Single hen

[Scotty]

I frequently give my hens cooked cabbage, and they seem to like but someone mentioned to me recently that its a BIG NO NO.... is that right? I know I have to cook potatoe skins but should it only be given raw?

[sti chick]

i am sorry but i don't know the answer but just wanted to say i too give my girls cooked and uncooked cabbage and they love it. But hopefully someone will be along who can answer you.

 

lin

[Egluntyne]

Mine love cabbage, raw or cooked and it hasn't killed them yet.

 

What was the reason given?

[westleigh]

mine have cooked cabbage all the time,mind you i dont add salt maybe thats why

[Scotty]

Thanks for the reassurance on the cabbage front! I shall continue to give to the girls as they totally LOVE the stuff. As you all say, there seems to be no nasty side effects for them!

 

The question arose from my hairdresser of all people, she's recently purchased 3 new hens after seeing ours roam around the garden! hence she's been reading all sorts of articles and it was just a comment she raised last week. She asked what I fed my girls and cabbage came into the conversation!

 

Thanks guys!

 

vicky

[westleigh]

i was told once not to give them lettuce as it gives them colic,dont know how true it is but i dont give it to mine as often or as much

[C&T]

As you all say, there seems to be no nasty side effects for them!

 

 

 

Have to disagree on that one.... The smell in the eglu after munching cabbage is very similar the effect Sprouts have on certain humans....

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I hung half a cabbage in the run recently. It was completely ignored .

[C&T]

I hung half a cabbage in the run recently. It was completely ignored .

 

I but the whole cabbage in boiling water for a few minutes - enough to soften the outer leaves, but no so that the cabbage is falling apart.

 

This is enough for them to get the taste, and then they polish off the entire lot in a day or two, depending on size of cabbage...

 

But the smell in the eglu in the morning....

[Avalon Fantasy]

Cant say I`ve given mine anything cooked, regarding the cooking comment you got I can only surmise as someone has already said that its the added salt that some people use to cook it.

We grow a lot of veggies here and whenever there is a time that we cant eat something or that its bolting we dig up and give to the chicks..

They like the whole stem of the sprouts, its about a foot tall and they nibble along that, they like the apples, and of course their big thing is for fresh sweetcorn.

I cant say I have noticed any smell though after they have eaten the greens...