Billy Ray McCoy from Sassafras Holler shares the old-time chicken-keeping wisdom passed down through six generations of Appalachian hill farmers — knowledge that could cut your annual feed bill from around a hundred and fifty dollars down to just over sixty. Drawing on everything his Papaw Amos and Mamaw Pearl taught him, Billy Ray walks through the real reason grain-heavy scratch feeding kills your egg production, why chickens are natural protein hunters rather than grazers, and how to build a self-harvesting black soldier fly grub bin from a plastic tote for under ten dollars. He covers the deep litter method that heats the henhouse and feeds the flock through winter, Mamaw's clabbered milk trick, the forgotten fodder crops like mangel beets and sunflowers that carry hens through January, and how to ferment feed the right way. He also sets the record straight on sprouting claims, dangerous foods like raw dried beans and avocado, and why oyster shell and grit still matter even when you ditch commercial feed.

#chickens #backyardchickens #homesteading #selfsufficiency #frugalliving #chickenfeed #appalachia #poultry #offgrid #farmlife