Incredible Homestead Chickens
(Page 3 of 6)
December 2007/January 2008
By Harvey Ussery
I urge you to take the feeding of your flock into your own hands. A willingness to experiment, a bit of research about nutritional needs and access to whole ingredients available in your area are the only requirements.
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Whether you buy prepared feeds or make your own replacement mixes (from whole corn, oats, wheat, field peas, kelp meal, etc.), the heart of your feeding program should be maximizing your flock’s access to whole, natural foods. If you pasture your birds, they will find a lot of high-quality food on their own. If you practice vermicomposting to recycle kitchen wastes or manage manure, you can harvest the worms to feed your flock. If you live in an area “blessed” with lots of Japanese beetles, collect them to feed your eager birds.
Putting the Flock to Work
There are many ways to enlist the natural behaviors of the flock to achieve key homestead goals.
Before the era of Monsanto and Cargill, free ranging poultry flocks helped control excess insect populations in orchards. We can utilize our flocks in the same way, confining them to their work if necessary with electric net fencing. Another useful service the flock provides in the orchard is cleaning up dropped fruit, which can harbor disease or overwintering insects.
Though chickens could destroy an established garden with their constant scratching (and they like ripe tomatoes as much as you do!), just prior to the garden season I net my flock onto the garden for two to four weeks. The birds eat sprouting weed seeds as well as slugs and snails.
I usually assign tilling chores to my chickens. If I need to develop new ground for a garden, I net a flock of chickens onto the plot and let them do what they love best, scratching away at that tough sod until it is killed and turned into the top few inches of the soil, in the process boosting soil fertility with their droppings.
The Integrated Flock
There are so many ways our flocks can be integrated into helping us develop food self-sufficiency on the homestead. The examples I have given only hint at the possibilities. The key is liberating them from an isolated corner and making them part of the broader, interwoven patterns of your homestead endeavor.
Which Breeds are Best? Two Experts Offer Advice
Climate, housing situations and goals for the flock all play a part in selecting which breeds (or hybrids) of chickens to keep. Each situation is unique. Here are two expert opinions on breed selection.
Harvey Ussery raises cuckoo Marans, old English games, silver spangled Hamburgs, and an experimental cross (the boxwood broody) for personal use on his homestead in Virginia. Here are Harvey’s views on breed selection:
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