4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[kimmi_b]

What can I stuff inside it?? Raw broccoli? Cooked broccoli? I really have no idea! It needs to be something fairly large as the gaps are quite big so something like raisins will fall out. I thought maybe cabbage leaves folded up and then poked through. The ball itself is fab - made of metal with a nifty hook so can be hung nicely from the tope of the run.

 

I've also seen a post saying that corn on the cob is a good treat for them - can these be raw or should they be cooked?

 

More questions!

 

1) Is it ok to give them bread and milk or breakfast leftovers - one post I saw said yes, another said no. If anyone knows of a link to a good site with a definitive list on what they can and can't eat I would be grateful!

 

2) I have been giving a treat every night (which could be why they tried to peck their way my patio door last night!) - is it best to only do this once every few days? They are still emptying their Grub every day so they aren't holding for their treats yet.

 

3) As my partner and I don't get back from work till 5.30, I want to pop things in their run to entertain them during the day so they don't get s"Ooops, word censored!"py with each othetr. Does anyone have any tried and tested ideas for playthings or will the treat ball do for now?

[BarbaraJ]

hi,

mine dont like raw veg yet only cooked but they are all different! any of your ideas seem fine.

mine wouldnt eat a raw corn on the cob and am loathe to try again as they aren't cheap!

they like tinned corn though.

I was told no dairy

 

mine have a treat every day but veg with soggy bread or weetabix usually

 

the favourite in the run so far is a mirror

[kimmi_b]

Oops they have had bread and milk 3 times since they arrived (and once with marmite). They have been wolfing it down so guess I am going to have some moody Chooks when they realise it's been made with water next time

 

I will try with a cd then as a mirror, and get some corn cobs out of the freezer to cook for them - I think as a rule with veg it will be "if I wouldn't eat it raw then why expect them to?". Hope that works

 

BTW, I am going to be raiding the supermarket shelves for reduced price veggies for them - also a good opportunity to try them on veg that I might not always buy. My partner and I are terrible for eating our fresh greens and just live on frozen veggies so they would miss out otherwise!

[Flo]

I use something leafy (lettuce, spinach, leek leaves – whatever is in the fridge and wilting) to line my treat cage and then I fill it with sweet corn or raisins or pasta. The leaves keep the treats in enough for me to get it to the run, and then as the girls peck at it the treats fall out. It lasts them for ages, you can see a picture here

 

 

You can just about see the mirror I have too...

[Abbey Road Girl]

Hi Kimmi,

 

I have a plastic treat ball I usually put a variety of things in: chopped up kiwi fruit, cherry tomato, raw carrot, apple, squares of Marmite on toast and even a little prawn cracker (cautious because probably high in fat). This may be a way to introduce a variety of foods--the challenge of competition makes everything desirable. Although a bit of cherry tomato often gets a bokking victory lap, they devour whatever they find. I'm looking forward to getting a melon and stuffing the seeds into the ball (in clumps, not one by one of course)!

 

In the morning you could scatter some of their pellets and grit or baked and crushed egg shells on the floor of the run so that they will have someting to scratch around for.

 

I give corn on the cob defrosted from frozen in a glass of very hot tap water. No need to cook. Dairy, with the exception of low fat bio-yogurt, is to be avoided as is advocado which is poisonous to them.

 

A mirror hung at their usual eye level will be a welcome diversion. I found one at Superdrug for £3.99 which clips onto the run's wire mesh.

 

Hope this helps. Others with more experience will be along shortly!

 

(I see Flo has invented the pollo pinata! )

[Flo]

Pollo Pinata - love it!

 

The girls go mad for it. Usually they jump up and down to come out of the run and go digging in the garden, but as soon as I put it up I can't get them out!

[ali-s]

I stuff the treat feeder with chunks of banana (skin left on) they love it also Melon, plums, apple, tomatoes, spinach, cucumber, in fact anything that is a bit too ripe or past it best from the fruit bowl or salad drawer in the fridge.

