Animal Garden = Animal Feed

(originally posted Sept 13, 2009)


Here's how we cut feed store costs and raise healthier pigs:


I'd be remiss if I didn't put up a post explaining how we are feeding our oinkers....I know I've alluded to it, but here's the bottom line.

Remember this? It's our Animal Garden...about 3000 sq feet of veggies grown mostly for our pigs and chickens. (I say mostly because I'm not above going down there and forking up a nice bunch of carrots or beets to sell, if I'm running out of those in the Main Garden.)

I plant my seeds and seedlings very close together down there in the Animal Garden. This helps keep down the weeds. Plus, as the plants grow, we can thin them out and feed the thinnings to the animals.

Sure, in the beginning, the thinnings don't add up to much. But we do it anyway, as it allows the remaining veggies to grow bigger. When we pick feed, we just pull the largest veggies, leaving room for the neighbour to get bigger.

We have a woodstove down at the barn. Every day now for the last month or so, we have been lighting the stove with canners on top full of veggies.

The Gman built a table inside the Animal Garden awhile ago. It has been a huge time saver! Instead of hauling veggies into the barn to chop up on the freezers (we were using the freezer tops as our table) now we can toss all the veggies on this table and chop right there.

Just some of the veggies picked for a meal: from left to right....a really mangy looking beet I wasn't willing to sell....a sugar beet...some rutabagas, turnips and over on the far right are some mangels.

Here's the wheelbarrow which we try to fill once a day...this will fill two canners to the top and then some.

We chop the leaves off, since the hens Lurv them and the pigs do not....I can almost hear them screaming that greens are Filler...we don't want Filler...we want Roots!!

they all get fed off to the hens.

The stalks however, get tossed in the wheelbarrow since the pigs like them...fussy things.

All morning we keep the stove going. By lunch time, the veggies are well cooked and we go down and pull the two canners off the stove.

 

One will get fed to the pigs in late afternoon along with their grain. The other will be fed the following morning with their breakfast grain.

 

And the Pigs Lurv these veggies....unreal how quickly they gobble it all up!

 

We're now in the finishing stages of growing these pigs out, so they get these canners full of veggies, plus any trimmings or weeds we happen to pull out of the gardens.

Next week, we will likely up them to two canners full for each meal. Gotta fatten these porkers up!

Sphere: Related Content

Chicken Feed

Chickens are hard workers in our barnyard. They work to keep the bugs down (have you ever seen chickens chasing bugs? Hilarious!) They fluff up our composting manure piles in their search for bits of grain and worms.

Plus of course, they lay some of the best tasting eggs you will eat. Don't knock farm fresh eggs. They taste SO different from those store bought ones.

And the colour! The brilliant yellow, almost orange yolks are a sight to behold. So unlike those pale runny eggs they sell in the grocery store. If you don't have chickens at your house, consider getting a few. Even 3 or 4 hens will lay enough eggs to keep a family of 4 happy. And they make great additions to your backyard.

Many towns and even large cities are changing their bylaws to allow chickens in city backyards. A big Thumbs Up to them! In the City of Vancouver, you are allowed to have 2 hens per house. Great! You don't need a rooster in order to get eggs from your hens. That's a good thing, because roosters in the city may be a problem.

You can look on Craiglist for some laying hens. The only thing is, sometimes people will sell off their OLD laying hens. You want young hens, ones that will produce well for at least 2 years. Older hens will still lay eggs, just not as often. The eggs they do lay will be bigger than new layers, so that is a bonus.

 

If you have a local feed store you can inquire there to see if they ever bring in "Ready to Lay" hens. These hens are probably about 5 months old, and should start laying for you within the month. Our feed store sells them for $10 each, and most years I do order some to add to my flock. You can also of course mail order day old chicks and raise them to laying age yourself.

We feed our layers 16% protein feed. Much of the year, they are outside running around in the yard chasing those bugs and worms. Bugs and worms add even more protein to their diet. If we had a worm farm, we could likely do away with the feed from the store. Our hens also get a lot of our garden waste and veggie tops. We can reduce the amount of store bought feed in the warmer months as the hens are getting protein from other sources.

During the winter months, when our barnyard is covered in several feet of snow, things change for our hens. They get lots of store bought 16% lay pellets, plus hay. Our hens love hay and yours probably do too. Alfalfa hay is excellent and will help their yolks have that beautiful deep colours.

We also give them all our household leftovers and scraps. Except chicken, we do NOT feed chicken to chickens. Just like we do not feed pork to pigs.

 

Speaking of pigs, when we butcher our pigs each Fall, we trim off a lot of the fat. Now, our pigs do not have as thick a layer of fat on them as straight grain fed pigs, because we feed them heavily on garden veggies. Still we keep all the fat that we trim off.

