Alternative Feeds for Chickens

Trying to make the food budget balance with rising food prices has become a bit of a challenge these days. It's caused me to analyze and re-evaluate our diet (which isn't a bad thing), because now, I have to ask myself what my price limits are for the things I usually buy.

Vintage USDA Poster

I'm very thankful to have a garden, fruit trees, and smallholding livestock. But there's a concern too, because some of the heftiest price jumps have been for livestock feed. So I'm analyzing their diets too, and asking, what are the alternatives for feeding our animals?

Well, how much food does a chicken need? There are various answers to that question because it depends on the age and type of chicken. Production estimates are usually around 4 to 6 ounces per chicken per day if the chickens are getting all their nutritional needs met by commercial feed. But what about chickens that free range and supplement their own diet? How does that factor in? I don't know a formula to calculate that, but I can tell you that because of our alternative feeding methods, our chickens eat very little pelleted food. In fact, they much prefer the other things we offer them.

So here's what we do to help cut the feed bill. As a heads up, you won't find that it conforms to what a lot of the experts say. But we have healthy, happy chickens and feed them for practically free. So these things definitely work. The links will take you to my blog posts for more information.

Free-ranging. We used to let our chickens out to pasture, where they eat grass, clover, weeds, and seed heads. But they tend to become counterproductive during pasture planting seasons because they will eat all the seed I've just planted. They've also done quite a bit of damage to my forest garden hedgerow and forest garden by scratching around newly planted trees and young plants. Because of that, we've switched to alternatives to full blown free ranging.

Alternatives to free-ranging. 

• chicken tractor
• fencing portions of the pasture with electric netting
• portable chicken runs
• enlarge the chicken yard and rotate where they're allowed access

Grazing beds. We grow fresh grass in these beds, which the chickens trim enthusiastically.

Any grass seed will do; chickens just love fresh greens. Occasionally, we move the bed to a new location, and let the chickens scratch up whatever they can find in the dirt.

Gathered greens and herbs. Sometimes I take my hand sickle and trim tall grass for them. Also, I gather weeds and herbs: chickweed (a favorite), clover, parsley, dandelion, plantain, purslane, bee balm, wood sorrel, basil, borage, marjoram, chervil, chives, cilantro, mint, echinacea, dill, comfrey, lemon balm, marigold flowers, hyssop, lemongrass, oregano, stinging nettles, nasturtium, purple deadnettle, rose, smartweed, sage, yarrow, tarragon, thyme, raspberry leaves, thyme.

Root crops. Hang a turnip, carrot, beet, sweet potato, etc. where the chickens can peck it, and it will amuse them for quite awhile.

Winter squash. These are easy to feed. I cut them in sections and let the chickens peck out the seeds and flesh.

Surplus melons and overgrown cucumbers. These can be fed the same way.

Compost. Moving our compost bins into the chicken yard was one of the best things we ever did. 

It's less work for us and they love scratching through it. What's especially amazing, is that there appears to be some sort of symbiotic relationship between chickens and compost. With only minimal turning on our part, our compost works up much more quickly than chickenless compost piles. It's almost like magic. (In fact, my How To Compost With Chickens is one of my most popular eBooks. See cover below, or follow that link for details.)

Do we do anything special about what goes into the chicken compost pile? No. They eat what they want and ignore what they don't want. So all kitchen and canning scraps go into the compost, including dried, crushed eggshells, moldy cheese, and meat scraps. Shockingly, we don't separate out coffee grounds and onion skins (big no-nos in the chicken expert world) because the chickens don't consider them food and leave them to decompose on their own.

Eggshells, dried and crushed instead of oyster shells for calcium. As mentioned above, these are fed via the compost. I know some people worry this will cause chickens to become egg eaters, but I've never had a chicken yet who was smart enough to look at a jigsaw puzzle of crushed egg shells and mentally figure out the pieces could be reconstructed into eggs.

Cooked eggs (scrambled or hard boiled). Extra eggs can be fed back to omnivorous livestock! We especially seem to end up with an excess of duck eggs, which I hardboil, then chop shell and all into small pieces for the chickens.

Surplus dairy. Apparently, chickens can't digest milk, but they can eat cheese, yogurt, kefir, curds, and whey. Since we have goats, we often have surplus milk, so this is an excellent way for it to not go to waste.

Homegrown grains and sunflower seeds. The thing about grain for chickens, is that it doesn't have to be processed. Wheat for example. Toss some wheat heads into the chicken yard, and they know exactly what to do with it. Growing grain for chickens is much less labor intensive than growing it for humans. Ditto for sunflower seeds, set a head out and they'll take care of the processing. 

Besides grass grains (wheat, oats, barley), small grains such as amaranth or sorghum are easy to grow and easy to feed. I toss whole seed heads into the chicken yard and they do the rest. Corn usually needs to be cracked to make it eating size for chickens.

Sprouted grains and fodder. Both of these can stretch the feed budget a lot. Also, they're very healthy. We feed sprouted grains when the root tails are about half-an-inch.

Sprouted mix of wheat, oats, and black oil sunflower seeds.

We feed fodder when the grass has grown about three inches tall. They eat grass, grain, and roots.

Same mix as above, allowed to grow into grass.

Fermented grain. This has the benefit of live probiotics.

I'm not sure how much it decreases the feed bill, but it definitely boosts nutrition. And the chickens love it.

Grubs. Any time I dig anywhere, I keep a small bucket handy to toss grubs into. The chickens adore these, and I hope it helps keep our insect population down as well.

Earthworms. The chickens find these in the compost, but for anyone practicing vermiculture for castings, this is a great way to manage the earthworm population.

Other insects and insect larvae. Some people raise mealworms or solder fly larvae for chicken feed. I've never tried either. If we ever find a cache of larvae, we scoop it into a bucket and take it to them. They also love crickets, but these aren't easy to catch and transport! 

