Solitary chicken - need advice

[DebbyTutton]

Hi All,

 

I have been looking into "what is in the girls food" and am beginning to wish I hadn't. I seem to have opened a whole hive of problems. Almost all standard (ie non-organic) foods seem to have GM products added. I am against this so I am now looking at Organic feed.

 

In a nutshell this is my feeding routine;

7.30 I let the girls out of their cube run and scavenge around their larger run (6 hens in an 8m x 5m area). They munch anything about.

8.30 I put out their mixed grain food with another dish of layers pellets for when they run out of grain.

3.30 I join them for treats and a chat.

 

Whilst reading up I have heard many stories saying that they should be fed only layers and grain as a treat ? My girls get beans, tinned corn, cucumbers, fruit and stuff as treats, basically whatever is about and they will like !

 

I would love to hear when, how and what you feed your girls. I am especially interested in Brands and how you rate them and why.

 

Many thanks for reading this and any replies entered

[Chickabee]

I feed Fancy Feed layers pellets. They are non GM. My free rangers don't get many treats, I save those for the caged girls. Treats consist of vegetable trimmings, cheep cabbages and cheap seasonal veg, like sweet corn. They get an occasional handful of sunflower seeds. And sometimes some mealworms

[Hippie Chick]

Mine have the Allen and Page Organic Layers Pellets, the pellets are freely available all the time from a treadle feeder. I think it's a good feed if you're looking for something organic, the pellets are quite small and are suitable for bantams too. Mine seem happy enough on it.

 

Mine are let out to free range in the afternoon so they pick up plenty of stuff from the garden (hopefully slugs!) but they also are spoiled with treats (which aren't necessary I know but part of the pleasure of keeping chickens) such as dried mealworms, sweetcorn cobs when I can get them cheaply (but not on hot days as it can cause overheating), tuna in spring water occasionally, chopped up boiled eggs if I have too many stacking up, during the winter DEFRA incarceration they had spring greens which were very popular and various other things that I can't remember! Oh, I dig dandelions up from parts of the garden they can't get to for them occasionally. They don't get a massive amount of treats even though it may sound like it! They get a scattering of mixed seeds/scratch before they go to bed every day.

[Chickabee]

I think, though I might be wrong. It's the wheat in mixed corn, or scratch, that causes overheating fresh corn is absolutely fine.

[Daphne]

Although wheat can warm them up, maize, or corn, is fattening and can lead to fatty deposits around organs which can have health or laying implications. However, I know it is the most common feed here in Portugal, and very popular in France as well so there is a bit of me which is more relaxed about feeding than I used to be. In my opinion,a good and easy feeding regime is good quality layers pellet 99% of the time, with ad lib free range forage if your girls have access to the range, or supplementary greens if not. I give straight wheat occasionally in the winter as a warming late afternoon treat, or as a bribe if I need them back in the pen. I'd look for the best feed you can in France, in the UK my personal choice was Smallholder pellets as they are non GM, small and I had bantams, or Marriages because the birds seemed to like it and I used to use the Flubenvet medicated pellets for worming. In Portugal, frankly I would take whatever I could get, the choice is so limited.

[The Dogmother]

I feed Smallholder layers pellets, cut with a scoop of Dr Green Co"Ooops, word censored!" Mash the latter is expensive, but a pretty good feed. They rarely get any treats, except for some dandelion or other dark green leaves towards the end of the day. They are trained to go in their respective runs at the end of the day, when I give them a tiny amount of dried mealworms.

 

The basic advice is that their diet should be 98% layers feed, with the rest being raw, unprocessed veg. Avoid soft fruit as it will ferment in their crop, never feed any human, processed food especially anything containing salt or sugar.

[Chickabee]

Farm and Pet place sell Dr Green feeds. They do look good (as good as they can to a human). I'll try some next time I do worming, which is imminent

[The Dogmother]

I tend to order a sack when I order my Flubenvet pellets, it encourages a certain amount of selective feeding, but only enough to keep them interested in the feeder. They certainly miss it when they are on worming rations!

[dispic1]

Corn should be a treat, and fed later in the day as they wolf it down first and dont get the nutrients and grit/shell they need.

[Egluntyne]

Mine have Garvo, what they can scavenge, greens and the odd handful of scratch.

[The Dogmother]

The Doc Green co"Ooops, word censored!" mash is very like Garvo, Eggers