Guest Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 I think the sweetcorn passion must be universal, as our also go mad for it. They also like cold spaghetti leftovers, but are particularly keen at the moment on Special K with milk; having devoured Charlotte's leftover breakfast one morning, they now get their own bowl They eat it as though there is no tomorrow. We too changed from mash to pellets simply because the mash was so messy, it blew all over the place and Ginger got a great 'bib' of it plastered all over her front, so we felt pellets would be tidier. They are, but obviously not as tasty!! We're loving hearing about everyone's experiences with their chickens, it's great to hear everyone is enjoying their pets as much as we are. The Harrison family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 We have been down the pellets road and they absolutely hated them! Good job I only bought a small bag, isn't it! Likes:- homemade bread when it goes soggy in the rain cooked rice cheese sultanas jacket potatoes sunflower hearts lettuce sweetcorn corn dislikes:- anything green like Kale, broccoli, cabbage (unless they can steal it from the vegetable garden, then it's fine! Rotters!) spaghetti pasta - stuck to their beaks and and took a great deal of head shaking to remove - they even pecked it off each other's beaks in the end! I caught them eating some raw pastry that I had thrown out for the garden birds too - that also was rather sticky and gave them sticky beak problems! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 We bought two BIG bags of pellets so they're soon going to have no choice unless Countrywide will take the unopened bag back! Ours didn't seem to like anything green until I tied Chard leaves in a big bunch and hung them from a hook. Now they eat all their greens Lesley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Hi, My chickens also hated pellets and I actually threw a 25kg bag away yesterday, they will only eat mash. the treats they like are noodles they go berserk when they get these I use the straight to wok kind then you don't need to warm them I just give them straight from the bag. Also they love pancakes plus all the other things like sweetcorn but they don't really like green things like lettuce, very fussy birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowingsheep Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Kate reminded me - bread crumbs. They go mad for them. We put their treats on to a bird feeding plate on a plant pot - a kinda chicken table They stand and wait to see what's going to be served but for crumbs they lose all decorum and barge each other out of the way to get at them!! dislikes:-anything green like Kale, broccoli, cabbage (unless they can steal it from the vegetable garden, then it's fine! Rotters!) We tie green leafy stuff like spinach together with a rubber band and then hang it from the bird table, they seem to enjoy pecking at it (and twanging the rubber band too!). Have you tried cutting the broccoli/cauliflower stems in half cos ours really like pecking at the cores? David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 (edited) Jake (4) has just followed me into the chicken run (unseen by me) and I turned round in time to see him being mugged for his banana! Seems the girls are a bit hungrier because they only have pellets but they they do love banana. They also had alfalfa sprouts which they were very wary of for a moment then fought over. Lesley Edited January 6, 2005 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Favourite chicken snack at the moment is Alfalfa sprouts! We do sprouted seeds in the winter to supplement the salad laeves in the polytunnel and gave some to the girls. They really liked them and they are as easy as cress to grow. Lesley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Talk about fickle .... Jennifer and Clarissa have now decided that pasta is much better than sweetcorn. Last week, they got excited over the sweetcorn and hoovered it up like it was going out of fashion. This week, they're leaving the sweetcorn till last and wolfing (should that be chickening) down the pasta first! Clarry still adores boiled rice and "ick icks" when it's put out for her and Jenny has just munched her way through a small bowl of cooked peas before she toddled off to bed. A few months ago, nothing surpassed grapes and lettuce........worse than children, aren't they! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucyo Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 I get mail order live meal worms to feed my garden birds.... they are vegetarian fed worms. My hens absolutely love them and climb over themselves to get to them when i am putting them out for the birds. I agree the brown rice is hen junk food, but these worms, hen heroin!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickengeorge Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 my hens have taken to rice crispies, unusually! this morning we put some in their run, they loved it! many wild birds come to our garden; we put rice crispies out for them everyday usually anyway. when let out of theirrun the girls soon found it and were in that spot scratching for hours!