Breaking free of commercial feeds was our first step. We then mixed our own grain feed for poultry and our feeder pigs.
In feeding grains there is compromise( GMO and pesticide usage), shortages, rising costs, etc....
We're searching and learning more natural alternatives of feed for our animals, especially our poultry, as they are the primary grain consumers on the farm.
Our plan includes fencing our property( to contain poultry) so our poultry can free range and forage for their own needs. Then we're going to increase our alternative crops, such as; flax, amaranth, millet,oats, rye, Indian corn, sunflowers, mangle beets, extra root crops and squash, etc.... Many of these items will be stored in our cellar, some harvested, dried and bundled for later use.
We have the ability to grow a portion of our hay needs and have sources for the extra needed. The cows and horse only receive hay, graze and "alternative treats", such as; mangle beets, carrots, alfalfa cubes, apples, etc.... We do supplement with a mineral as well.
This will be the first year we're going to try to get away from commercialized grains and feed our own alternative food sources.
This winter we supplemented our poultry with old hay and alfalfa hay that was weedy and the results were great! Now if we add to this free ranging and foraging, bundles of grains we grow, veggies and herbs they should be fine.
In other news around here;
Cortney is working on building up her jewelry for resale( see above photo of one of her latest creations), as well as woven pot holders and hot pads for table tops.
Today I'm concentrating on getting laundry finished and on the line, making use of our excess carrots in the root cellar, by pickling them and need to look into either dehydrating potatoes or canning them. The ole' say goes; "Waste not Want not", right?
We ordered our chicks for meat, White Plymouth Rocks. They are due to arrive 25th of March, before then we have 8-10 old hens that will become stew hens. We may look at butchering a turkey as well.
Slow germinating seeds( rosemary, thyme, habenaro peppers, a few varieties of tomatoes and flowers) will be started by this weekend with the remainder being started second week of March. This way we only end up re potting once before hardening off and planting in ground.
If our weather holds I have plans to begin hauling wheelbarrow loads of composted manure for the gardens, before Mike fires up the tractors and gets to spreading it on the pastures*wink*
I still have Jon's old room to clean up, it's become the catch all for junk*sigh*. I sorted our old taxes and bills that I need to re-sort just to be sure and then burn. After it's all cleaned up I have to paint the whole room and get it set up for sewing/ quilting and crafts. The time just seems to be flying and I haven't gotten all the items I'd hope to get done finished but there is always tomorrow*wink*
9 comments:
I love the jewelry pictured! How much? :-)
If you are truly interested she's asking $30 + shipping for the set or $25+s/h for the necklace alone and $10 +s/h for the bracelet.
You can email us at: kellemt@yahoo.com Just put intereseted in the necklace set in the subject box, thank you.
Kelle;
If you look at the old accounts and diaries of early settlers, particularly in the colder northeast and New England states it was common to store up turnips, squash, pumpkins, oats, beets for their winter feed. Corn was considered a *wasteful* feed to give to cattle, as the cornmeal was better used for people AND cattle dropped and trod upon so much of it while eating. Another reason NOT to feed corn is that e.coli FLOURISHES in cattle that are corn fed, but does not in cattle that are grass fed and over wintered on root vegetables, pumpkins, etc.
Beets and pumpkins are especially good to add to milk cows diets, as their high sugar content increases the milk supply.
The jewelry is pretty! You guys have been busy.
Lamb,
Thank you and I agree and thus the reason we're heading back to more natural feed for our animals. We don't feed corn or any grain for that matter to our cows or horse. The corn we raise is ground and added to the poultry feed as a protein.
SFG,
Yep busy, busy, again not enough hours in a day! I'll pass on your compliment to Cortney, she'll grin*wink*
Kelle, We have been moving to more homegrown feed also. If it weren't for the horses we would probably be able to move a little quicker. We also still have quite a bit of pasture that we are working on. One of the "keys" is to have good forage for as long as possible. So we have gone to planting things like turnips, corn, sunflowers, and herbs in with our forage legumes and grasses. This year the critters were grazing into December and things are greening up now that the wheat, oats,rye, and clover are popping up their heads. One other way that we get away from "commercial" feeds is to purchase feed that we mix ourselves from a local farmer. We then mix our own feed for the critters. Our chickens are pretty much on their own. They get kitchen scraps and clean up after the others and have done very well. They did get sprouted wheat this winter, along with mealworms for added protein since there were so few bugs around. Like you, I think the only way to be self sufficient is to not only provide your own needs, but the needs of your animals also. God bless.
Kat,
We moved away from commercial feeds 6-7 yrs ago and went to buy direct from the farmer and grinding and mixing our own feed, but here in lies the problem, more and more farmers are going to GMO crops and we refuse to feed this to our animals. When the one farmer switched to GMO corn he didn't tell us right away( knowing our stance) and that year when we butchered turkeys we noticed malformed breast bones, and internal organs that did appear to be healthy, even though the birds themselves were gaining and growing. The other thing this may have been attributed to is that they were hybrid birds, not heritage breeds like we raise now.
We have been implimenting this natural way of feeding more and more each year, but this is the year we've decided to break free 100%.
Thanks for your comments, we are very much likeminded :o)
Blessings for your weekend,
Kelle
Kelle - you may already read this blog, if not, it is great for learning about pasture rotation, root crops for her milk cow, etc.
http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/
Your plan sounds great.
Courtney's jewelry is beautiful!
Emily
Interesting post! We are trying to grow a lot of our own poultry feed too.
I like your blog!
Post a Comment