How do I know they're getting a proper diet? How do I know it's properly balanced? Well, they get protein, carbohydrates, fats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and all from zero to minimally processed sources. They are bright eyed, interested in life, have good weight, shiny feathers and firm egg shells. We still keep free choice commercial feed available, but every single chicken (and the Muscovies) prefer the goodies I've listed above. 

If you're interested in learning how to mix your own feed rations, I have another little eBook that will teach you how to do that, How To Mix Feed Rations With the Pearson Square. It includes a lot of information on self-sufficient livestock feeding for a variety of species.

These are the book mentioned above. Their titles link
them to their individual webpages (and where to find them)
or you can visit Kikobian.com for a complete list of titles.

Prepper's Livestock Handbook is another of my books that emphasizes alternative feeds for self-sufficiency. The link is to its webpage, where you can find more information.

Back to the topic at hand. I've always had a goal of self-sufficient chickens, which means feeding them from the homestead and not buying feed. So, I've collected and experimented with a lot of ideas. As with all things, however, what I do and how I do it are habit. The way prices are right now is helping me change my habits. As they say, there's a silver lining to every dark cloud.

Alternative Feeds for Chickens © April 2022 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Fodder For Feed

I sprout grains regularly for our chickens and goats. (See "Sprouting Grain for Goats" for why.)

Sprouted wheat, oats, and black oil sunflower seeds.

But until recently, I'd never tried fodder. And what is fodder? In this context, the term is popularly used to describe sprouted grains that are allowed to grow leaves to several inches in length. Since they are grown without soil, it is a clean feed for poultry, rabbits, and ruminants alike. Here's my first attempt at growing it. 

I used the same seed mix as for sprouts.

After soaking in warm water overnight, I spread
them out about ½-inch thick in an old nursery tray.

It's watered daily, and after about 5 or 6 days it's showing good growth.

After about 8 or 9 days.

The sections lift right out of the trays. 

The critters love it! They especially appreciate fresh food during winter.

Mine took a little longer than most people said because of our cooler house temperature. It took off better when I put the tray outside on a sunny mild day. That being said, I probably wouldn't do this if the weather was too warm. One problem people face is the grain souring or getting moldy. Because of that, many use diluted bleach water for their soaking and daily rinsing. I'd rather not use bleach if I can help it, because I prefer to minimize inputs to make the process as simple, and as economical, as possible. Plus, it would restrict what I could do with the rinse water.

This was just a first-time experiment, but for an ongoing fodder supply, most folks set up a series of trays stacked on shelves. The trays are tilted slightly, so that when the top tray is watered, the water drains onto the tray below, which drains onto the tray below, etc. The best set-up I saw was in a greenhouse, where the bottom tray emptied out into a greenhouse bed. Otherwise the drainage water has to be caught and removed to wherever one wishes. 

I see two huge benefits from a fodder growing system.

1. It richly increases nutrient value of the grain as a feed.
2. It cuts the feed bill by (an estimated) 50-75%.

I felt like this experiment was quite successful. So now, I have to work on a system similar to what I described above. One more project to add to the to-do list!

Fodder For Feed © Dec 2020 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Chicken Yard Project: Grazing Beds

Last time I showed you our new compost bin, this time I'll show you the grazing beds. Grazing beds are an excellent way to provide fresh greens to confined chickens. These are simply frames covered with heavy-duty chicken wire. Seed is planted in the beds and after it grows the chickens eat the fresh greens through the wire. The wire prevents them from overgrazing the bed or scratching up the grass and killing it.

New grazing beds where the old compost bin used to be.

Dan made a couple of these previously, and found that the 2-foot by 8-foot size easiest to manage. We already had two, so he made four more.

He planted wheat and oat seed in the beds. Both grow quickly and the chickens love the grass. Lettuce or herbs can be planted in the beds too; anything chickens love to graze.

One week later.

When the grass wears out the frames are moved to a new planting spot and the chickens enjoy scratching up what's left. By rotating planting, we should be able to keep a steady supply of fresh grazing for them.

Ready to graze.

Some people keep the beds fenced until the grass grows about 4 to 6 inches above the wire and then let their chickens in. That's an extra step we haven't gotten around to.

The chickens get their fresh greens without leaving the yard.

Dan plans to build a few more from time to time. We'd like to see the entire chicken yard filled with these eventually. The idea will be to rotate planting to keep a fresh supply of grass at all times. The chickens are happier and Dan is too. He hates seeing the ground so bear in their yard. Maybe someday we can let them out to pasture again, but for now, this works very well.

The last subgoal on the chicken yard project list is a duck house. That's in the works now, although several other things have pushed their way to the top of the to-do list. I'll show you the duck house as soon as it's done. Next time, I'll share the plan we've come up with for my solar backup project for the fridge and freezer in my pantry.

Chicken Yard Project: Grazing Beds © Sept. 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Fermenting Grain for Chickens (& Ducks)

Do you remember my "Sprouting Grains for Goats" post? Well, Goatldi mentioned in the comments about fermenting grain and sent me some information. I decided to give it a try.

Fermented chicken scratch.

What do I mean by fermented grain? I mean lacto-fermented grain, similar to sauerkraut (how-to for that here.) or kimchi. Lacto-fermented foods are rich in probiotics and are higher in vitamins and digestive enzymes than non-fermented foods. Our critters benefit from these too!

I started with a small batch to see how well the chickens liked it, because apparently, some chickens like it better than others. Mine loved it! Now I'm making it in 5-gallon buckets. We fill a 5-gallon bucket with about half full with chicken scratch, then cover with water. Some people add vinegar, and some use plain water.  I add a little whey to kick-start it. Unlike sauerkraut or other lacto-fermented foods for human use, no salt is necessary. When it begins to bubble, it's ready.

