Single hen

[Murdo]

Seems the chooks are working hard to retain their reprieve. You might remember me complaining last year that Omlet had sold me two chickens who wouldn't eat slugs, and that this was a trade descriptions issue. Since we have one of the finest slug farms in the country (a.k.a the vegetable patch) this was a disappointment.

 

So this year I've been teaching them to eat slugs. And I can report back, garden lovers, that now is the time when you should be doing it. And with no intimidating textbooks even the most study shy chicken can be persuaded.

 

This month I've had a garden kneeler left on the lawn, and every day I turn it over. At the beginning of the month the slugs were just beginning to appear under it - tiny little things, which the chooks couldn't be scared of. So we worked on those for a few days. Today I've been out sorting out the cardboard on the compost heap, and there were loads of the little blighters, Every one went into the run and every one was snapped up, nay, fought over - even the big ones. :D I can look forward to a summer slug fest, knowing they won't go to waste.

 

This is why this forum exists. Where else am I going to be able to enthuse about giving the chickens slug lessons and not be faced with bafflement ?

[Mrs Frugal]

Well done Murdo . Can you give some pointers for those of us who don't have slug eating hens to use please?

[chocchick]

Hooray!

I think I will try T and S on some little ones. Someone yesterday suggested chopping them up into smaller pieces to start them off.

 

Beth ate a slug on her first day freeranging

she has an I'm-eating-a-worm noise while she is searching for or eating anything slimy and wriggly.

It is more of a chirpy boooc boooc boooc rather than her usual box boc boc.

V. cute

[clare*]

I made the mistake last week of showing mine 3 sad looking cabbages that had been sat in the garden growing over winter and the girls had not gone near them, I tore a tiny piece off of one of the leaves, no bigger than a pea and gave it to one of them.

 

Within 2 hours they had found all 3 cabbages all in different places around the garden, they had stripped them bare to the stalks

 

So I will take note of looking for slugs to point out to them to try

[chocchick]

Been cleaning out eglu today found yellow grass under it, it's no longer there

need grass substitute

[Lesley-Jean]

Do you know what a surfeit of slugs does to chicken’s poo Murdo

[Trish]

You don't want to know, honest

[Cate in NZ]

Mine have never eaten slugs, turned their beaks up at them, no matter how tempting I tried to make them.... last summer I even served up a tempting platter of baby slugs on a bed of boiled rice.... they picked out all the rice I thought I might try again this year following Murdo's tips... maybe my new additions might be partial to slugs

But what's this about poo- surely nothing could make their poo worse or more abundant... could it

[chocchick]

OH and me were debating earlier....

We're sure the poo is a lot bigger than it used to be, more small-egg-sized proportions

 

You can feed them wierd things and it comes out different colours like blue. Something like beetroot or mackeral, I can't remember