The jungle comes complete with polyculture foods all year long. Greens, bugs, fruits, seeds and more, mostly fresh. Most chicken feeds eliminate three out of four of these - leaving only grain. And dried grain at that. Grain alone makes for a sickly chicken, so "chicken feed" also contains dried legumes and a vitamin/mineral mix that contains the nutrients that we are aware are missing (though there may be others we're not aware of).
People build elaborate chicken shelters for that deprive them of fresh foods or bugs even in the summer. Or natural sunlight. Or have them standing in their own poop all day. Or, worse, the chickens are killed by predators.
Pastured poultry pens and chicken tractors are alternative ways of working with chickens.
See also[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
- raising chickens 2.0: no more coop and run! - article with explanation, comparison and instructions.
- thread on chicken coops, runs, tractors, paddocks, and pens at permies.com
- raising chickens - podcast by Paul Wheaton
- a hen and her mouse--chickens are not vegetarians - youtube by Paul Wheaton
- chicken paddock shift - chickens like greens youtube by Paul Wheaton
