Unsecure chicken perches

[Yolky]

I make sure there is enough layers for the girls so they can just help themselves. They do free range about 4 hours a dayish so they have grass and bugs and stuff. How much other stuff like left overs/mixed corn do you give?

[ClaireG]

Its very early days for me but i put a mixture of pellets ( 2 cups), mixed corn (1 cup) and poultry grit (half cup) in the grub this seems to last about 3 days. My girls are not free ranging yet and i give them treats every day on top of this. Their favourite treats so far are sweetcorn, dried mealworms and spaghetti. (quater can of sweetcorn, handful of others) they didnt like cauliflower!

[Dave36]

ours have a free supply of mash and then later in the afternoon after there free ranging i throw in some corn for them to forage for and a few items from the kitchen like broccoli etc as it starts to turn, i think the main thing is not to let your chickens get to overweight

[FruitandNutCake]

I've had my original 3 chickens 3 months, and have only just started to give them mixed corn in the evening as a treat. They also have fruit (apple and strawberries) when I have some leftover. And I've just started giving them fresh sweetcorn and a little tuna as I felt guilty giving all the tuna to the the ex-batts!

[quickcluck]

I've only had mine a few meagre days and am giving them mixed corn in the late afternoon, so that I can sit in the run with them and get them to take it from my hand, that way I get the odd stroke too! They like apple, plums, strawberrys but not so keen on broccoli!!!

 

However, there have been a few Mr Whippy poo's am not sure if I need to add more bokashi bran?

[Hen Watch]

Don't go overboard with the treats until they start laying.

 

When they start laying restrict treats to afternoons so they fill up on balanced pellets/mash in the morning.

 

Mine get all manner of leftovers/veg peelings/carrot tops (the list is endless) but by trial and error you will get to know how much is too much. Quite simply, too many treats and you may see a fall in egg production the following day/s.

 

I use mixed dried corn to get them back into their run if I need to go out or each evening. But for my 4 I only throw in a tiny handful (personally about half an egg cupful) then shut the run.

[Olly]

Mine get treats at the end of the day, if they've been free-ranging then I use that to get them back in the run; if not, they get it anyway as a compensation for having been kept inside!

 

How much? depends how much I've cooked/saved/what is going manky in the fridge but not more than a couple of cupfuls usually. I agree with what Hen Watch says - too many treats mean they don't eat enough pellets, which have everything they need.

[Egluntyne]

Mine get veg and 1 tin of sweetcorn at night to lure them back in....between 14 of them so they don't get much each.

[MedusA]

I do give them a small handful of mealworms first thing, when I say hello, but otherwise I don't give them treats in the mornings, so they hopefully, eat their pellets/bokashi/limestone flour mix.

 

Mine usually get a handful of corn (between 7 of them) in the afternoon to scratch around for.

 

They also get other cooked veg peelings, fruit etc. when I have it, and the odd handful of raisins.

 

They also get porridge once a week, using up their leftover pellets, so I get to scrub out the grubs and fill them up with fresh pellets.

[Tilly Bud]

My chickens go wild for sweetcorn so i give them that. I always reward them for coming back to me in the garden with a little handful of sweetcorn each, but they can sometimes get through a whole small tin together. I only ever give it to them in the evening though as they are laying.