Chickenlicken Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 My chickens arrived on Saturday. They appear happy and I have had three eggs a day (one each). I have been giving a little green food and fruit every day. However, i cannot find any guidance on amounts in any of my many books about what is an acceptable amount. With most other animals that i have owned, too many greens can make them unwell. So far i have given one large leaf of cabbage, an apple and a half, the bottom leaves of a cauliflower. (Over a period of 3 days). Does anyone have any snippets of wisdom on this? The hen's previous owner gave me a list of what they like to eat, so i know what type of foods to give, just not amounts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Cabbage and cauliflower leaves should be chopped into 1cm squares as a precaution to avoid crop impaction; take out the large veins as well. Occasionally you can get a particularly greedy hen that tears a large chunk off and swallows it whole and it is then too big to digest. Whilst they may have some grit in their crop it may not help. Apples contain natural sugars which will lead to the formation of bad bacteria in the gut, so I wouldn't advise feeding them, even though they love it. I'd make leaves a weekly treat and you may find the time taken to chop them up a bit of a chore, however in our experience savoy cabbage sometimes gives very yellow egg yolks to the extent that they don't look right at all, in fact unappetising; see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I'd recommend only a small amount of dark greens towards the end of the day. String them up slightly out of reach so they have to jump for them - a favourite game of my flock. Avoid any soft fruit, an little apple is fine as the acid content helps with their digestive flora. In short, their layers rations need to constitute around 98% of their diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenlicken Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Beantree said: Cabbage and cauliflower leaves should be chopped into 1cm squares as a precaution to avoid crop impaction; take out the large veins as well. Occasionally you can get a particularly greedy hen that tears a large chunk off and swallows it whole and it is then too big to digest. Whilst they may have some grit in their crop it may not help. Apples contain natural sugars which will lead to the formation of bad bacteria in the gut, so I wouldn't advise feeding them, even though they love it. I'd make leaves a weekly treat and you may find the time taken to chop them up a bit of a chore, however in our experience savoy cabbage sometimes gives very yellow egg yolks to the extent that they don't look right at all, in fact unappetising; see what happens. Thank you. That’s really helpful. I hung up the cabbage on day one and I they pecked fairly small pieces. When I gave them the cauliflower, they picked the soft bits and left the hard stalk. They only had a small apple but I will only do that in future now and again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenlicken Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 1 hour ago, The Dogmother said: I'd recommend only a small amount of dark greens towards the end of the day. String them up slightly out of reach so they have to jump for them - a favourite game of my flock. Avoid any soft fruit, an little apple is fine as the acid content helps with their digestive flora. In short, their layers rations need to constitute around 98% of their diet. Thank you. I shall stick to layers pellets and only give the occasional ‘treat’. I allowed them into a fenced bit of garden whilst I added the 2 metre extension on , and they were finding stuff in the soil. Luckily I covered up my plants there with pots. The worming pellets are due to arrive tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I’d hang the cabbage up for enrichment and give them something to peck at, they shouldn’t rip chunks too big to cause an impaction; think if they can swallow it they can digest it. I tend to avoid all fruits as they don’t really need it and can ferment in the crop as above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I would also hang up a whole, or part, cabbage / broccoli / cauliflower just out of reach so they have to jump for it. I wouldn’t chop it up. I would let them have the whole thing just left in their run as it gives them something to do on boring days when they’re shut in their run, but they don’t get one very often - maybe once every couple of months. Having said that, at the moment mine are getting a kale plant a week (that’s between 9 bantams). After they’ve stripped all the leaves I cut the stem in half longways - they love the inside. Ditto what everyone else has said about fruit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
