..........how to make chicken salad

I am always asked.....how can we sell our eggs for such a low price. The answer is always the same.....don't buy to feed!

If you have been following my blog here for the last few years.....you will remember the post that I did.... about the use of thorn-less cactus for feed. Well....this post is not about the cactus, rather it is about the after season harvest field vegetation that would have gone off to the compost piles. We have a growing business of selling "the best eggs you ever had".....fact is we have a 5 month waiting list of clients wanting our farm to home delivery. Yes.....more eggs mean more feed.

A big solution to the increase demand for chicken feed was.......here is that magic phase I use at times for the farm....experiment with new ideas! Thinking one day .....out in the fields where we grow peppers, tomatoes, squashes.....I was thinking how can I rid all this ground vegetation in an easy and useful way? Part of that question was answered six months ago when I built nearby compost bins in all the growing areas. That saved a lot of time from having to haul at a distance to a central composing area.

So why not shred the stuff into a salad for the chickens. I saw $$$$$ signs before my eyes. Really.....hot peppers, bell peppers, tomato, sunflowers ...the whole plant? Let the experiments start!

Our farm has a very powerful branch chipper...Dr Chipper brand. 12 horsepower. Mean and tough as hell. Dont you bother with one of those $199.00 models one finds at Home Depot....those are junk. Off into the shredder and feed out of the shredder. The bottom line is this: the chickens ate 100% of the tomato and pepper plants. This new food source adds up to 8oo pounds of feed.

Now you know how to make chicken salad....just hold the mayo.