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 Jack You could try them with Rice Krispies and warm milk on cold days. Ours like Corn Flakes and warm milk. Lesley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickengeorge Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 i will try that tomorrow morning! if i am up before my mum that is! i'm sure my girls will love it! they also seem to like pigeon feed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 i will try that tomorrow morning!if i am up before my mum that is! i'm sure my girls will love it! they also seem to like pigeon feed! Oh No!!!! Don't get me into trouble with parents Lesley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickengeorge Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 no no! i didn't mean it like that! my mum gets up early and gives them 'rice crispies,' so i might be a bit late to give them your suggestgion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 Phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 A new snack I tried today was brown bread soaked in warm milk with honey they loved it. Babs tried it while Ginger was laying her egg but would not eat it all until Ginger had done the deed she knows who the boss is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 I can vouch for Nicola's new treat. She recommended it for me while Clarry was poorly this morning and she wolfed it down and is a new hen now! I thought we were going to lose her but she's back to her old scatty self again now. Perhaps we should use brown bread and honey as a chicken wonder cure??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickengeorge Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 i'll bare that in mind if my girls fall ill at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 I was given chickens for christmas and it was the best present ever! we've been having alot of fun with the girls. our chucks go crazy for sweetcorn, but not so keen on brussel sprouts & carrots! Does anyone know if you can give them raw rice/pasta or does it have to be cooked? and why can't the chickens have any meat (apart from chicken- which i thnk can cause salmonella) if they eat worms/slugs?? Also i've been shutting the girls in their eglu overnight but do they need any water at night? mr fox has been on the prowl but i can happily say i'm very impressed with the fox-proofness of the eglu happy new year all from me & our 2 chickens in a green eglu-annie and billie Hi Frizzie, Sorry to have moved your posting from where you originally left it but we thought it ought to go with the Chicken Snacks topic - you're more likely to get a reply here . Cheers, Kate (moderator) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Hi Frizzie, I don't leave water in the Eglu at night. I think my two are so clumsy they'd soon knock it over. I don't think they need water in there so long as they are let out in the morning and have access to fresh water and food during the day. If you have to leave them shut in the Eglu for long periods of time, maybe food and water should be left inside there too. I haven't given the girls uncooked pasta. I think it would be rather hard for them to eat if it was dry?? Mine love cooked rice and all sorts of pasta shapes. Sweetcorn? Must be universal - perhaps it's the chicken equivalent of chocolate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Hi Frizzie Pleased to hear you are enjoying your girls. The only thing that might worry me about raw rice and pasta is whether they would swell up inside the hens. Mine adore leftover cooked rice and pasta - funny, I always seem to cook too much for us to eat now. Re meat - it's a DEFRA thing. Hens are omnivores so should be fully adapted for eating meat. Concerns would be about all the artificial chemicals/antibiotics added to factory farmed meat and it just doesn't feel right to me to feed them chicken. What I do with tiny odd left-over bits of Northumberland free-range meat is my business, not DEFRAs, but the girls do enjoy stealing and pecking the poor dog's bones. However the omlet guys have to follow DEFRA rules and tell us 'no meat'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David N Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 great ideas on what to "treats" to offer them, but how much is too much ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammi J Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hello one and all. Well my 3 chooks will not eat anything hanging up in the run! They will only eat lettice if chopped up into small bits and won't touch cabbage!! They love their mixed corn and also grapes, tomato, pasta, rice, peas and of course SWEETCORN lots and lots of sweetcorn I never give it to them at the same time each day so they don't get noise if it's late. I often give them a bit of a mix so it's their own chook salad (no chooks in it though, that's just what I call it ) Sometimes they just get the corn and some days they don't get anything apart from their layers mash. On the days they get treats I give them about a hand full of salad and a hand full of mixed corn. They take what they want, all the salad usually and leave a bit of corn. Or all the corn if no salad. Does that make sense Sammi -x- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 We bought maggots on Saturday - Nicola's right - the girls go mad for them, especially if they are warm and wriggling! They trample each other in the rush to get at them and if we don't make a quick enough exit while they are still eating then we get trampled as well while they try to get at the rest! We've got the hang of it now - scatter them far and wide over their run and then run like h*** to watch them from outside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 I told you Lesley, the trick is you warm them in your mouth like anglers do............................... they wriggle even more then. If you have any maggots left over stand back when you open the box tomorrow that smell is so bad..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
