Feeding Chickens Black Soldier fly Larvae & a new feeder..

Have been looking at ways to boost the nutrition of the chooks at late & have come up with a few ideas like the Black soldier larvae farms... As you can see from the clip below they are a hit with the girls..


Another way is by increasing their greens intake.. At the moment they are getting grass clippings, grass from the neighbours yard & leafy greens from the patch.. Think its time they grow their own
; )»
Living Green Chicken feeder..

Have been wanting to make one of these feeders up since a friend told me about them..
The concept is fairly basic, plant some chook fodder seeds under a chook proof cage so the greens can grow through for the chooks to feed on them without scratching them up..

So far I have made up the cage & installed it into the chook pen..
It is hinged so the mesh can be lifted easily & the soil worked or left to the chooks to scratch out between crops..


A hanging pot hook will be used to keep it from turning it into a chook trap : )»
I have some wheat grain soaking over night so it can be sown out in the morning... Just thought it might give the seed a bit of a head start germinating..
A clip will be made once we have a bit of growth & the chooks are feeding from it..


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Have a great one All...
: )»

Cheap chicken feeder, how to build a bulk chicken feeder..

Had a friend come around & we built a chook feeder each of varying sizes.. It was a really easy build only requiring the drum & the flanged elbow.. The only tools needed were a marking pen, ruler, hacksaw, & a 95mm hole saw but other methods could be used to cut out the hole.. The build itself took all of 10 minutes to make, it was that easy & cost about $20AU/US..


Will make the job of feeding the Chooks so much easier as the drum will easily take a whole 25kg/55lb bag.. Next on the jobbie list will be a black solider fly farm that will live in the chook pen..
A big thanks to Hamish121212 for posting his clip on the feeder..
I would also like to thank Adie for springing for the elbow.. Adie has a blog on her families progress in an urban environment for the Owner Builder Network site where you can see the MKI chook feeder she made before up scaling..


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Have a great one all...

:)»

Black Solider fly larvae farm.. (Hermetia illucens)

It took a while but I finally finished off the BSFL barrel to where I am happy with it.. Have already taken a few larvae out to feed the fish & chooks.. The perch are not real keen on them but will eat them if left in the tank over night.. Might have to look at another way to make them appetising for the fish.. The chooks have no problems gobbling them up as is though :D»



Hopefully with the flies eating meat scraps it will add even more nutrients within our system..
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Have a great one All...

:D»

Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) as aquaponic feed..

Have converted the old barrel worm farm into a black soldier fly farm over the past month or so & found our first batch of harvested larvae yesterday morning.. Was a bit concerned when the fish didn't gobble them up straight away but really didn't need to worry.. Think they just needed to acquire a taste for them..
The farm isn't going quite as planned at the moment & will post a clip once some adjustments have been made....



Have a great one all..
:D»