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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Jun 16 2017 :  09:06:11 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I'd done this before using yogurt but everyday for the past month my chickens have consumed an entire 1/2 gallon of milk. Here's how I do it. BTW, they've never been healthier or their egg yolks more orange. And I've never been happier about ZERO wasted feed!

I use a large jello mold. I mix organic polenta (finely ground corn), organic scratch, and celery leaf (anything green will do). Or maybe garlic granules, etc. There are a bunch of different things I'd like to try adding over time.



I pour about half the bottle in and use a spoon to mix it thoroughly.



Then I carry it inside (our dog Walker likes to eat it if I leave it outside) and pour the rest of the milk in right to the top.



Immediately, my chickens come over and start drinking the milk (laced with green goodness). Within a half hour, the milk has been completely absorbed by the now swollen grains and corn and they proceed to eat all of it, right down to the last morsel.

I still have grit out for them and oyster shell (although with the milk, maybe they get enough calcium), and black whole sunflower seeds (they eat the entire seed).

This is a good way to use up extra milk while at the same time providing your family with fabulous full-bodied, highly nutritious eggs without wasting ANY feed. Also you can use up extra colostrum this way.


MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~

NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Jun 16 2017 :  4:24:57 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Pretty cool. With all the milk we get we share with our chickens daily. Sometimes a couple gallons. They drink it up fast. Never any left in the pan. I've never mixed grain or anything with it, but that looks like an excellent idea.

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Jun 16 2017 :  5:39:03 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
And don't forget to give them your watermelon rinds when you're done. I'd say they like it better than worms.


MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Jun 16 2017 :  5:44:56 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
This is soooo funny. We've been giving our left over butternut squash that we didn't use through the winter. Cut it open and lay it in the pen. The first day they clean out the inside, and then in another day they finish off the shell. This is raw, not cooked. We give them watermelon rind, melon rinds, left over greens. They love it all. It's amazing.

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
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txbikergirl

3197 Posts


Posted - Jun 16 2017 :  7:00:02 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
we feed all our extra milk or leftover dairy products to the chickens too. we have a couple of empty large bowls in their area, and we just pour it in. when they see me walking in with a milk bottle or yogurt jar they go crazy to be the first ones over. its really cute with all their little white beaks running around ;>

and we are doing the same thing janet with our zuchinnin right now. you know how no matter how hard you look, and that you harvest daily, you find at least one 10 foot long zuchinni every few days? we just slice it in half lengthwise and then toss into the chicken yard. happy chickens indeed!

Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy")
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hugho

34 Posts


Posted - Jan 29 2018 :  09:44:45 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
great idea for the milk. Our chickens favorite food is the Thanksgiving turkey carcass. There is so much unavailable meat on a carcass and we just toss it in the coop and they clean every speck of protein from it along with any tiny bones or cartilage. I think they look forward to thanksgiving more than we do!

Daisy, our Jersey
Kunekune pigs
St Croix Sheep
Free range chickens, Icelandics,Buffs, Khaki Cambell ducks, arucanas,buckeyes and Golden Comet Sexlinks
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Feb 01 2018 :  05:54:56 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
It's unnerving how quickly they take to eating mice. Yes, chickens are definitely carnivorous.

I've been adding chicken vitamins to their morning porridge.





First, half the 1/2 gallon bottle of milk. Stir.



Then, add the rest of the milk. I have one New Hampshire Red hen who moves in like Hulk to drink milk before it gets absorbed.




MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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