Nice plating. I don’t think I’ve ever had that before.

I watched a YouTube video where a farmer said he’d switched from cracked corn and laying mash to cooking 2 lbs of dried pintos, adding any table scraps along the way and that fed 20 chickens a week. They ate less and were less aggressive to each other, while after a few weeks were producing just about daily, when they were barely producing before, he claimed. It was a good while back, so I don’t have a link handy, maybe you can find it with a search. Fairly young black guy, I believe he was in the thumbnail.

Our problem isn’t nutrition. It’s that every bird we have is over two years old combined with the normal winter slowdown in production. We will be getting some fresh birds this spring.

I’m not a fan of changing away from layer pellets. They provide balanced nutrition and necessary calcium. Very few people that brag about an alternative diet for chickens are still doing it six months later and they don’t post about how they went back because they count the brag about the hits and don’t report the failures.

Fry up some corn chips and toss them in enchilada sauce. Top with whatever. It’s a poverty meal that really hits the spot.

Tbh when I had chickens, I moved away from laying mash because I couldn’t find any that was GMO and organic in my state. All my hens were between 1 and 4 when I rehomed them because I was relocating, and they did slow down in winters but I had enough eggs that I was giving them away. I did keep them on corn, table scraps and whatever I cleaned out of the fridge, though, and crushed oyster and egg shells.

Of course, everyone should do what’s right for themselves.

I’ll save that for when I finally get this @)(*#! oat flour technique worked out. Mainly just need to find a fine-sifter to get the flour thin enough.

Are oat flour “corn” chips a thing?

They get the cutting board scraps and occasional table scraps. I’m literally half a mile from the Feed & Seed and it’s even cheaper than Tractor Supply. The effort of creating alternate feed with consistent nutritional balance would be my wife’s task and she isn’t up for it.

I have zero issues with GMO. I’d prefer peanut over soy based feed but that’s a big increase in costs. But, and this is crucial, if I attempt to interfere with my wife’s feeding preferences I will be destroyed.

I hear you.

When I conducted my first oat wrap experiment a month ago or so, I realised that you could air-fry them up to become impressively crispy and toasty, just like a chip.

Looks like a disaster in those pics, but tasted great, fortunately. Just need to get the flour right next time…

Alt flours are tricksy

Yo, check this out, FP–
Today, I managed to get over to a certain shopping center in the area and picked up some key items from a series of stripmall stores. Couldn’t find a fine-flour sifter anywhere, but did find a fine-mesh strainer, and that MIGHT just work. Also, oof… I remembered that back at my apt, I actually had a pretty badass food/grain grinder that I hadn’t used for years, i.e.: https://www.ebay.com/itm/236421363304

I’m thinking that sucker should be able to handle whole groats, altho it remains to be seen if a food-processor can get them in to final, usable flour-form. Altho I’m hoping my new strainer will help!

Also, at one of the froo-froo, yuppie groceries around here, I did find some properly-ground oat flour (“Bob’s Red Mill”). So, next step will be to see how close that stuff might come to corn as a wrap, tortilla, chip kind of thing…

When I need to make flour or flour consistency out of something I will zip it through my spice grinder and then sift it through a fine mesh strainer. It’s important to make sure there is minimal moisture in the material. I’ll sometimes heat the source in an oven on low to dry it out before grinding.

I use the grinder and strainer truck for powdered sugar, oat flour, chickpea flour, flax powder and other things that will go rancid in flour form before I can use them if I bought it pree ground.

But I’m usually using no more than a half a cup in cases like that. Not enough to make a stack of oat flour tortillas.

I don’t have a proper grain grinder but I do have a crusher. Rarely used but essential when I need it.

LOL… holy hell, that thing looks prototypically grain-crushing indeed. oO

I like your tip about the grain-drying, though. Like-- there’s typically all kinds of little steps we can boof up, when overconfident.

Yeah, it’s one of those key steps. Not as important if the grain is factory sealed or you live in a desert. But here in The South anything not air tight will soak up water from the air enough to make a fine powder results impossible.