We started off buying maize meal and soy beans in bulk with the idea that we could supplement their diet as time goes on. That way we could supply the protein/carb. ratio of of 1:11 we were looking for to meet our goal of raising birds for eggs and meat. So far I incorporate shredded comfrey and mulberry leaves into the feed right before I wet it down prior to feeding. We grew millet, sunflower and cowpea this past rainy season and left it for the chickens to peck at through the dry season. Growing a mix of things right in front of the entrance allows me to pick as they're ready. I have a termite trap dug into the ground that I allow them to graze once every 30 days. We also have four paddocks that we rotate the chickens through. The chickens will graze in one place for 30 days and then move on to the next paddock. They'll eat seed heads from local grasses, foliage from native plants and poke around compost piles we make from their bedding. We think we have enough pigeon pea growing in our staple field so that next year we can replace the soybean, which is significantly more expensive, with the pigeon pea. We have the same goal for the maize and in fact we can control the quality of the feed much better than buying from an external source.
