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

[melly264]

ok, all is going well, the batts are settling in nicely and one has already shown herself to be very tame.

 

A few quick questions :

I thought I had read somewhere that the egg shells can be feed back to the chickens in the grit tray (once rinsed out I presume) is this right? It would either be in there or in the compost and if they need the contents to make their egg shells strong why not?

 

My daughter collected a load of cuttle fish last time we were at the beach, in the absence of any budgies would this be suitable for the chickens as something to keep them busy?

 

As for afternoon treats, how much would be a suitable amount for three chooks - I am worried about over feeding them treats and them all ending up with runny poo!

 

Thanks all, this site has given me the confidence to happily house the girls!

[bronze]

Cuttle fish are fine

 

I give my girls their egg shells back. I leave them for a few days to dry then blast them for a bit in the microwave (40 secs or so). I used to use the oven but this way is less hassle. I then crush them up

[Karen Pimlott]

we found that re feeding egg shells encouraged egg eating so we no longer do it.

 

treats are ok but not everyday... we feed tomatoes once a week or cheese but no more too many treats can cause runny poo and also problems with the crop especially if it is soft foods such as tomatoes, pasta, grapes etc..

 

cuttle fish should be ok, i have never given it to my birds but i would be careful from the beach as it may have a high salt content or other nastys on it that may affect your bird..i think shop bought cuttle fish is treated first.

 

Karen

[BeckyBoo]

I must be a bad chicken mummy then, mine get something every day! They have their pellets / mash first in the morning then in the afternoon they get either: sweetcorn (tinned or the remains of corn on the cob from dinner) any left over potatoes, pasta, rice, they get the odd cabbage lobbed in to play chicken football with, they've just had the outside leaves from the pak choi that were going over and a bit of broccoli (sp ) that was hiding in a yellowish fashion at the back of the fridge. They nearly always get a handful of corn and some grit and if we're feeling flush they get some mealworms. I give them egg shells too as well as grit / oyster shell, I bake them on a low heat for about 10 minutes then crush them up. Never had egg eating either unless the eggs get cracked accidentally in the nest. Basically whatever's a bit too good for the compost - they get. Bananas that have gone brown and the kids won't eat, 3/4 eaten apples (thank-you smallest boy, always stops 3/4 of the way through and starts a new one ) grapes with squishes on them, the stalks and attatched bits of strawberries.

And after all that spoiling we had 8 eggs today. Not bad from 13 hens - 4 are ex-batts and lay a couple of times each a week, two are bantams and lay when they darned well pleasey, one is a freeloader who never used to lay and now lays regularly for a week then nothing for a fortnight 5 are fairly regular (including our original Omlet 2) and 1 is broody. So we must be doing something right!

 

 

But it is true that fat hens don't lay.

Mrs Bertie

[Christian]

I put all the shells on a baking tray and put it in the oven when I have finished cooking something. Just leave it there until cool - usually when I go to cook something else, they are still there

 

I use a pestle and mortar to grind the shells down to almost dust and mix it with their pellet porridge in the afternoon. A couple of teaspoon of tinned sweetcorn mixed in and they are happy as Larry.

 

[Karen Pimlott]

everything your birds need are in the layers mash/ pellet etc & if they are free ranging they pick up their own tasty treats.

 

there digestive tracts cannot really cope with all that. treats are fine in moderation.

Dont forget a hen stores the food in the crop & digests slowly too much stodge can cause problems they wont be able to digest & get rid of it & the crop can then compact, which is not pleasant on either part.

 

Dont know about fat hens not laying never come across one but i'm sure it wont do it much good & probably shorten its life span.

 

the egg shell thing.. aparently my grandad used to do it

 

Our hens are just naughty little madams eating their eggs !!!!! got to admit since we havent fed it we only have an odd one that does it & we do have a few on at any one time

 

Karen

[meezers]

I put all the shells on a baking tray and put it in the oven when I have finished cooking something. Just leave it there until cool - usually when I go to cook something else, they are still there

 

I use a pestle and mortar to grind the shells down to almost dust and mix it with their pellet porridge in the afternoon.

 

That's me ! I'm forever having to remove egg shells from the oven before I can put the new dishes in and my pestle and mortar is permanently covered in egg shell dust - not worth washing it up inbetween !

[melly264]

Thanks for all the answers.

 

I'll check out about the difference between beach and shop cuttle fish before they have that.

I'll add the eggs in to their feed/grit and I guess I'll keep an eye on how much in the way of treats we give them (opps! possibly had a weeks worth in the last few days!)

 

Thanks all for the answers