Bubbles mean fermentation! This usually takes a couple
of days, but it depends on temperature. Warmer = faster.

We scoop it out with a soup ladle and let it sit in a colander on top of the open bucket to drain. Then it's tossed into the chicken yard like any chicken scratch.

It gets stirred every time we scoop some out, and occasionally we add more water to make sure the grain stays covered. If exposed to air the grain will start to mold, smell yucky, and must be discarded. The sour, acidic soaking liquid keeps it safe. Sometimes a white film forms on the surface, as it often does when lacto-fermenting food. The white film is not mold but wild yeast and is not harmful. You can remove it if you wish.

5-gallon bucket of fermented chicken scratch. The key is
to keep the grain covered with water so it doesn't get moldy.

We keep a bucket going all the time now. The longer it sits, the more sour it gets, but both chickens and ducks like it just as well at the end of the batch as they do at the beginning. Like the sprouted grain, the fermented grain seems to go further too, so it's definitely a win-win for all of us.

Fermenting Grain for Chickens (& Ducks) © May 2017 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Sprouting Grain for Goats

Sprouting grain for my goats was something I first experimented with when I was preparing to write How To Garden for Goats: gardening, foraging, small-scale grain and hay, & more. Sprouting their grain is a nutritious way to stretch the grain budget, whether one is purchasing grain or growing one's own. I continued until the weather got too hot and had trouble managing the project. My sprouts started to smell bad no matter how often I rinsed them.

Why go to the bother of sprouting grain for goats? Is it really better than feeding grain straight out of the bag? There is a lot of information out there on the benefit of sprouting grain. According to Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions, sprouting grain:

• increases vitamins B2, B5, and B6, C, and carotene
• neutralizes phytic acid, which inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc
• neutralizes enzyme inhibitors 
• produces digestive enzymes
• breaks indigestible starches down into digestible sugars
• inactivates aflatoxins (which are carcinogens)

This is my simple winter system. Each screened
bowl holds one days-worth of grain for my goats.

All that has proven great for monogastric humans, but what does it do for ruminants, i.e., multi-stomached goats? Especially the sugars. Goats' digestive systems are designed to extract nutrients from roughage. The longer digestion times allow for the breakdown of cellulose into simpler carbohydrates they can assimilate. Grains, which break down quickly, end sitting in their gut so long that they begin to ferment and become acidic - not healthy for the goat and why most goat owners offer free choice baking soda to their goats.

I do feed small amounts of grain, especially when there is little forage available, or for does in milk who need the extra calories. The does in milk get one pound of grain twice a day (with one quarter of that being wheat bran); dry does and bucks are currently get half that amount. I feed our homegrown grains as hay, i.e. it isn't threshed but still in the stalk. I think this is the healthiest way to feed grain, because the goat gets the long stem part of it as well which aids in digestion.

Chaffhaye, bran, sprouted grain, sunflower seeds, & chopped carrots.

Back to sprouting. I can't help but wonder how sprouted grains digest in the rumen, but can't find any answers. Most other blog posts or web pages on sprouting grain for goats say the same thing I've told you, but there doesn't seem to be any information out there specifically on that.

One thing sprouters do agree on, is that it only takes about half the sprouted grain as it does non-sprouted. I've found that to be true as well. So cutting down on that feed bill is a good reason to sprout. At least during winter when the temperature isn't too hot. I'll have to wait to see how it goes this summer. If we have too much heat and humidity to keep the sprouts fresh, I'll just save it for winter feed.

Sprouting Grain for Goats © March 2017 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Corn Stover

This year's field corn - "Truckers Favorite". We planted about a quarter
acres-worth. Electric netting keeps goats & chickens out of the corn. 

I'm always looking for things to grow to feed to our goats. Every year we grow field corn for the grain, and then turn the goats into the field after the harvest. But I've also learned that the leaves and stalks can be fed another way, as stover.

Stover is the remains of a plant (stalk and leaves) after the grain has been removed. As livestock feed, term usually applies to corn and sorghum. F. B. Morrison's Feeds & Feeding (an excellent book, by the way) states the leaves, especially, are quite nutritious. I know for a fact that the goats love to eat them.

We got a late start on our field corn, so it isn't ready to harvest yet. What I have been doing, however, has been thinning out the smaller and spindlier plants. The ones that don't look like they are going to make ears.

My corn stover, which is corn plant thinnings. 

Morrison also mentions that when the corn doesn't produce grain, the leaves and stalks will be higher in protein and total digestible nutrients than usual. So those thinnings should be really good for the goats. I can either dry them and add them to the hay, or run them through our goat chow maker.

And how is the corn grain doing? Even  though it isn't sweet corn, the ears are still young enough so that I could pick four ears to boil for dinner the other evening . 

4 ears of our corn. It isn't sweet corn, but it is delicious nonetheless.

I was so happy to see the ears filled out so well. That indicates good pollination. The taste is wonderful. Not super-sweet like sweet corn, but a delicious corn flavor. This variety makes tasty corn meal too, plus the kernels are small enough that the chickens can eat them without having to crack them first.

Now we wait until it dries on the stalk, then we harvest. Hopefully it will be ready before first frost.

