Chicken bald back

[The Dogmother]

.... to feed up your chickens if you want good quality eggs next year.

 

This time of year, when they stop laying, is when they need to build up their reserves for good quality eggs next season, so any extra help you give them now will be repaid in eggy form and top quality hens in the spring.

 

I always give my girls a good quality poultry tonic in the water to help them through the moult, and continue it through the winter. Every so often, they get a treat of a hot mash with lots of nutritious goodies in it. Be careful to give them plenty of greens too as there's not a lot about in the garden for them now. A little extra corn of an evening will give them extra warmth through the night too.

 

I've not done it myself, but an old poultry hand I know gives her hens dried cat food in the winter!

[cockadoodle1]

Good advice Claret. My hens seem to be eating for England at the moment with no sign of decrease in egg production.

[The Dogmother]

Mine have all but stopped laying now and are taking a break to build up their reserves again. Two of them had a particularly vicious moult too, and are only now starting to look a bit healthier.

[Redwing]

Thanks Claret, thats useful information, I knew that good feeding and healthcare now had an influence to next years productivity but didnt appreciate how much of a benefit it was

 

I have lifeguard tonic for my lot and am planning to switch them on to breeders pellets once the existing stocks of food are used up, hopefully this will carry them through ok

[Olly]

That's useful, I hadn't thought about building them up for next year either.

I only have two laying hens, one of them is quite young but Sadie must be three years old at least, and it's probably good for her to have a rest. Presumably feeding poultry tonic etc won't stimulate egg production, but will help her build up some reserves.

 

Mine love dried cat-food if they can get their beaks on it. Especially if it's been eaten by the cat and then regurgitated ... I'm not actually planning to feed it to my hens, but since it swells up if you put water on it, do you think it's ok or is there a risk of it blocking their crops?

[Redwing]

I'm not sure Olly I feed mine cat food but I soak it first and give them the slop

[Chucky Mama]

I haven't braved giving mine cat food, it just doesn't feel right. I was going to give one some when they moulted heavily but then saw it was chicken flavoured

[Slim]

I feed my chooks anything within reason people forget they eat meat what do you think a worm or slug is?? that is what i say

[docsquid]

I won't be giving them cat food as I want the eggs to be vegetarian, although I appreciate they will eat grubs and slugs too. This is our first winter and our chickens haven't come into lay yet. They aren't eating a huge amount of layers' pellets. I add poultry spice to their food and citricidal to their drinking water, but they seem to prefer to drink from the pond or the drips that form on the cage than from the Glug!

 

I put diatom on their bedding (changed daily as they are sleeping in the nest box), and they sleep on Hemcore. Also dust the dust bath with diatom. I have wormed them with Verm-X for three days as per the instructions, but am getting Flubenvet for future prophylactic treatment.

 

I do give them treats but only in the afternoon to give them maximum incentive to eat the pellets. They wolf down chicken corn and grapes. They are finding greens to pick on in the garden - they seem to like loganberry leaves and for some reason, chilli leaves!

 

I don't make any mash or porridge - just give them the pellets. The combs and wattles on two of them are quite large and getting red, and their faces are going red, and one is crouching and the other is going into the house during the day but not producing anything (other than poo!).

 

I hope that I'm doing enough to keep them healthy for the winter and that they might reward me with an egg or two before long.

[Chucky Mama]

I feed my chooks anything within reason people forget they eat meat what do you think a worm or slug is?? that is what i say

 

Absolutely! This was highlighted to me when mine s"Ooops, word censored!"ped over a frog and when a friend told me about theirs fighting over a mouse . Still can't quite get my head around cat food though, just a mental block I think

[Busybird]

Thanks for this post - I hadn't thought to feed them up over the winter. My big girls have recently had their moult (not too bad looking but there did seem to be a lot of feathers around ) and egg production is still a bit down. I give poultry spice as it was the only supplement I could find locally.

 

Glad to have an excuse to give them more corn in the evenings

[The Dogmother]

I'v enever given cat food to my feathered omnivores, although a lot of show breeders feed the pouched sort to their birds to gloss them up before a show.

 

Not sure if it would please DEFRA though - they're very hot about not feeding them anything from other animal food chains

[stoice]

I tend to give mine meal worms for protein (As I'd have to buy cat food in especially) as well as some scrambled egg mixed in with their mash porridge on odd occasions.

 

I saw in my local 'The Range' store that they sold dried earthworms for wild birds

Anybody tried these on their girls? Would the drying process kill any nasties that earthworms carry? (I'm thinking worm egg etc) They were cheaper than mealworms but can't remember their price right now.

[Egluntyne]

I'll put my hand up and say that I have given mine cat food, an organic, very expensive one, the name of which escapes me for the moment, and they absolutely love it. I've never tried them on the dried stuff though.

 

At the moment they are going mad for pilchards....which are a whole lot cheaper.

[Griffin]

A tin of cat food is scoffed with gusto here They've only had it two or three times but I try to give them as much variety in their diet as possible.

[The Dogmother]

Mine have also been known to clear up cat vomittings

 

Unofficially (of course) they love tuna!

 

Egluntyne; my dog loves tinned pilchards in tomato sauce, I think she'd be disgusted if I fed them to the feathered hellions!

[Plum]

Just a thought, advice has been not to give them chicken variety catfood but I believe all of them may contain chicken byproducts.

 

Is lifeguard any preferrable to poultry spice.

[HENthusiastic]

Thanks for the advice Claret. Not so many thanks for the disgusting cat vomit info

Think I'll go for pilchards. Will tuna do the job?

[Saronne]

My hens did the cat vomit thing...a lovely mixture of dried cat food mixed with half-eaten starling! Yummy...

 

(Sorry)

 

 

Saronne x

[HENthusiastic]

Maybe this calls for a new thread entitled "what is the most disgusting thing your chicken has ever eaten??"

[The Dogmother]

think we'll give that one a miss, thanks though HEN.

 

Tuna is fine, just make sure you buy the spring water one so it's not so salty.. oh, and don't tell DEFRA

[Chickvic]

Mine have had tuna, frogs, mice, dried cat food, cat vomit and any birds the cats have caught and we haven't noticed

[sjp]

Just a thought, advice has been not to give them chicken variety catfood but I believe all of them may contain chicken byproducts.

 

Is lifeguard any preferrable to poultry spice.

 

no they both have slightly differant benefits lifeguard's main benefit is to help the body adzorb calcium it also I think helps with feather regrowth poultry spice is a general pick me up and appitite enhancer i think

[abwsco]

I bought some organic cat food for my gang and they went absolutely beserk for it. I didn't like the fishy breath after though when Dinner jumped up on my knee. Mine have also eaten mice and dead baby birds Don't think they've eaten cat vomit though as the neighbours cats now stay away

[4Clucks-minusOne]

Can you give chickens Aloe Vera juice?

 

Daisy likes to catch and eat shrews.