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Feeding in the Run

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I am looking for some good recipe ideas to ensure my chickens get the best possible diet as they wont be free ranging on grass.

They dont like cabbage which I am told is great to be hung up in the run for them to peck on. Can anyone recommend good foods I can give them that are safe and will give them the best possible nutrients based on having no grass. I would like to try and get the best possible yellow yolked eggs too and wonder with no grass whether these will be affected.

 

At the moment they will eat mealworms and sweetcorn but alot of the greens they wont touch... What works for you?

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Very shortly there'll be a lot of reduced price pumpkins about..... so tried mine on one the weekend to see if it's worth stocking up on when going cheap. They loved it! :clap: Was a bundle for the seeds at first... :roll: but by the end of the day all I had left was the outer skin.

My girls other favourite treats are Spinach leaves, Sweetcorn, Brocoli, Cauliflower, the odd apple, left over salad leaves.... to name but a few! :D

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Mine wont eat cabbage raw at all , they turn their beaks up .but will eat it cooked :roll:

 

I often just chuck in a few odd bits of left over bits and pieces like the cabbage and stalks of ruby chard which they dont like raw and cook it often with a bit of couccous or pearl barley. ..Then they love it.

At the moment pumpkin is their favourite cooked or raw, but they spit out the seeds :lol:

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My girls quite like cabbage but they prefer lettuce or chard. I guess the leaves are softer and easier to eat. They also love sweetcorn, tomatoes and cucumber.

Their absolute favourite-ist treat though is plain old wheat, a bit of wheat sprinkled in their run generates much frenzied pecking and clucks of excitement!

If you're concerned that the egg yolks might not be as yellow in winter when your hens can't free range then you could always try an alfalfa supplement which should improve yolk colour.

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Mine love toast at the moment, dry, no butter, also porridge with warm water, not so keen with warm milk.

 

My girls also turn their beaks up at uncooked veg, they had roast carrots and mashed up baby new potatoes yesterday, they seem quite fussy though, tomatoes, grapes, apple, lettuce, chard, kale, banana all rejected as well as the pumpkin I bought them. The only thing they'll eat is tinned sweetcorn, which they eat 'raw'

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We empty some of the grass clippings from the lawn mower into the WIR and our girls love that. Saves having to put them in the garden bin and it gives them some grass to munch on too. They also love tomatoes, sweetcorn, spaghetti, cabbage and pretty much anything we put in that is edible :D

 

 

:shock: I have avoided giving mine grass cuttings as I was worried it would block their crops? I know you should never give it to horses as it can give them colic - is it ok for chooks then? If so I'll give mine some next year when it's cut again.

:think:

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We empty some of the grass clippings from the lawn mower into the WIR and our girls love that. Saves having to put them in the garden bin and it gives them some grass to munch on too. They also love tomatoes, sweetcorn, spaghetti, cabbage and pretty much anything we put in that is edible :D

 

 

:shock: I have avoided giving mine grass cuttings as I was worried it would block their crops? I know you should never give it to horses as it can give them colic - is it ok for chooks then? If so I'll give mine some next year when it's cut again.

:think:

 

I know they can't have long grass but I thought that if it was just an inch or two long that it would be okay. Don't seem to have had any problems with them eating it, but I will double check :D

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My girls don't like any greens cooked or raw apart from peas. They absolutely love them cooked (just the frozen ones) also sweet corn is a firm favourite. Grass clippings have not seemed to be problematic for them. They love avocado, peaches and pears. I think my girls have fairly individual likes and dislikes. The wyandots are fairly fussy but like the above mentioned. Hope this helps.

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My girls also avoided a baby lettuce hanging inthe run for a week till I took it away, however they love grapes, banana, tomatoes, apples, and most cooked veg, just don't seem to want it raw. They also like bits of left over toast and bread, when I'm feeding the wild birds, and they always come running across the garden at the sign of any food. I made them some hot mash with porridge in at the weekend, put a chopped up banana on top and they scoffed the banana and left the mash - found my dogs eating it later so at least it wasn't wasted :lol:

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Well having asked a number of people who have been keeping hens for many years they all seem to agree that it's fine to give grass clippings as long as they are short, for example just an inch or two long as the girls would only normally eat the ends off each blade. So I will carry on giving them to ours as they do love them :D

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Mine love spinach, chard leaves, herbs, tomatoes, anything picked straight from the garden or greenhouse. I try to give them greens every day as they are not on grass but do also have a bit of a free range every day (but this will be less in the winter as it'll be dark by the time I get home from work)

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Well having asked a number of people who have been keeping hens for many years they all seem to agree that it's fine to give grass clippings as long as they are short, for example just an inch or two long as the girls would only normally eat the ends off each blade. So I will carry on giving them to ours as they do love them :D

 

:clap: Thanks for taking the time to clarify that :D Will give it a go next time the grass is cut.

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pinched this off another chicken forem :anxious: after a quick google - Margaret you are right :shock:

Have given it to mine in the past in small doses ( as I knew it was a no no for Quail and wondered...)

 

''Yesterday we had an avocado that was soft and the flesh was put in with the chicken and duck's food. Today, my strongest Aylesbury duckling (3 weeks old) my lovely (and only) Brown Muscovy duckling (2months old) have died very quickly and a strong month old Jersey Giant Cockerel (the only one I have) is in a poor state. One minute they were fine and then started to look sorry for themselves and within two hours of the ducks being isolated they were dead. The chick is just fading away as I look at him. No other symptoms at all. (Update, he died a few minutes ago)

We've been trying to find an explanation and the only thing different was the avocado. Having researched on the internet it appears that the persin in the avocado has caused respiratory failure in these 3 strong (and first to the food) birds.

The avocado in question (different to the normal rough-surfaced ones we buy from Israel and Chile) came from Kenya.

Just a word of warning.''

 

Crikey! :(

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It might be easier to ask what they don't eat :)

We keep a bowl in the kitchen and collect all the s"Ooops, word censored!"s, peelings (potato peelings should be cooked), bread and toast, mashed potato, sausage rolls (as long as there is no chicken in it) dinner left overs.

I agree with most people they do prefer cooked veg, a couple of mins in the microwave with a drop of water does the trick.

My girls love porridge oats mixed up with probiotic yoghurt.(easiyo yoghurt maker saves a few bob)

They love cheese, but I understand that you shouldn't give them too much dairy.

This year we managed to cultivate loads of sunflowers, the seeds all fell out of the wild bird food they came up great. Now the heads have finished the girls love to pull all the seeds out. (the seeds should have gone black before you give them to them)

I planted a large tub of chard seeds which sits by their run, just pulling a few leaves off each day for them and it has kept on growing so far.

We give them grass clippings but they don't really take too much notice, when my girls get out I think it is more fresh ground for scratching on that creates the most interest.

Grapes, peas, chopped up plums and strawberries remain their favourites.

Oh and don't forget frogs :vom: they have managed to catch about three that I have found them with this summer,

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