 Corn Stover © Sept. 2015 by Leigh
at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

DIY Goat Feed: Experiment #1

One of our self-sufficiency goals is to grow all of our own animal feeds. I've written a lot on this in the past, sharing my research, growing experiments, and changes in the way I think about it and why:

• Food Self-Sufficiency & Animals
• More Thoughts on Growing Animal Feeds
• Calculating Protein with the Pearson Square
• DIY Vitamins & Minerals For Goats
• Tweaking The Goat Minerals
• Feeding My Goats: Thoughts, Research, & Changes

For the goats, one of the things I have learned is the importance of good quality hay. They are ruminants and this should be the primary staple of their diet. Also important are meeting nutritional requirements, especially protein and vitamins and minerals. Most of my concern and research has focused on that. For us, that means things I can grow and harvest pretty much year around, such as greens and root crops; also stored vegetables such as sweet potatoes and winter squashes. Greens and herbs can be dried and top dressed. Grains can be fed whole plant as hay. I can grow additional protein as cow peas, flax seeds, or sunflower seeds and feed with pods, shells, and all.

Something else that's important but not discussed much is energy. This is usually fed in the form of grain, but if you have read (or do read) those posts you'll understand why I feed only limited grain. Folks are usually concerned about protein and minerals (I am too) so most questions and discussions on the internet focus on these things. But I've been concerned about bulk (tummy filler) for the milking stand or times of year when forage is slim. These could be classified as energy foods and because goats are ruminants, should be largely cellulose based such as stalks (corn, sorghum, and/or amaranth) and corn cobs. No, that's not as terrible as it sounds because they use things like this in pelleted animal feeds, although on feed bags you'll see them listed as plant products and roughage products.

What we've needed is a way to process these items into a size the goats can manage. We've discussed this a lot and can finally show you our first experiment in DIY goat feed!

Prototype goat chow maker

We bought the Yard Machine about six years ago.  As a chipper / shredder it was pretty disappointing, because it scattered pulverized mulch all over the place, like way across the yard. As a piece of junk to clutter up the carport it did great, and we often pondered what to do with it. We would crank it up every now and then, but it could only handle small sticks and leaves so it was only semi-useful. We usually end up renting one of these once a year to take care of our huge stick and branch piles and make wood chip mulch.

With PVC pipe, rain gutter parts, duct tape, and a 30 gallon lidded drum, we've got the beginnings of a feed chopper.

Popcorn cobs

Amaranth stalk

Results?

Not as consistent as we hoped but not bad for a start.

Chopped and shredded corn cobs and amaranth stalks.
What did the goats think? Read on.

I took a couple handfuls of the finer stuff and mixed it in with the evening feed ration for the girls at milking time. Daphne ate it all and Helen left only the largest chunks of corn cob. I'd call that the beginnings of success. My plan is to eventually mix this with dried and fresh herbs, greens, cowpeas, amaranth grain, and produce to make up the ration. To check nutritional content, I will have the mix tested by our cooperative extension office.

The stalks were still somewhat green and we think the chopper may do a better job once they are completely dry. That means more experimenting later on. In the meantime, Dan is thinking of ways to tweak it, while I'm just happy for a big step forward in our quest for self-sufficiency.

 DIY Goat Feed: Experiment #1 © Aug. 2015
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

The Beauty of a Routine

In his book, Growing a Farmer, Kurt Timmermeister describes his daily chores as the bookends of his day. I love this analogy and it sticks with me as a comforting way of describing my own life too. Modern culture works so hard at getting out of work, to the point where, really, I think some folks work harder at not working than if they'd just do the job in the first place. Whenever did we decide that work was bad, anyway?

Our routine has evolved, so to speak, over the years. New critters certainly requires change, but we've adapted to our animals and their natures, learning to accommodate them, rather than trying to get them to accommodate us. When Dan is home we work as a team. When he's not, I stagger the chores a bit differently.

The girls, ready and waiting to be fed.

Chores start at the crack of dawn. We don't have electricity in our outbuildings so we try to begin as soon as we can get see outside without a flashlight. We've been up since 4 or 5, taking the time for that first cup of coffee, Bible reading, and for me, writing.

The chicken coop is opened first thing to let the chickens out. We do this mostly to keep our too-many roosters from squabbling inside the coop. The chickens are fed their scratch and then I go get the goat feed ready.

In winter time everyone is more demanding. If the girls aren't hollering for their breakfast I'll take the bucks a load of hay. The gate which separates the pigs from the billy boys is left closed until they've had their fill. If the gate is open, the pigs rush in and push the boys out of the way. However, it's not the hay they're looking to eat, it's the pile of dropped hay in front of the feeder. For some reason they love to burrow under this for an early morning nap. I figure they can have their nap later because the bucks need breakfast first.

This time of year all critters come running when they see me. Not that they
are particularly interested in me, they're just hoping I have something to eat.

Surprise and Lily are taken to be milked in the morning. I let Surprise out first, because she knows to go right to the milking room. I give her a head start before taking Lily on a lead. If I don't, Lily will take off at a gallop to try and beat Surprise to the milking stand. I let her do this a couple of times, but it created a problem after they were milked. Lily expects Surprise to be in the pasture when she gets there. She never figured out that if she gets milked before Surprise, then she goes back to the pasture before Surprise. She then starts hollering and looking frantically for her. So much easier (and quieter) to do Surprise first, so that she's already in the pasture by the time Lily gets there.

Morning milking is a lovely time of day. I can catch the sunrise if it isn't overcast and enjoy the peaceful, early morning sounds. It's one of my favorite times of the day. Lily is on the lead when I take her back to the pasture. If she isn't, she'll take off running just to see if she can steal a few bites from somewhere she's not supposed to be. As I return to the milking room I open the chicken gate into the pasture. If I open it too early, the chickens rush the goats' breakfast and I don't want them to do that. Funny how goats will rarely share their food with another goat, but will allow the chickens to help themselves. This is when I try to remember to open the gate between the bucks and pigs too.

Chickens waiting for their scratch

The others does are fed in the pasture. If Dan is home he's already done that, filled water buckets, and done manure duty. If he's not, I'll do a quick check of water buckets and fill those in need, or if frozen, get hot water into them as quickly as possible. After that, I take the milk into the house to strain and refrigerate.

