Planning the 2013 Chicken Garden

The chickens have been eating us out of house and home.  Alright, I am exaggerating a bit, but they sure do eat a lot!  We have lazy chickens that would prefer me to throw them some cracked corn or rolled oats before they forage for bugs!  Once they figure out that I’m not going to feed them, they eventually meander around the yard foraging.

I learned about breeding mealworms late last year and have been quite successful at doing so.  My goal is to reduce the amount of commercial chicken feed we buy and to become as self-sufficient as possible when it comes to feeding the chickens.  The mealworms are just the beginning.  We plan on growing and preserving the following items to feed the chickens:

 

Wheatgrass

Alfalfa sprouts
Pumpkins (we bought a variety that grow to be up to 100 lbs!)
Sunflowers
Squash
Corn
Watermelon
Chickweed
Rye grass
Oregano

 

My hopes are to grow enough of the above items to feed as well as put some away for the fall, winter and early spring when the ground is frozen and bugs are hiding.  It would be awesome to spend $0 on chicken feed in 2013, though I am aiming to spend no more than $50 between the seeds to start the chicken garden and some chicken feed to hold the chickens over until the garden gets started.

 

Do you grow your own chicken food?

What do you feed them?