I wrap it in bags and tuck them away in the freezer. Then during those short, cold dark days of Winter I pull out a package and dice it up for the hens.

They love it!

And it's good for them.

Look around your barnyard and see how you can reduce the feed store food bill. Many people with extra freezer room tuck turnip tops, beet tops etc in there to take out for their hens in the Winter. Cabbages can be kept in a cold room down in your basement to be brought up to the chicken coop during Winter.

Five minutes later, here's what's left of that big bowl of fat and leftovers.

What do you feed your chickens?

Sphere: Related Content

Moving Feed in Winter

Moving bags of animal feed is pretty easy in the summertime....

If it's just one bag, it's pretty easy to sling it over our shoulders

and carry it down the pathway to the barn.

The feed comes in 50 lb. bags.

We also have a road behind the barn....if we have lots of bags of feed

(like when we have the meat birds or the pigs)

we can just open the gate and drive down this access road

right to the back of the barn.)

That is pretty much impossible to do when there is this much snow on the ground.

This is the stovepipe of the woodstove sitting outside down

at the barn. We use it to cook up feed for the Pigs.

The fencing is 4 feet high...that gives you an idea of how much snow

we have on the ground now.

Since we don't plow the access road in the wintertime (too long,

too much trouble) we're moving feed this way.

Load up the toboggan and slide it down the pathway you can see in the second picture.

It's a pretty easy chore, except for when I get to the downhill part close to the barn.

Then I have to run to avoid getting clipped by the toboggan as it is

picking up steam!

Gman was standing up by the house watching me and I could hear him yelling

"Run Annie Run!"

I may actually ride the toboggan down this pathway just once...

just to feel like a kid again!

Sphere: Related Content

Feeding Our Animals Cheaper and Healthier!

(Originally posted Sept 14, 2010)

The lower garden....aka The Animal Garden.

Almost everything grown in this garden is for the pigs and chickens....

I have been known to pilfer a beet or two from here tho!

We've got mangels, sugar beets, carrots, red beets, turnips,

rutabagas and lots of potatoes growing in there.

Potatoes and carrots for the pigs.....

Rutabagas and turnips too!

The hens LOVE turnip tops....so I usually toss them over the fence for them.

While the pigs wait patiently for their evening meal.....

We feed all veggies RAW to the pigs, just because it is so much easier....

but we do cook the potatoes for them.

Here is our outdoor woodstove down at the barn.

right now there are two canners full of potatoes being cooked.

We do 2 at a time, so we don't have to light the stove everyday.

The pigs get one canner a day.

Feeding lots of veggies saves big time on our feed store bill....

plus, the pork tastes a LOT better (we think!)

Meanwhile, Gman takes the weedwhacker to the buckwheat stand.

Remember I planted that in the newest strawberry bed?

Buckwheat helps a lot as a green manure.

We let it go to seed then whack it down and feed it to the animals.

Sphere: Related Content

Tilling

The Gman got the small Barn Garden tilled the other day....lots of weeds in there!

I'll have to work double time to make sure I get the garden hoed on a regular basis!

Barn Garden all ready for planting. I then planted sugar beets, mangels, regular beets and a row of lettuce in the area where it is more shaded.

I also planted 6 mangels that we grew last year. Over Winter they sat in our cold room in a bunch of dirt. This year, we are hoping they will start to grow again and then they will set seed. We tried it last year but weren't successful.

Then he moved on to the Animal Garden! We got the pigs moved out onto the large pasture, and the Gman brought his machine in the garden to rough up the soil.

Using his forks to loosen the compacted soil.

The pigs have been in this area for about a month now,

part of the garden have been rooted up by the piggers, but other parts were quite compacted.

Now, he's rototilling this garden. After he is done, it is time for me to start planting. In this garden will be lots of potatoes, onions, beets, mangels, sugar beets and other veggies too.

Aside from the onions, most of this garden will be feed for the pigs.

Sphere: Related Content

Garden Planting

I haven't been out in the garden in the last couple of days, mostly because we had SNOW!

 It didn't stay very long, but yeah, for two days we had snow again.....

This afternoon, I am going to get out there and at least get in a row of these Seigland Potatoes....look at the sprouts on them!!

Check this out if you want to know the specifics on planting the potatoes....

And...friends gave us some Jerusalem Artichokes.

Now is the time to get them in the ground.

He told us to stick them in a garden area where they can stay over winter....

next Spring at this time, we will be able to harvest some.

I was told to plant them about 2 feet apart, so there is plenty of room for the tubers to grow.

They taste like potatoes.....and since they can be harvested at this time of the year,

 it may be a good idea to grow a whole wack of them to feed off to the piglets next Spring......

Sphere: Related Content

Buckwheat is Beautiful!