Mid-morning I go out to make rounds, check water buckets again, and fill the girls' hay feeder.

Early afternoon I do a hay check and, in winter, fill hay feeders if needed. I take a quart of grain to the pigs and sprinkle it over the field they're working on. This is the field in which we plan to plant in corn and cowpeas next summer. Rather than give it to them in a feeding pan I make them work for it. That may sound tough, but the pigs love to root and hunt for food. I also figure they each get a fairer share that way, plus it keeps them busy for a long while, because after that I may go foraging for still-leafy tree branches for the goats to eat. If the pigs are around they rush the branches pushing the goats out of the way. They may eat some of the leaves, but mostly they trample them down, so it's better to occupy the pigs elsewhere.

One thing I'm hoping is that grain hunting will encourage more rooting.

In the late afternoon I get ready for evening feeding. All my critters think this should be at 2 p.m., but I think it should be closer to 4 (later in summer). I chop sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, greens or herbs if available, and any fruit rinds, cores, or other scraps I've saved from our meals. The pigs and chickens also get dairy and meat scraps. The pigs each get their pans topped off with a cup or two of whey, milk, and/or cooking or canning jar water I've saved. The pigs are one reason I plan to always keep a goat or two in milk all winter. Now that the hens are laying again, I beat a couple of eggs into this mixture too.

"Feed Us! We're STAAAARRRVIIINNNG!!!"

When Dan's home he tosses the chickens their afternoon scratch while I feed the pigs. They know it's feeding time and have been squealing non-stop to let me know they're hungry (as if I could forget). By this time all the goats are bellyaching hollering to be fed too. The bucks are next, though, because they and the pigs only get pan fed once a day.

Lastly the girls. They don't think it's fair they should have to wait until last, but I remind them they get fed in the morning too. They don't care about that, but I sympathize because I know that being pregnant and making milk is work. I'm milking once a day now, so Lily and Surprise are tied outside of the pasture at their feeders, while Helen, Daphne, and Bunny get theirs in the pasture. While I'm waiting on them I check and fill the chicken feeder, also water buckets are tended to once again.

Daphne & Helen are half-sisters. Even though they try to push the
other away, they eat pretty well from the same pan. When I tried to
feed them separately, they'd both finish off one pan & then the other.

Last rounds are made at dusk after the chickens have gone to roost. The doors to the coop are shut, as are all gates. If it's going to be very cold I'll top off hay feeders, because I know that roughage is how the goats will stay warm. This is another peaceful time of day. All the critters are settling down and I can catch a glimpse of the sunset if it's not too cloudy.

The time between morning and evening chores is filled with projects. We have indoor projects and outdoor projects. We have seasonal projects. For a list of what we hope to accomplish this year, click here. 

Theoretically, that hay feeder design works well and should be able to
accommodate three goats on either side.  I say theoretically because
the Nubians tend to each take a side and chase the Kinders else away.

The beauty of a routine is that once I walk out the door, the rest is set in motion. There's no pondering what to do next, decisions to make along the way, or trying to remember if I forgot anything. I make mental notes of things that will need tending to later, but by the time I'm done, I know the essentials of the day are taken care of.

How about you? Do you have a well-established routine or are you more spontaneous in your approach? Still experimenting? What are your favorite chores? Any tips and advice for the rest of us?

The Beauty of a Routine © January 2015
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Introducing Book 4 in The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos: How to Mix Feed Rations With The Pearson Square

With every eBook I write I learn a lot. It's not that I don't already have a basic grasp of the subject matter, but as I seek to research and collect the most relevant information, I either find missing pieces to my own puzzle to understanding, or somehow the bigger picture becomes clearer. This newest book in the series is no exception.

Book 4 in The Little Series of
Homestead How-Tos

How to Mix Feed Rations With The Pearson Square: grains, calcium, phosphorous, balance, & more.

A step by step guide. Chapters include:

• What is the Pearson Square?
• Why Mix Your Own Feed Rations?
• Understanding Feed Bag Labels
• The Right Ingredients for the Right Critter
• What is Protein? Crude Protein Versus Amino Acids
• Protein Content of Selected Feedstuffs
• Feeding to Prevent Hypocalcemia and Pregnancy Toxemia
• Feeding to Prevent Urinary Calculi
• Calcium and Phosphorous Content of Selected Feedstuffs
• How to Mix Two-Ingredient Rations
• How to Mix Rations with More Than Two Ingredients
• But Is It Cost Effective?
• Glossary
• Resources
• extensive, linked bibliography

It's available for $1.99 at Amazon for Kindle, and at Smashwords for all eReaders including PDF for reading on your computer. Today and tomorrow you can get it for free(!) at Smashwords with the code (expired). Enter the code at checkout and select the format you prefer (epub, mobi, pdf, rtf, lrf, pdb, txt, or html).

I'd also like to mention that with each new eBook I publish, I update the others. This is to keep the series titles and links up-to-date, but it also lets me make corrections (thanks Anna!) or updates on information. I'm not sure about Amazon, but at Smashwords, once you've purchased a book the updates are available as part of the purchase price. 

The webpage for How to Mix Feed Rations With The Pearson Square's is here, or you can visit the series' webpage here. As always, feedback and suggestions are welcome!

Introducing Book 4 in The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos: 
How to Mix Feed Rations With The Pearson Square
© January 2015 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Tweaking the Goat Minerals

Helen & Daphne

When I bought Helen and Daphne, I asked their previous owner what she had been feeding them. I always ask this question when I buy goats, because I want to make as gradual a transition in their diet as possible. She mentioned that she had been sprinkling their feed with Pat Coleby's mineral lick. When she told me her story, I was convinced I needed to try it too.

