Feeding the dog
Feeding the chickens
Feeding the compost
That is the dilemma.
It's finding the balance between $$ spent, return to the garden and feeding the animals.
Prior to the chickens moving in we were feeding the dog all the household food leftovers from the day - a lot! He was actually getting too much and put on weight.
Prior to the chickens moving in the compost was a lovely, nutrient rich growing heap of organic matter.
Now...
The chickens now get a good portion of the left over scraps, all the vegetable scraps (except citrus and onions since they don't seem to care for them) and the odd topping up of pellets when there doesn't seem to be much "cereal" based scraps (as in the kids rice porride, Simon's left over weetbix crumbs from the end of the box or bread crusts).
The dog has lost weight and we are once against supplementing his diet with dog food.
The compost only receives pumpkin skin, onion skin, citrus skin and grass clippings/vacuum cleaner dust.
The only thing really benefiting are the chickens (and the dog's health). However, I suspect they could be laying more eggs than they are (only 1 or (very occasionally!) 2 eggs in 2 days from three chickens).
So! (Gee, what a long winded lot of waffle this is...)
I will give the chickens a full diet of laying pellets/wheat, they free range most days and get fresh grass under their tractor once a week - so a nice rounded diet I think. We hopefully will see an increase in egg production. The extra $$ spent on buying in what they need will hopefully pay off in a few ways and actually lasts quite a while - being bantams, they require less calories than full size chickens).
The dog will go back to getting the majority of the cooked food scraps, but only as much as he needs and the surplus goes to the chickens. Saving on $$ here again.
The compost receives all vege scraps from the kitchen again. Savings on $$ so I don't have to buy any in and the benefit of it being organic.
3 comments:
No that is not enough eggs! Our 7 chickens give us 3-5 eggs a day, averaging 4. And 2 of them are REALLY old, and one never lays at all, but we don't have the heart to kill her. So in other words, our young chickens are each laying every day at the moment. And that is when it really feels worth it!
We have four chickens and get 2-3 eggs a day. I've found that if I give them food scraps, they free-range AND I supplement with chicken pellets they are fairly reliable layers.
I must have fussy chickens as there are plenty of scaps they wont eat so the compost still gets a healthy feed each day. Poor goats miss out on snacks though ...
Chickens laying depends on many factors mainly light fresh water and age of the bird
Chickens start laying at approximately 5 - 6 months of age for thier first year with enough light and fresh water and food (from what you described they are getting plenty of food) they should lay one egg every day
after their first moult their egg production will slow down to every other day
I live in Northern WI and we have to supplement light for our chickens during the colder darker months we set ours on a timer
I really am enjoying your blog
Come visit mine anytime we seem to share a lot
http://goinggreenish.blogspot.com/
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