We're Big on green manure up here in the Valley.....seems like our land is naturally one big clod of Clay. Not conducive at all for veggie growing. We're always working to improve our soil (or turn our clay into soil, that's probably a better way to say it)

We use a lot of fall Rye, but also use Buckwheat....Buckwheat is Beautiful! Look at those blooms...when you look out over a sea of white buckwheat blooms, it's gorgeous!

Top on my list as to why I love Buckwheat is its incredible fast growth! (Which we kinda need up here in the 'Boo)  From seeding to harvesting (or plowing under) is 5 weeks...yes 5 weeks!

It smothers out pretty much Any weed trying to grow, which makes it a prime candidate for improving the soil in a new empty garden bed.

So...we use Fall Rye in the Fall to over winter....but in season, if we harvest something and want to build the soil in that particular spot, we use Buckwheat.

I don't know of any other green manure that you could seed and plow under 3 times in One garden season! Amazing.... follow the last plowing with Fall Rye and let that sit over Winter. Come Spring, plow or dig that under and you have the makings for  wonderful soil for your new Garden.

You'll be amazed with the gorgeous friable soil you have built!

If you are going to plow under, do it just as the flowers are starting. I couldn't do that myself, as the flowers were so pretty, and I just loved the sea of green with all those white nodding heads.

Enter....Plan B. Here I waited until the majority of flowers were blooming, enjoyed the flowers for maybe one week, and then literally forced myself out there with the clippers.

The result of Plan B....Happy Happy Happy Girls! Dang, the Chickens love Buckwheat!

You can also harvest Buckwheat for yourself...turning it into flour. That's for another post. Just realize the wonders and versatility of Buckwheat....it's a Good Thing!

Sphere: Related Content

A Good Day's Work (I Guess)

Yesterday I made up my mind about a couple of things I Really Wanted to get done today.....

We have quite a few packages of last year's pork fat sitting in the freezers.....the idea was to cut them and feed off to the hens over winter.

Since, we have to Really concentrate now on emptying the freezers NOW (We're gonna have fresh Pork and Beef going in there soon), I am taking out a few packages at a time and getting them ready for the girls.

Also, picked the tomatoes that were ripening.....seems late this year, but I dunno. I'll probably have to do the paper bag routine again this year, I think....

The other day the Gman pulled all the Onions and hung them up at the barn...here they are hanging out with the garlic!

I got all the kidney beans pulled and hung up in the greenhouse. I was gonna tie them up, but they decided they didn't mind just being sprawled over the ropes....I don't think they will fall down.

The tomatoes.....

the Cherrys have been doing really well....I wish the larger tomatoes would get going!

And.....part of an order that is going out this afternoon.....just have to add some eggs and several pounds of potatoes and it will be done!

I'm Happy with what I have got done so far...I just pitter patter putter all over....but it is amazing to me how much energy I have lost already. Guess chemo's not for wimps.....

When I was in the freezer earlier, I noticed my 12 cups of grated zuccini sitting there patiently waiting for me. If I feel up to it, I'll make up the Zuccini Butter recipe I have....maybe later this week.

As it is, the Gman has had the pressure canner going again. Remember when we parted out 5 of our meat birds? We just tossed their carcasses into the freezers for the time being. Well, now they have been pulled out and he has made a quarts and quarts and quarts of canned chicken broth!

We aren't going to starve this winter, that's for sure! What a fantastic feeling to see all those filled jars on our shelves.....

Sphere: Related Content

Raspberries, Hops.....and the Monster Turnip!

Wednesday we spent working around the place.....we had been away for several days, so animals needed to be checked on, veggies needed to be picked, the worst weeds needed to be pulled, blah blah blah

Picked 1 1/2 pounds of raspberries, weeeee! How nice to see these beauties coming on strong! I measured 2 cups of them out, and put them in freezer bags....tossed them in there! I'll use them up in muffins, or pies over the winter.

Picked, blanched and froze another round of snap peas....still have an ice cream bucket of shell peas waiting for me to bust open, blanch and freeze. Maybe tonite.

The Gman pulled all the yellowing leaves off the chard and fed them off to the animals....

Got a bit of Saskatoon berry picking done in the late afternoon.

Oh! And I went in the greenhouse and cut off the third stalk on the corn. Yes, they pretty much all have 2 ears and many want to grow a 3rd! But it is getting later in the season and those 3rd ears are Very Small, so I don't think there is time. I'd rather have the plant energy put into growing the 2 ears on each stalk instead!

The Hops plant is setting fruit.....We've got this growing along the fence close to the house. It's looking good and next year, it will probably take over the whole fence!

If we have enuf hops set, the Gman would like to try making mangel ale this fall.

And here....is.....the.....Monster Turnip! Unreal....6 1/2 freaking pounds!

