a month or so it will start to develop a healthy colony of earthworms, and you can gradually harvest some to feed to the chooks. Earthworms are different from compost worms. • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? What's with all the binary characters? -- John Savage (my news address is not valid for email) |
#10
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain di
On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:56:32 +0000 (UTC), John Savage
wrote: Gas Bag writes: Then I have covered the whole pile with a plastic tub of sorts. The hole I have dug in the ground is actually quite shallow, so most of the food scraps are actually above ground, not below ground level. I am assuming that in a week or so, this compost pile should be absolutely writhing with masses of worms…..hopefully. You are starting in winter, so by Christmas if you're lucky. A better way to grow worms is to get a pile of cow manure and leave it undisturbed (away from the chooks). In a month or so it will start to develop a healthy colony of earthworms, and you can gradually harvest some to feed to the chooks. Earthworms are different from compost worms. how is that? • Any specific do’s or don’t’s? • How long should the worms take to fill up the pile? What's with all the binary characters? |
#11
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain di
On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:12:22 -0600, hal wrote:
Earthworms are different from compost worms. how is that? There are many different species of earth worms. Most, if not all, of the farmed compost/bait worms are not natives. These all tend to be top feeders and need lots of food provided for best growth/production. AFAIK Australian native earth worms are a mixture including both top top/mid range feeders in places with a deep leaf litter and deep worms in other places. The deep worms are the ones that go deep into the earth and thus bring up minerals from the sub soil to the top, when they come up to the top to feed. If you want highest production in your "worm farm" then get the compost worms nd keep the feed up. If you want to improve deep drainage, then just spread your organic matter around in little clumps. The deep worms are slower,but they do aerate deep down. Also tend to be the big thick worms you see around. |
#12
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain di
On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:03:02 +1000, terryc
wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:12:22 -0600, hal wrote: Earthworms are different from compost worms. how is that? There are many different species of earth worms. Most, if not all, of the farmed compost/bait worms are not natives. These all tend to be top feeders and need lots of food provided for best growth/production. AFAIK Australian native earth worms are a mixture including both top top/mid range feeders in places with a deep leaf litter and deep worms in other places. The deep worms are the ones that go deep into the earth and thus bring up minerals from the sub soil to the top, when they come up to the top to feed. If you want highest production in your "worm farm" then get the compost worms nd keep the feed up. If you want to improve deep drainage, then just spread your organic matter around in little clumps. The deep worms are slower,but they do aerate deep down. Also tend to be the big thick worms you see around. most worms I've seen for sale as compost worms are called "red worms". Most people around here call native earthworms "nightcrawlers" which are much larger and not as red, although there are small red worms that you can find in manure piles and such. So am I concluding corrected that red worms are typically considered compost worms and nightcrawlers are the deep worms, but both will work adequately for decomposing your compost? Hal |
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain di
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#14
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Egg-laying Chickens – supplementing their grain diet?
terryc writes:
On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:56:38 -0400, John McGaw wrote: Not that I'd expect you to invest in cows for your egg production but it would pay to keep in mind that chickens really love their protein in the form of insects and it does wonders for their taste and egg production. Lol, I could just imagine the neighbours rection to having a cow in out backyard. How about cockroaches? Easy to rear, breed well, and can be raised in plastic rubbish bins filled with corrugated cardboard. They feed on the paper and glue. Just make sure the bins are escape-proof. That way, you can feed your kitchen scraps directly to the chooks, and supplement their diet with crunchy cockroaches from time to time. Now, which species would be the best to breed .....? -- John Savage (my news address is not valid for email) |
#15
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Egg-laying Chickens * supplementing their grain diet?
I haven't been paying attention to your conversation but I thought
that this may be of interest: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-...eveal-Healthie r-Eggs.aspx Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That¹s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project. Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain: € 1/3 less cholesterol € 1/4 less saturated fat € 2/3 more vitamin A € 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids € 3 times more vitamin E € 7 times more beta carotene These amazing results come from 14 flocks around the country that range freely on pasture or are housed in moveable pens that are rotated frequently to maximize access to fresh pasture and protect the birds from predators. We had six eggs from each of the 14 pastured flocks tested by an accredited laboratory in Portland, Ore. The chart at the end of this article shows the average nutrient content of the samples, compared with the official egg nutrient data from the USDA for ³conventional² (i.e. from confined hens) eggs. The chart lists the individual results from each flock. -- Billy Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016232.html |
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