Besides the two Kinders she had two Saanans from a local goat dairy. She liked them but began to have problems with their hair falling out. When veterinary suggestions helped only nominally, she decided to try Pat Coleby's recipe. She sprinkled it on their food and their coats began to grow back. She ran out and stopped, and they lost fur again. She made and fed more, and it grew back again. Her goats had beautiful coats. That was all the convincing I needed.

Bunny & Lily

The recipe is in Pat's book, Natural Goat Care, but also around the internet, so hopefully I'm not violating any copyright by sharing it. Her instructions make a 37 pound batch, so I've quartered that to make 9.25 pounds.

• 6.25 pounds powdered dolomite*
• 1 pound sulfur powder
• 1 pound copper sulfate powder
• 1 pound seaweed meal (I use Thorvin kelp)

Mix well (dust mask recommended because it's all powders). Topdress feed with about 1/2 teaspoon (2 - 3 grams) daily. May also be left out free choice. Also recommended is keeping kelp available free choice, especially for dairy goats.

California AKA Clark

I put an asterisk (*) by the dolomite because I actually use dolomitic limestone. Dolomite is supposedly extremely common, but I'll be darned if I can find it. Hoegger carries it, but it's pricey (about $2 per pound) and often backordered. In her book, Coleby states that dolomitic limestone can be substituted. I can find this at the local nursery for about $4 per 50 pound bag. Note that it must be dolomitic limestone, not calcitic. The difference is the calcium and magnesium ratio, which must be twice the calcium to magnesium to be of benefit. Powdered is preferred to granular. My goats actually lick it up from the bottom of their feeders.

Gruffy, Randy, & Waldo

I buy the sulfur and copper sulfate from Alpha Chemicals. Their prices are excellent and so is their customer service. (They also sell ammonium chloride which is used to prevent urinary calculi in male goats, and citric acid, a necessity for making mozzarella!). I buy my kelp from Seven Springs Farm in Virginia. Again, excellent prices and customer service. Even with shipping the cost for a 50 pound bag is more reasonable than anywhere else I've been able to find.

While reading Pat's book about the lick, I happened to see the section on boron. It was the symptoms of boron deficiency that caught my eye - creaking knees. My two oldest goats (Surprise and Gruffy), in particular, had this. Since they get a loose goat mineral (Sweetlix Meatmaker Goat Mineral), a deficiency didn't occur to me. I thought the creaking knees and slowing down were due to their getting older. What I didn't realize was that my loose mineral mix doesn't contain boron. Even though we've been including boron in our pasture remineralization program, not all areas have been improved yet. But, within a couple of days of receiving the boron (as Borax), their behavior changed considerably - they went from plodders to prancers! What a difference! They get 1/2 teaspoon sprinkled on their feed once a week.

Surprise

In my mineral feeders I keep free choice Thorvin kelp, the Sweetlix, and baking soda. Now that I've cut back on grain my goats rarely touch the baking soda. They don't eat much of the Sweetlix anymore, either. Because I feed Chaffhaye, they do eat a lot of kelp (alfalfa being goitrogenic). The other thing I continue to give them is my own homegrown vitamin and mineral mix. They get a handful on top of their feed once a day.

All in all, I'm very happy with the condition of my goats. Coats are thick and soft, with no bald tail tips. I'll keep the mineral blend available but it's not disappearing as quickly any more, so this may be the right combination for us.

Tweaking the Goat Minerals © January 2015
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Feeding My Goats: Research, Thoughts, & Changes