[WitchHazel]

I put raw white cabbage, which I pick off the outside of the cabbagem roll up and stuff in. Because the cabbage isn't cut, in then stays in reasonably good condition in the fridge without getting smelly. After 3 or 4 days, I put what's left of the cbbage in the Run as it is.

 

I also put mushrooms in mine, bits of timato, red cabbage (which makes their poo go bright blue), cauliflower, the ouutside leaves of a cauliflower, leftover lettuce, cucumber, courgette, spinach, watercress.

 

Mine don't like broccoli. I don't put sweetcorn or pasta in their ball, as I like to feed those to them separately.

[Imo]

Mine get all kinds of veggie s"Ooops, word censored!"s. Again, my girls only seem to eat cooked veg! They love corn on the cob - you can pierce one end before cooking so that you can thread a bit of string through and tie it onto the wires of the run. They love that - it'll keep them occupied for hours. They also love bread - stale bits, or the crusty ends often end up in their treat ball!! And the ends of strawberries - very yummy!!

Have to say I've never had any success with mirrors for the girls. They have a few old CDs strung up but they never take the slightest bit of notice!!

[hennymom]

my girls adore brocolli, they savage a head of it in minutes....like piranha fish.... they love tinned corn, grapes and spinach, I am trying various things although I don't give anything cooked... I dont really like the sounds of s"Ooops, word censored!"s like boiled potato peelings and such like but surely fresh veggies are healthy and good for them...lol they soon polish them all of anyway... mirrors are a must mine strut about for a few minutes each morning having a peck at their own reflection, and if they had a set of drawers in front of it I'm sure they would put make up and a brush on it...lol gonna try a green pepper and some banana soon, just taking my time as I dont wana over load them with stuff then find thats all I can feed them, good luck with your girls

[HRC99]

Mine love cabbage. Any kind. They didn't like broccoli and turned their noses up at it whether it was cooked or not. Then I put it in the treat ball and they went beserk for it. As someone else, said it's the competition.

 

They also love rocket, spring onions and any kind of soft herb.

 

At one very dark point, I actually thought that these chickens would be bloody tasty if I ever ate them. Then I felt very very guilty indeed for having such a terrible thought.

[HRC99]

Oh and they couldn't care less about CDs, mirrors or anything like that.

[BarbaraJ]

Isnt it odd, i have a metal hanging treat ball. i may try again tomorrow but they treat that and the raw veg like alien beings hanging in their run and walk around it lol

[beanie3]

Arnt our little ones spoilt. However thick i am i didnt even realise you could purchase a special ball.....anyway this is what mine get.....

 

I use string bags such as the ones you get from supermarkets that hold onions/oranges etc and every morning i stuff them with lettuce/cucumber/tomatoe and peeled carrott.

 

When i get back from work i soak a bit of wholemeal bread in water with grit and a drop of that grapefruit stuff to keep them fit and well.

 

Further treats - but not so often....whenever i boil potatoes or cook pasta - i always do too much (dont know how i get it sooo wrong) and they love it, espicially spaghetti they run around with it dangling off their beaks teasing one another.

[Olly]

Mine eat anything, they go MAD for potato peelings, hennymom! (cooked, of course). If I've cooked it and done too much of anything, they get the left-overs, otherwise they get it raw and they scarf down cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage chard etc and don't seem to mind.

 

Be careful with bread, it must be soaked in water or oil (or toasted).

[Hen Watch]

My tip is try everything raw (except potato) and then if they don't like it, try it cooked. I put the woody brocolli stalk in the metal treat ball. When they were little they didn't like it, now they go mad for it..???

 

I do evening treats daily if I have enough left overs - all the stuff mentioned by others already. Don't overdo treats until they start laying though. Sometimes when I've overdone the treats I get less eggs.

 

Mealworms are great. Dried mealworms online from Omlet or even better live from a pet shop or go to a fishing tackle shop. Or get live white maggots (but got to keep them in the fridge !!!!).

 

In my run I have a log for them to hop over. A dust bath (plastic cat litter tray with dry earth in). Poke a broom handle or branch suspended through the run bars and you will find they like to perch on it. (Mine hurdle 6" over the perch to get to the food in the mornings.....very funny).