Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

With the rise in feeds for all livestock I'm looking into sustainable alternatives that we can grow at home. I want to plant bushes and trees etc around the periphery of the chicken field so that they can graze as and when seeds and fruits are ready to supplement feeds.

Can anybody suggest suitable plants to add to this list?

So far ;
Elder - which is very easy to grow, they LOVE the berries that come in August
Blackcurrants - also simple to grow from cuttings so possible to have a huge run of them

Why not plant some wheat/oats/barley/triticale?
These grow well here and can be used for your own baking as well as for feedstuffs.
Imagine milling your own flour and using it to bake your own bread!
Where the pigs were last year is a mad vegetable patch now, we have wild pumpkins,tomato,oats, triticale and lots of other stuff growing from the pig waste.
Corn/maize could also be used for feed.
In this weather try watercress

Hi

Thanks for the advice. Is it hard to grow oats? I don't know if it's warm enough up here for wheat, are you further south? Silly question ... where does one even buy oat seeds? I am very interested in growing grain but it's hard to find any information out there.

I also want to plant plenty of perennial feed plants for the chucks (and soon ducks) as it's so much less work ... just plant the bush once and let the chickens harvest as and when fruit/nuts/seeds ripen.

lol 'watercress', what about rice!

Thanks, Rebecca

I've found some more poultry feed plants ;

mulberry bush - delicious berries for foul and humans!
jerusalem artichoke - I already grow this put not in the chicken field. Apparently they love the greenery, and then the tubers are excellent again for human or pig consumption!

Still interested to learn where we might buy oat seed from ... the co-op? And what is triticale?

Well it may not be your first choice but we found our chickens jumping up under the vine to eat the grapes. We shooed them away and the next day they were actually sitting in it.

And likewise the fig tree. That really made me mad!

I believe the jerusalem artichoke is part of the tuber family. Where could I get some to plant? The only people who seem to know of them are in forums. One woman suggested asking in Tesco's...suffice to say that the managers mouth is still open. I think he thought I was some sort of pseudo religious fanatic! Any advice as to where i can locate them? From cavan

I got my jerusalem artichokes from Carrick farmers market. One of the stalls sells them as a vegetable. You just plant a few of them in the ground, selecting the smoothest ones, as they are the easiest to peel so you want to grow more with that trait.

The can spread so plant them either somewhere you don't mind them going wild, or in a contained bed. Plant about 6 inches below ground. The die back in winter and return in spring. The plants are very similar to sunflowers, getting to 7 or 8 foot high, but mine have never flowered. Don't plant them in a very exposed spot or they'll blow over.

Delicous rubbed in olive oil and roasted till the inside is soft. Or peel them and add to soup for a lovely nutty earthy flavour.