Over the years I've written quite a bit about feeding my goats. With our self-sufficiency goals, feeding our animals from the homestead is a primary concern. Progress has been slower than we'd like, and I'm always contemplating how we can do better. Recently, I finished some rather extensive research for Critter Tales, the book I'm currently working on. If it hadn't been for the book I probably wouldn't have dug this deeply, but I'm glad I did because I've come to some conclusions and made some changes in the way I feed my goats. The following is an excerpt from the current draft of the "Goat Tales" section of the book. I hope it will be useful for those concerned about feeding their goats.

~~~

In the beginning, I assumed we would have to grow grain for our goats. Grains are high in energy but low in crude fiber, as are the beans or peas which are added for protein. Together, grains and legume seeds are referred to as concentrates. This is considered the necessary non-forage portion of the diet. The modern pelleted form usually contains corn and oil or fat for energy, soy or cottonseed meal for protein, plus added fiber, vitamins, and minerals for a complete feed in a bag.

With Dan's and my goal of feeding our animals from our land, I assumed I would need to learn how to make my own concentrate mixture. I would need to know what grows well in our area, plus I wanted to find a soy substitute, because soy requires extra processing to make it digestible. To grow a year's supply of these things would be more challenging than the garden. It would require good soil and adequate moisture, but at a scale needing more land, more water, larger equipment, and more storage space. Because of that I wanted to do my homework first.

As I researched what to grow for our goats, I learned there are a wide variety of opinions about what to feed them. Some folks are able to maintain healthy, productive goats without grain. Others assume it's a must and can't imagine feeding goats without it. They believe grain is essential to a goat's health and well-being.

The reason for feeding grain and legumes to ruminants is to enable them to reach their "genetic potential" for maximum milk production and rate-of-gain, i.e. weight gain for meat. [3] One of the questions I had to ask myself is, do I really need maximum production? If I want to make any significant income from my animals, then my answer will likely be yes. As someone who simply wishes to live on what I can grow and produce for myself, then I need to consider my answer. Is it possible to be satisfied with what my goats can provide without being pushed to their limits? Can I adapt our diet to true seasonal eating? More importantly, does our feeding regimen fit our values of stewardship and self-sufficiency? Is it in their best interests to be pushed to maximum production or will I burn them out? Is it possible for my goats to thrive without a concentrated type goat feed?

In Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals, Dr. Paul Dettloff, DVM comments that veterinary textbooks of the 1950's make no mention of acidosis. It was not a problem when ruminants (cattle in his example) were fed on hay and pasture alone. The problem developed when the standard feed for cattle became grain, particularly corn, both as feed grain and as silage. The result has been that acidosis and it's various symptoms are now common: hoof problems, loose and runny manure, decreased resistance to disease, decreased butterfat, and shortened lifespan. Autopsy reveals an enlarged, yellowing liver. [4]
In goats, symptoms of acidosis are similar to those in cattle: decreased appetite, indigestion, dehydration, depression, weight loss, foot problems, scours, B vitamin deficiencies, decreased resistance to disease, and eventually death. Preventative measures include adequate roughage (especially long stemmed grass hay), whole rather than cracked grain, feeding hay first, and slow changes in diet to give the bacteria in the rumen time to adjust. [3] Acidosis is also the reason goat owners leave out free choice baking soda, so the goats can self-treat mild cases.

The problem is that the rumen is not designed to digest grain and seeds. It is designed to digest roughage, which is a generic term for the long stemmed, high fiber plants which make up forage, browse, and hay. According to the classic Feeds and Feeding by F. B. Morrison, the rumen is unique because it contains digestive bacteria which are able to break down plant cell walls, particularly cellulose and pentosans. This is something digestive enzymes cannot do, which is why roughage is low in digestible nutrients for monogastric (single stomach) creatures. Ruminants, on the other hand, are able to assimilate more nutrients from roughages. The longer the roughage stays in their rumen, the more nutrients they can extract. However, the digestive bacteria will also digest the starches and sugars found in grain (and in molasses, which is used as a binder in processed pellets)[5]. Dr. Dettloff, writing sixty years later, makes the connection with acidosis. The digestion of starch throws off hydrogen ions which lower pH, initially in the rumen but, eventually, systemically. The body cell membrane's sodium-potassium pump becomes unbalanced so that the immune system suffers and the animal's condition deteriorates.[4]

What goats need are plant material with long coarse fibers. These stimulate the rumen to function properly in what is known as the "roughage effect." During digestion plant matter is broken down and begins to ferment. Because it is not very digestible, roughage requires re-chewing to further break down the cell walls to release nutrients. We know this as chewing the cud. This action also neutralizes rumen pH because goat saliva contains buffers. [6] This buffer is a naturally produced bicarbonate, which according to M. Hadjipanayiotou, is apparently superior to baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in its ability to regulate rumen pH. [7] The more the animal chews its cud, the more bicarbonate is released into the digestive system. Grinding roughage into small particles (as for making pellets) greatly reduces this effect and the rumen's ability to digest and buffer properly. [6]

Something that surprised me is that goats don't need high energy feed (grains) to keep warm during cold weather. Among other nutrients, ruminal fermentation produces volatile fatty acids (VFAs). These provide over 70% of the needed energy supply, [8] enough to enable the animal to stay warm.[9] Robert L. Johnson of the International Dairy Goat Registry concurs, "They need plenty of real roughages–tree bark, dry leaves, poor-quality hay, even straw. If you give a goat a big bowl full of high-protein feeds on a cold winter night, you are actually chilling the goat; still more energy is needed to digest the meal, and goats can get pneumonia."[10]

Keenan Bishop summarized it well for Kentucky's The State Journal, "Goats do not perform well on high concentrate or high starch diets; however, they perform best on feeds in the range of 55-70 percent total digestible nutrients with just enough nitrogen in the gut to produce microbial protein and enough digestible fiber to produce fatty acids." [11]

The subject became more complex from there. In addition to crude fiber (CF) some articles now discuss acid detergent fiber (ADF). Basically, higher ADF means lower digestible energy and is used as an indicator of when to add grain to the diet. When I could not readily find charts with this information, I began to wonder how complicated I really wanted to get. Isn't the simple life supposed to be, well, simple? My conclusion was that everyone recognizes the inability of ruminants to digest high starch concentrates, but their solutions were finding ways to avoid symptoms rather than eliminate the cause of the problem. They want to dig deeper with scientific research to find the exact numbers needed to obtain a profitable balance between production and health, while adding rumen buffers, neutralizing agents, and inventing rumen modifiers. Trying to find exact, scientifically calculated figures for a roughage/grain/additive ratio may make sense in a dry lot, feedlot, overgrazed, or production situation, but it did not seem the best plan for our goals and our goats. To me that seemed a game of Russian roulette that I don't want to play. Free range goats will choose a large variety of things to eat if available, and are healthier for it. Our job is to steward our land to keep that variety available.

That still left the question of protein, another much talked about topic in regards to feeding goats, and another reason why folks feed concentrates. I've written many a blog post reporting my research on the protein content of things we can conceivably grow on our homestead: wheat, oats, amaranth, BOSS, grain sorghum, corn, cowpeas, comfrey, etc. How to make a homegrown feed mix containing the recommended 16% crude protein (CP) was a concern, because the things we can grow don't contain enough CP to get that percentage. That's why soy is commonly used in commercial feeds.

It was when I read Pat Coleby's Natural Goat Care that I learned that overfeeding protein can actually cause health problems such as mastitis, acetomenia, milk fever, ketosis, foot problems, and also mineral deprivation, especially copper. In addition, legumes which are used as protein sources: soy, alfalfa, beans, peas, tagasaste, clovers, etc., are goitrogenic, i.e they interfere with the thyroid's uptake of iodine. Fed in excess, they deplete iodine and can cause thyroid problems. I know that when I feed my goats lots of alfalfa, they consume more kelp, which is their source of iodine. [12] Phytoestrogens (plant based estrogens) are another concern and are found in significant amounts of in a number of legumes: alfalfa at certain stages of growth, various clovers, and soy, also some grains such as wheat and oats. These can effect ovarian function, fertility, and milk production [13]. Also they can be a contributing factor in ovarian cysts. [14] These things raised red flags in my mind in regards to whether or not the protein they provide is worth the risk. To put it another way, do goats really need all that protein?

Most dairy goat feeds contain a minimum of 16% protein (some higher). Proponents of natural goat care recommend 12 to 14% [12, 15]. According to the online Merck Veterinary Manual, the very minimum amount of crude protein needed by a non-working goat (i.e. not pregnant, lactating, or in rut) is 7% crude protein. [16] These figures are for crude protein (CP, which is actually nitrogen content). Of that, roughly 70% is digestible [10]. That means 16% CP yields approximately 11% digestible protein, 7% CP would be about 5% digestible. That seemed shockingly low to me after years of trying to figure out how to make my own rations containing 16%. In light of the other information, however, I was beginning to reconsider.

An extremely helpful article was one I found by Dr. Robert J. Van Saun DVM, of Penn State University. In "Dairy Goat Nutrition: Feeding for Two (How to properly feed the goat and her rumen)", he states that milk production can be increased by decreasing grain and maintaining a high roughage diet. How is that possible? Because the microbes in the rumen produce the building blocks of protein though bacterial fermentation.

"The dairy goat derives a majority of her energy and protein from microbial end products or the microbes themselves. Bacteria contain approximately 60% protein, which is of high quality and digestibility. In other words, the more we make the bugs grow in the rumen system, the less additional more expensive feedstuffs we need to provide the doe."

He goes on to state that in dairy cattle, microbes can provide protein for up to 50 pounds of milk.  [9]

According to another source [17] ammonia builds up in the rumen when rumen degradable protein exceeds the capacity of the rumen microbes to assimilate it. The ammonia is absorbed into the blood and converted to urea in the liver. This conversion process takes energy that could be used for making milk. This is why too much protein in the diet decreases milk production. It can further create a negative a negative energy balance which can eventually result in reduced fertility.

All of this supports a low grain, high roughage diet. Grain can cause problems but roughage keeps the rumen active, healthy, and able to extract those protein building blocks from that it.

What does all of this mean to me, in terms of growing grains and legumes for our goats? It means that if I can provide high quality forage, both fresh as pasture and browse, and dry as hay, then I do not need to focus on growing grains and legumes for them. I can put that land to use growing winter greens and root crops to supplement their diet rather than concentrates. If I do feed them grain and legumes, I would rather include it in their hay as whole plants, i.e. before the wheat has been threshed and with the peas still in the pods on the vine. The goats can get the nutritional boost from the wheat and peas, but with the buffering, roughage effect of the stems, pods, chaff, and leaves. They eat it all and the chickens happily clean up any dropped seeds.

