Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
as bread and pasta—to your chickens. Technically, you can
feed them meat as well, but I would avoid the practice
because too many diseases are being spread these days by
feeding meat to livestock—things like mad cow disease that
can spread to humans and is incurable. A small flock of birds
will be much less expensive to feed than a house cat, and the
feed is readily available at agricultural stores. A number of
bird feeders are available commercially, or they can be built
by the farmer. Make sure that whatever you use for a feeder,
it can be raised or lowered so that its lip is even with the
backs of the birds. Building the feeder this way, and never
filling it more than half full of feed will significantly reduce
the amount of feed, that ends up on the floor since chickens
have to raise their heads to swallow.
If birds are used for pest control, a fencing system should be
created that allows the birds to forage in and around beds that
are sown with cover crops but not in beds growing food crops
A small flock of birds will devastate a garden in short order
because they like to eat most things that humans eat. They
make excellent manure that should be added to the compost
pile if gathered. Otherwise, just leave it in the beds containing
cover crops to naturally degrade and provide free fertilizer for
the next growing season.
Commercial feed comes in many varieties. Both medicated
and nonmedicated versions of mash, crumbles, and pellets are
available. If you specify it is for laying hens, the clerk at the
store will know exactly what you need. The medicated
versions aren't typically necessary. You can also buy a mix of
cracked corn and rye called “scratch feed.” Scratch is about
half the price of regular feed but is not, in and of itself, a
complete ration—although chickens tend to prefer it over
