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debbie26pet

mixed corn. layers pellets

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Hi Debbie,

 

Mixed corn is a 'treat' food and shouldn't be given too often or in large quantities. It takes a long time to digest and so the hens don't feel hungry for their mash/pellets which is the food they need to keep healthy and lay well.

 

The most-knowledgeable-chicken-person-ever at my local poultry centre reckons he gives 1 handful of mixed corn to his 9 hens 3 times a week.

 

Jo

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Your chickens would still lay eggs if you only fed them corn - it's just not as nutritionally balanced as layer's pellets/mash. Some farmer's only give a corn 'scratch' feed and the chickens otherwise fend for themselves, finding grass, weeds, bugs etc. - they still lay eggs though (that's what chickens do, no matter what you feed them :D ).

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gr tta wow so much info people tell u.
Eh?

 

Mixed corn is definitely a treat, and very fattening.

 

Only give them a handful between them in the late afternoon. It is definitely not a replacement for layers pellets.

 

Is this the same woman who tried to palm you off with an elderly hen and charge you £25 for it?

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Is this the same woman who tried to palm you off with an elderly hen and charge you £25 for it?

 

no this is our horse supplier

i mean on the advice u got to a farm shop tells me one thing then go to this horse shop and htey tell me one thing,

i know i can come on here and ask and get some sense

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yes corn will make your chickens fat if given too much.

 

My lot have about a yoghurt pot full between 4 of them and as a treat only late in the afternoon.

 

Makes the yolks lovely and yellow though and my girls will scratch for hours in the hemcore looking for it :D

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Hmm, I'm a bit worried now. I started for the first few weeks giving mine layers pellets but they just don't like it and wouldn't eat much. They didn't seem to be growing much and weren't laying. I started giving them mixed corn which they absolutely love and started laying eggs. Since then I've just been giving them the corn. Now I'm worried that they are missing something nutritionally. What would chickens eat if they were not domesticated? What is in layers pellets? Mine eat their mixed corn plus cabbage, broccoli or an apple every day and don't seem to be getting fat (yet?) They also have grit and they get dried mealworms for treats. I don't suppose they will be too pleased to go back to pellets which they seem to hate? (Their eggs are delicious, BTW.) Oh, so many questions! Anyone any wise advice?

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Hi Debbie,

 

I wouldn't get too hung up on exactly what food in what quantities at what time of day to feed your chickens. My girlfriend grew up on a farm and they kept a small number of chickens in a courtyard, fed them nothing but kitchen s"Ooops, word censored!"s and maize and had plenty of eggs.

 

Our chickens have our leftovers, corn, whatever they find free ranging as well as their pellets and they seem very happy. I think keeping them on a diet that consists almost entirely of pellets is like making a human live on muesli.

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Hmm, I'm a bit worried now. I started for the first few weeks giving mine layers pellets but they just don't like it and wouldn't eat much. They didn't seem to be growing much and weren't laying. I started giving them mixed corn which they absolutely love and started laying eggs. Since then I've just been giving them the corn. Now I'm worried that they are missing something nutritionally. What would chickens eat if they were not domesticated? What is in layers pellets? Mine eat their mixed corn plus cabbage, broccoli or an apple every day and don't seem to be getting fat (yet?) They also have grit and they get dried mealworms for treats. I don't suppose they will be too pleased to go back to pellets which they seem to hate? (Their eggs are delicious, BTW.) Oh, so many questions! Anyone any wise advice?
It sounds as if they are getting a good varied diet in addition to the corn.

 

If you just keep an eye on the fat content of anything else you give them they should be OK.

 

Layers pellets are considered the optimum food nutritionally speaking, but I dare say that when people kept hens in the garden during WW2 they they didn't have the luxury of layers pellets. They survived on s"Ooops, word censored!"s (see poster in my signature) and whatever they could forage.

 

Have you tried them with layers mash?

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Layers pellets and layers mash is very important 'life food' for hens if they do'nt free range and you want healthy eggs. Hens for the table can be fed on corn only, because all their strength goes into putting on weight. I was told recently buy an expert henkeeper that feeding hens on corn only brings about a moult. He was suggesting this for people who had ex batts like me. He believed that past caged birds should have a complete rest from laying, so feeding them on corn only stops them laying and brings about a moult. However, I did not take his advice, as I felt that bringing on a moult would be too traumatic for ex bats who have already suffered enough....they will moult in their own good time. So, feeding on corn only does seem to have an effect on hens. Try layers mash. My hens love it. On cold mornings I mix it with warm water, poultry spice and bran.

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Is layers mash just like a powder type thing, and is it the same stuff as the pellets? The reason I ask is that I once mixed up the pellets with a bit of warm water to make up a kind of porridge and they turned their beaks up at it and it sat there all day untouched. Can you get layers mash in small bags so I don't waste any if they don't like it?

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Our chickens were the same when we first had them,we used pellets then mash,now i give them pellets plus some corn mix mixed in the seem to enjoy both now.

I think like most pets ie our cat,if you give them too many treats grapes corn lettuce,then the reject the pellets and want the the treats intstead,so we just then startes again with pellets only,they soon got the message after a few days :lol:

 

regards

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Can you get layers mash in small bags so I don't waste any if they don't like it?
You can get it in smaller bags than layers pellets seem to come in.

 

I bet you 20p that your hens will love it.

 

I never bothered with it until I got my exbatts, and I gave some to the big girls to see what they thought, although they do eat their pellets, but they went mad for it.

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Can you get layers mash in small bags so I don't waste any if they don't like it?
You can get it in smaller bags than layers pellets seem to come in.

 

I bet you 20p that your hens will love it.

 

I never bothered with it until I got my exbatts, and I gave some to the big girls to see what they thought, although they do eat their pellets, but they went mad for it.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-POULTRY-FEED-Layers-Mash-900g-pack_W0QQitemZ110242614460QQihZ001QQcategoryZ46292QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

small quantity of mash

 

im thinking getting some then instead of some treats kids can make them a porridge they will think they giving them something :wink:

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I give mine layers pellets in the morning, and mixed corn in the late a/noon. They get all the veg kitchen waste, and if there's a bit of bacon rind, or some pasta... well almost everything except any poultry product. I rake up the debris every other a/noon, to keep it tidy and clean, and we get a steady supply of eggs from my tatty old brown reject farm hens!!

I look loningly at the "fancy "hens, but cannot warrant the expentiture, as the farm ones are free, they would be killed otherwise, and they lay like hell.there is very little so humorous as a chicken eating spaghetti.

Except 2 chickens eating spaghetti :lol:

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My girls had a field day the other day when I raked up the old Hemcore and forked over the run to lay new Aubiose. Their crops were stuffed with earthworms. There was the odd chasing episode, but mostly there were loads to go round. The babies even managed to get in on the act. It's great fun but does make the job take 4 times as long as they always want to stand on the very clod of earth you are trying to turn over, to be ready the moment the worms appear. :lol:

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I feed layers mash slightly damp in their feed bin and make sure they have a constant supply and I also throw it around their run for them to find which keeps them occupied for hours.

 

I know I probably lose a lot in the bedding but they do enjoy a good scratch. They also get meal worms, broccili, cabbage, grapes, mixed corn etc. and they love the parsley from our herb pots.

 

Chickens are farmyard scavengers and if allowed to free range all day in farmyard conditions they would find plenty of nutritous food but in back garden conditions they probably need substitute foods, i.e. layers pellets/mash.

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