Free veggies- what animal? (not pigs!)

[Mountaineer]

I am very lucky to be able to pick up 3-5 full boxes of fruit/veggies daily from the local supermarket. The stuff they throw away.
I'm swimming in it, my birds can only eat so much and are happily eating the grass now.

I CAN'T do pigs, they'll end up pets and that aint right. There's lettuce, cabbage, berries, oranges, pineapples, other tropical fruits, grapes, potatoes, onions, herbs etc etc. So it sounds great for pigs I know.

Can horses eat citrus, etc? How about llamas? Sheep? Goats? Any other ideas?
Thanks.

[godsgirl]

If any of it is useable then you could can them or freeze them , or you could always find a family that you can help out and give some to them.

Other wise I would suggest feeding it to the goats.

[nehimama]

Is it possible you could dry/dehydrate or freeze some of against the times you won't have access to this bounty? Compost?

(Wish I were in your shoes!)

NeHi

[moonwolf]

worms. vermicompost.
It's organic matter. If it were me, I'd use what the birds could eat. Get more birds? The rest would go to feed compost. You can't go wrong doing that, and there is always a use for finished compost, and worms.

[COSunflower]

I was thinking worm compost too and you can fish with the worms or feed them back to your birds and also have some nice compost for your garden!

[Mountaineer]

That would be a heck of a compost pile! Actually in my eyes a little wasteful, but it would be great soil from it.
I am afraid of attracting bears with it heaped up for compost too.

[Mountaineer]

There is so much, that in 2 weeks could dehydrate enough for winter. Then.....?

[thechickenladyx]

goats, bunnies of course birds, don't forget the wild ones. a distant lure to keep wildlife away?

hope it helps
jesse

[flintlock]

I had a friend who would go behind the supermarket several times a week and pick up the produce that they threw out. He fed it to his two milk goats. In the summertime those goats ate a lot of melons and fruit and their milk was very sweet.

[Christiaan]

Cattle. Easy on the onions, they can be problematic for ruminants in large numbers. My DC (dear cow) will kill for citrus and bananas! Finishing a steer with this stuff will give you some mighty sweet and tasty beef.

[Junkmanme]

The neighbor's children?

[Terri]

I asked my tax lady about giving vegetables to the food pantry. She says it is deductable as long as I have receipts. A tax deduction for a bigger tax return sounds good!

Perhaps you could find a food pantry that accepts veggies?

[okgoatgal2]

have you ever raised a pig to full butchering size? they quickly become unpetlike, imo. but i guess the others gave you some good ideas. i like the pork, myself. watch giving leafy veggies to bunnies-they'll get the runs and die if you give them too much.

[Jim S.]

I'll second the goats, for milk or meat. Keep the onions and such away from them, though. Flavors the product.

[Mountaineer]

Thanks everyone. Looks like grazing critters can't handle such a rich diet!

The fruit/veggies is a bit rough for charity.

[Beaners]

Maybe you know someone who is currently raising pigs, and you could get a portion of the butcher in exchange for dropping off the food?

Kayleigh

[Fire-Man]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

I am very lucky to be able to pick up 3-5 full boxes of fruit/veggies daily from the local supermarket. The stuff they throw away.
I'm swimming in it, my birds can only eat so much and are happily eating the grass now.

I CAN'T do pigs, they'll end up pets and that aint right. There's lettuce, cabbage, berries, oranges, pineapples, other tropical fruits, grapes, potatoes, onions, herbs etc etc. So it sounds great for pigs I know.

Can horses eat citrus, etc? How about llamas? Sheep? Goats? Any other ideas?
Thanks.

Why not get some pigs---Raise them---Then sale them when they get big enough if you don't want to put "Arnold" in your freezer------Sounds like most of your feed will be free---might could make a profit. You could use some of it to raise worms--if you wanted. If I was not going to raise pigs--I would probably use what I could for my chickens ETC them use my front end loader to bury it in rows---Big Compost Pile. I want to get me some pigs---I think I will check around the local grocery stores and see if I can get LUCKY!! Randy

[MaKettle]

Lucky you! In our county (state?) it is illegal to give the produce scraps to anyone. Must go in the dumpster. M-I-L used to toss grapefruit peels and other scraps over the fence for the cows to eat.

Maybe you could go shares with someone so that person could raise the piggies, and you could share out the meat. That way it wouldn't seem like eating Babe.

[DownHome]

I'm surprised noone has asked. How'd you get so lucky? Did you ask if you could have it, or just start watching for them to toss it out?

I wish we could get something like this. soooo jealous!!