At the Sebastopol Energy Garden eggs account for a large portion of the calories that we produce. Of the estimated 1,476,765,3 calories that we can produce over the next growing year, 136,218 of that comes in the form of eggs.

On average our flock of five chickens produces an egg/chicken/day, each weighing roughly 61g, and containing 93.3 calories.

Supporting a flock of chickens; however, requires energy as well. Each chicken needs at least 200 calories/day to survive, and while about 30% of those calories can be obtained by foraging, the other 70% needs to be provided for them. Our chickens are allowed access to the compost piles and obtain some additional calories from the food scraps we recycle, but this is not enough.

Because hens allocate so much of the protein that they consume toward egg production it is also essential that we support the needs of our flock by providing a protein rich feed for them. It is recommended that 16% of a chicken's diet be protein.

Recommended Daily Value (chicken): 200 cal/day
(5 chickens) (365) = 365,000 cal/ year

FOOD SOURCE % PROTEIN, BY WT

Dried fish flakes 76
Dried liver 76
Dried earthworms 76
Duckweed 50
Torula yeast 50
Brewers yeast 39
Soybeans (dry roasted) 37
Flaxseed 37
Alfalfa seed 35
Beef, lean 28
Earthworms 28
Fish 28
Sunflower seeds 26.3
Wheat germ 25
Peas & Beans, dried 24.5
Sesame seed 19.3
Soybeans (boiled) 17
Wheat bran 16.6
Oats, whole 14
Rice polish 12.8
Rye 12.5
Wheat 12.5
Barley 12.3
Oats 12
Corn 9
Millet 9
Milo 9
Rice, brown 7.5

Chicken feed can be purchased from most feed stores and while this may be a simple enough solution for most, it is our goal to produce chicken feed on-site so that we may decrease our dependece upon off-site materials and reduce our energy consumption.

The majority of chicken feed is produced through unsustainable, agricultural methods which rely heavily upon the use of petroleum. The proces behind producing, storing, and transporting feed is a very energy requiring process; by producing chicken feed on-site, on a small scale, we can avoid a lot of the energy inputs of conventional production.

By calculating the theoretical calorie yield of each crop intended for
chicken feed as well as their protein content, we can determine the
amount of required growing space for feeding the chickens. When it comes time to harvest the grains, and process them we will already have calculated how much to allocate towards the chickens. Then all we need to do is grind the grains and mix them accordingly. In the batch that we just prepared we used a combination of Peredovik Sungflowers seeds, Sorghum, Millet, and Ground corn.

Hand powered Corona Mill

[video]

Corn Millet

Peredovik Sunflower Dale Sorghum

Chicken Feed

Due to the apple press' limited ability, we constructed a much more sophisticated tool to aid in our goal of fermenting fallen apples as a means of producing ethanol.

It functions as both a grinder and a press and we were able to construct it out of basic hardware, including parts from the previous apple press (all lumber used was recylced).

The grinding mechanism was built using 3/4" steel nipples attatched to a 5" in diameter cut of fir. Screws were then distributed around the circumfrance of the wood to act as the teeth of the grinder.

The grinder was mounted by drilling 1 1/2" holes through the diagonal support beams that connect the leg posts and a handle was added for easy torque. We then added a funnel to hold the apples to be ground and added horizontally placed 2x4s to support the press.

The construction of the press was more demanding because it required that the platform be waterproof and that we provided a faucet of some sort to dirrect the pressed liquid. The platform that we made was first caulked with silicone to avoid any leaks and then coated with a sheet of galvanized steel. The faucet was made from PVC parts left over from the drip irrigation system and was installed just as the grinder was, by drilling a 1 1/2" hole within which it rested. Silicon was also used to make sure no liquid escaped around the sides of the faucet.

We are able to easily remove the press and fill/empty the contents because rather than permanently attatching its parts, they are simply clamped down before and after each pressing.

With one person opperating the machine, we are able to produce 4 gallons of liquid per hour; this includes collecting the apples, grinding them, and pressing them.

After producing eigh gallons of wort, measurements of the temperature, the sugar content, and the pH were taken.

A pH of 3.5 was measured at 78 degrees farenheit with a sugar content of 12% prior to bringing the wort to a boil.

The wort was then poured into a stainless steel kettle, and brought to a boil so as to kill any bacteria that might compete with the yeast we would soon add. By doing so we were also boiling out water, hence increasing the sugar content as well as neutralizing the pH.

After boiling the wort and allowing it to cool, yeast nutrients were added and measurements were once again taken. As the temperature of the wort cooled, the hydrometer's reading of the sugar content became more accurate. I was able to boil out enough water to bring the sugar content to 20% and the pH to 4.5. The sugar content could have even been higher and this has been noted for the next batch.

Once a temperature of 80 degrees farenheit was reached, the yeast was added, the lid was put on the bucket and the bucket was placed in a cool place to ferment for the next three days.