We fed it off to the pigs, cutting it up for them. I'm sure it tasted really really Woody, but they don't really care.

Pigs are a great composting system!!!!

Sphere: Related Content

Why Do We Call It The Animal Garden?

Stone Bridge left a comment a few posts ago:

"I have kind of a dumb question...why do you call it the animal garden? "

First of all, there is no such thing as a dumb question, but you knew that already, didn't ya?

It's a good question....one that I explained last year, but there are of course new people reading this blog this season.

As you probably all know, we raise laying hens, meat birds and pigs....every year.

Feeding these dang things gets expensive....and besides, we're trying to be more and more self-sufficient as time goes on. We'll never be 100% self-sufficient, but I will settle for growing most of our own food and meat, and making our own fun (the inexpensive kind).

We Really Really Want to stop giving so much of our money over to the Feed Store. Knowledgeable people, yes they are, to a degree. Although once when I was in there to buy lay pellets for the hens, I asked the lady, "What other cheaper ways are there to provide food for them?"

She looked at me like I was insane....oh well, not the first time that's happened! There was nothing, she assured me.

Yeah, right! So I started doing a bunch of book reading and internet surfing to see what I could find.

And since I really like John Seymour's books, I read them over and over and realized we could be growing at least Some of the feed we needed for our animals.

And there it is....the Animal Garden. Yes, it is Bigger than the Main Garden (Human Garden) but then again, there are more Animals here than Humans....

I just hollered to the Gman and he hollered back that the size of the garden is about 40 x 60 feet.

Last year, the Animal Garden was half the size as this year. And we learned that in order to feed 3 pigs, we would need Twice the garden space. So we enlarged it this year...problem is, we also doubled the amount of piggies this season....Doh!

Anyway, here's what I planted in the Animal Garden this year:

10 rows Turnips

7 rows Mangels

7 rows Rutabagas

4 rows Field Peas

6 rows Carrots

2 rows Beets

2 Rows Sugar Beets

2 rows Potatoes

That is a LOT of food....I spaced them all close, squeezing in as many as I could.

So, somewhere around the middle of July, the Gman started doing some thinning down there. We knew that would have to happen...actually we wanted that to happen.

Why? Cuz we could pull out some of the immature veggies, in order to let the remaining ones get a lot bigger. And the ones we pulled? We could feed those off to the animals at an earlier date than having to wait till they got Big. Know what I mean?

Over time, my arm gets better and better. So, today I was the one down there in the Animal Garden, sweating my buns off, thinning and thinning.

Since we will be away from tomorrow late morning until Monday evening, we wanted to have a bunch of thinnings already on hand for the friend who will look after our livestock.

We've got a small freezer down at the barn (we use 3 freezers to hold all our feed - climate and rodent proof = good!) So, today I loaded up that small freezer to the brim.

This is probably about 1/3 of what I picked. But I had already tossed a bunch in the freezer before remembering to take a picture, and I wasn't going to pull them all out, lol....

I thinned turnips, mangels and rutabagas.

You can see that the mangels are already developing some nice roots. They will get a LOT bigger (they can get to about 15 pounds or more). Here I've got the Gman's work glove sitting beside them so you can hopefully get an idea of the size.

Both the hens and pigs go C-r-a-z-y for this stuff....they love all the veggies we toss them.

We still feed the pigs hog grower. Three large coffee cans (2lb cans), twice a day for all 6 pigs (not Each). Now, I know some of you will scoff and think, That's not enough grower (believe me, I've heard it before)....it IS enough grower.

We're not finishing them yet, we are Growing them. And even when it comes time to finish them, we will decrease the amount of room they have to run.....and then feed them Even More Veggies.

The laying hens still get some laying pellets and a bit of scratch and oyster shell. These days however, they are more into the greens, the fancier the better. Seems they're getting a bit Cosmopolitan, the little snobs!

Of course, all animals NEED to have lots of lots of Fresh Clean Water all the time. Clean is important....I scrub out the hens' waterers probably twice a week. You can't let algae crap start growing in their water dishes....they kick dirt in there too, you have to clean them out.....

Rutabagas - these take about 110 days to mature....we pick the thinnings early, maybe thin one more time, then leave the rest to get huge.

Turnips - these take 50 - 70 days to mature. I plant Lots of these, simply because they are quick growing.

And if you leave Turnips in the ground, some of them can get dang huge.....

So, there ya go....that's the story behind the Animal Garden. Plenty of good healthy veggies for our animals....and less money spent at the Feed Store. It's a Good Thing!

Tomorrow, we leave for 2 nights of camping with the Nman and Kgal, then we will go on to Kelowna for the first oncology appointment. Enjoy your weekend!!!

Sphere: Related Content