The thought of feeding your poultry when the food network collapses has become more recurrent in my thought processes since the Covid-19 saga. It can be frightening to think of what an apocalypse could bring, considering that a mere virus destabilized the food grid to such an extent.
When the food system crumbles, we no longer have access to the supply of meat & eggs, and seed grains for your home-reared meat animals become unavailable too.
The obvious consequence is a hungry flock, and it surely wouldn’t take much time to have some angry red birds among them. A hungry flock doesn’t lay, which means your only source of meat protein in a post-SHTF world becomes unavailable.
This can be terrible, as the most profitable time to own poultry may be when an evil wind blows south. When your flock is well fed, then you can always enjoy an unlimited protein supply, unlike nearly everyone else. So, while everyone is a walking skeleton, you’re robustly fleshy, so it’s only a matter of time before your place becomes the center of commerce — we want to trade, many people will say.
But you should realize that you may also be one of the walking skeletons & not the robust one. You could also be clamoring to exchange your Ferrari for some eggs — except if you know these…
Alternative Methods for Feeding Your Poultry When the Food Network Collapses
Biodegradable Waste
If I had doubts about feeding chickens without grains at the initial stage, finding out that Vermont Compost’s Hammer fed over 1 100 chicken without grains quickly convinced me. It is quite an easy thing to do.
This method involves gathering waste from several institutions & then supplying the birds with tons of these wastes. These chicks assess the compost, using their beaks & claws, and then eat pieces of the scrape over time. Bugs & grubs aren’t spared too.
You may know by now that garbage removal becomes quite difficult when the system crashes. Finding sufficient compost for your chickens won’t be a problem, therefore. Also, your flock can convert these wastes to compost — and that can be highly beneficial for your garden.
So, without the use of many resources, you’re able to keep your flock fed & your garden replenished.
Here are the steps to follow when setting up this system:
Construct a Shelter for the Flock
Chickens always need some cover — no matter how they are kept. You obviously need to provide your flock with a shelter that is conducive enough for them to at least lay eggs & stay protected from the elements.
If the coop is the main means of protecting them from predators at night, then you’ll have to build a complete building. Instead of a 3-sided shelter, you may have to opt for a barn-like structure or settle for a design that uses a lot of hardware mesh.
If your chicks will have space to run around outside, a 60-90 square feet structure is enough for 30 chickens.
Secure Your Composting Area
Your chickens have to be protected, and a major step in doing this is ensuring that they can’t escape their structure — except when you allow them to.
You have plenty of fencing options to select from, but you need to remember they are cunning escape artists. For a start, a fence that’s 6-8 feet high is okay if you regularly trim the wing feathers on your chicks.
You have to keep in mind, too, that chicken wire isn’t your best choice for keeping out predators. I would suggest a solid wooden wall. Your fences should not have spaces wider than 2 inches between them too. I believe an inch is perfect for young birds or bantam chicken. However, if you’d prefer wire fencing, go for hardware mesh instead of chicken wire. Set your fence deep into the ground (1 foot at least) because some predators are excellent diggers who could circumvent your wall.
Set Up the Area for Composting
The composting area refers to where you’ll be converting wastes to compost, so if you don’t have a garden, it may not be necessary. I see no reason you wouldn’t have a garden, though. You should be able to turn compost easily — and this can be done by constructing several boxes where they can easily get into.
Personally, I’d prefer to create numerous compost heaps. The system then would be to regularly add the newest scraps to the heap that’s most far from the compost removal area. So, when your flock eats the leftovers, they create new beautiful compost.
When you have to turn your heap then, you’ll need to move the refined compost to the second heap. Again, get your chicks to feed on this heap, and then move the compost, which they’ll create now to the third heap & this is where you turn them.
Within 1 or 2 weeks, you’ll have very fine compost that you can use for your garden.
Start Feeding Your Flock!
When you’re done setting up your composting area, the next step is to start feeding your chickens the available compost materials. Keep to the typical principles associated with a usual composting construction.
This means that you feed these critters veggies, fallen leaves & even weeds you find in your garden. Throw in some scraps from your kitchen, too, as well as pests that you’ve managed to kill (not through poisoning, obviously). Other items to add include wood chips, hay, straw & manure from other livestock.
If you can keep this supply coming, you’ll keep your chickens well-fed. A single chick can process nearly a pound of wastes into composting materials every, although you must make sure that they feed only according to their needs and not everything at once.
Conclusion on Feeding Your Poultry When The Food Network Collapses
Feeding your poultry when the food network collapses can be done in other ways, which we’ll look at in subsequent articles. Let’s hear your views on the biodegradable waste system first. Is it a methodology you’ll try out?