~~~

I'll stop there for now, except to give you the bibliography below with links to my sources. As you can imagine, this has had quite an impact on how I feed my goats. Of grain, I'm down to only a very small amount: 1# daily for each of the Nubian does, about half a cup each daily for the Kinder does (does are fed twice a day so this is divided into two feedings), a tablespoon at the most for the bucks and kids, which are fed once a day. They all get a couple scoops of Chaffhaye, chopped garden vegetables, and a handful of dried herbs, fruits, and veggies. The rest is forage and hay, either what we grow here  (including weeds), or the best hay I can find to buy. I've also changed up their minerals and will post about that soon. Since these changes my goats look better than they ever have!

Will also add that most of the book isn't this intense or heavy! Mostly I'm focusing on our crazy experiences with our critters, with lots of hopefully useful information thrown in for good measure.

Bibliography

[3] Susan Schoenian, "The truth about grain: Feeding grain to small ruminants" Small Ruminant Info Sheet, 2007-2014

[4] Paul Detloff DVM, Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals Austin, TX: Acres USA, 2009, 9-12

[5] F. B. Morrison, Feeds and Feeding: A Handbook for the Student and Stockman 20th ed. Ithaca NY: The Morrison Publixhing Co. 1943, 27-28

[6] Suzanne Gasparotto. "Long Fiber: Critical to Good Nutrition", Onion Creek Ranch

[7] M. Hadjipanayiotou "Effect of Sodium Bicarbonate and of Roughage onMilk Yield and Milk Composition of Goats and on Rumen Fermentation of Sheep", Journal of Dairy Science Volume 65, Issue 1, January 1982, Pages 59–64 

[8] R. Bowen, "Nutrient Absorption and Utilization inRuminants", Colorado State University, 2009, Web. 12 Dec 2014

[9] Dr. Robert J. Van Saun, DVM, PhD of Penn State University Dairy Goat Nutrition: Feeding For Two  

[10] Robert L. Johnson, "The Feeding Of Goats" International Dairy Goat Registry, April 29, 1996, sadly the site has changed and the article removed.

[11] Keenan Bishop, "Getting your goat and feeding it too", The State Journal, Oct. 7, 2007

[12] Pat Coleby, Natural Goat Care, Austin, TX: Acres U.S.A. 95 - 97

[13] Gunnar Sundstøl Eriksen, "Effects of phyto- and mycoestrogens indomestic animals"

[14] Carol Raczykowski, "Hormonal Causes of Infertility in the Doe", Pygmy Goat WORLD, 1994

[15] Kristie Miller, "Goat Feeding ", Land of Havilah Farm

[16] NutritionalRequirements of Goats The Merck Veterinary Manual 

[17] "Crude Protein: Ruminant Nutrition, CNCPS, Crude Protein Fractions, Rumen (un)degradable protein" www.dietaryfiberfood.com Last Updated 05 April 2012

Feeding My Goats: Research, Thoughts, & Changes
© December 2014 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/