I have been raising chickens for a few years now. I would have never guessed that in this short period of time that I would become the go to gal in my area, when one has questions about the birds. Funny thing is that I have learned a good deal about chicken raising, chicken health, and much much more.Raising chickens should be one of the least expensive prepper things that you do. Now in today's society we are sold a bill of goods on even the needs of chickens, and many people have fallen in the trap of spending far too much.
One thing I realized after being the poultry person for the county fair was that most people do not realize that you can feed your chickens your food waste. This is so simple and so important. Every peeling, every egg shell(crushed into small pieces), every bone goes into the bucket. I have an ice cream bucket to toss the "slops" for the day in, that we give to the birds mid-day!
It is pure excitement when we call the chickidoodles! The slops are a highpoint in their wee pea brained days and for me, I have reduced giving more feed to them. In fact, we have a family in town that saves their food slops for us to give to our birds. We provided the buckets and they call when the bucket is full(how easy is this?). The slops provide an array of nutrients to the birds that specialized feeds try and pinpoint. A bonus is that the waste from the table is not wasted and if you usually placed this in a compost pile-then don't worry, you still can~ after you clean the chicken coops. Instead of the foods it will be the hay and waste of the birds.
Do not forget- any food item-bones and all go to the chickens. They love everything. A fun afternoon is to watch the chickens chase and fight over a spaghetti noodle!
Please remember that the path of the prepper most often takes you on a path of simplicity and less waste and less cost. Learning how to have animals that utilize less commercial feeds is a great start. Modern thought is that this is not possible nor healthy for the animals. I am here to document my path and that it is indeed possible and successful.
(c)Double Nickel Farm
Jennifer
