What type of dirt or sand should I put in their dirt bath container? Hi Rosalie, Just regular plain old dirt will work fine! My granddaughter recently got 4 chicks I believe they are White Leghorns from her school. I really appreciate the information on your site as I have never raised chickens. I have a lot to learn, but wanted to make sure the new chicks, now 4 weeks old, are started out right. Should I leave food out for them at night? Snails used to eat my garden now the chickens eat them.
Also a garden snake which they played tug of war. When we have hot days I give them frozen corn. Please help! My chickens like to sleep on the top of the passionfruit vine even in the rain. I built them a beautiful warm house but they wont go in. Theyre too fast to catch or try to herd them into the house during the day.
When I try to move them in the night, they wake up and scream. Any ideas how to get them to go and sleep in their house? Leave the door open and when you go to feed them in the morning place the food well within the coop and leave water for them also inside the coop.
I have trained my girls to come eat when I ring the dinner gong. Ring it every time you feed them. Soon they will come running when they hear the gong. Then at nighrt you can close the door on them while they are feeding, just be sure the have somewhere to roost.
Chickens should eat the same as wild ground feeding birds like quail and pheasant. Greens and all kinds of worms-bugs should be the major diet. Corn and soy is hard on their liver and probably wheat too. Table scraps are fine occasionally. We seem to change animals diets to keep it cheap and convenient for us. Its just not right. The smarter chickens taught the slow learning ones when to come in and out and now they all go in before the door closes at 8pm!
Also keeps them safe from predators! My chickens love left over watermelon. They go crazy over it. Any problems with feeding them watermelon? Thanks for all the info. Its great.
I too am just starting with chickens as they were a gift. I feed them as you recommend. Yesterday one of the hens I only have 9 hens eat one of the eggs. What should I do? Great site, I am about to join the chicken motherhood club. Picking up 4 on weekend, coop arriving tomorrow, very excited. Free range then in coup at nite. Kids 8 and 12 are picking names god help me , wish me luck. I have bought 4 ISA Browns in the last fortnight and am still discovering what they like to eat.
Interestingly I put a whole half pepper in their run and they took no notice of it but when I blitzed the pepper in the food processor and put it back in their run some came straight over and started pecking it up! They also like runner beans blitzed in the food processor and lightly boiled in some water to make a sort of mash. Hi there, I have 6 baby chickens, They are 5 days old, I feed them smashed corn, the problem is they waste most of the food by throwing them away with their feet, how do I stop them from wasting food?
Brilliant information. Beef pate. They love it. I have 8 big girls and they go crazy over tomatoes! Just getting started with chicks and hope to put them into the outside coop in a couple weeks.. Is Straw or woodchips better for the nesting and inside coop? How warm do nights have to be for the 6 week chicks to stay out?
Thanks — I got a great amount of info from your blog and question section!! When you feed your chickens vegetable scraps,like broccoli, is it ok if the vegetables are cooked?
Or, do they prefer raw vegetables? Dear Claire, I just became a chicken owner because I have been chosen by the chicken. She showed up in our yard about ten days ago and seems to have moved in. I have ordered a coop. Is it okay to keep just one chicken? Any insight will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, LeAnne. Aloha, I keep an active compost pile and add green waste and kitchen scrapes and turn it regularly. The chickens watch me turn it and then start scratching. It is full of bugs and the chickens love to scratch for them.
Chickens will eat almost everything. The rooster stands on top of the pile. And they take dirt baths around it. We just throw whole apples out into the run for our girls.
They have never had an issue from seeds and they have fun rolling them around! Merry Christmas!! I am soon to have 4baby chicks!! A little intimidated by the cost. About how much are you paying a month? Also I saw that you offered to have others email when they start raising chickens, can you email me so I can put it on file?
And lastly thank you, this obviously took a lot of time and love. Are there any major differences? Hi I am picking up my 12 20 week old pullets up this saturday and by reading some coments i have only bought Layers pellets and oyster shell for their daily food. Do i just mix in the oyster shell with the pellets every day? Oyster shells should be presented separately and they will peck at them at will. Zafira I have just acquired my first beautiful hen.
I have read all the info and have gone out and bought pellets for her and also give her vegetable and fruit scraps. Also should I cook her the veggies or is raw OK? And also I have fresh water in her bowl but she seems to drink from little puddles in the ground as it spills.
What do I do? I really love her and what to make sure she is healthy and happy. We see a group of hens and a rooster when we are dog walking and they all come running up to us looking for treats. Having checked with their owner he would be quite happy for us to give them a bit of something when we are passing. I cant thank you enough for the info which has given me lots of ideas for tasty chicken treats!!!
Ps I want to come back as one of your birds!! My 6 girls have seemed to stop eating their feed. We have been feeding the Scratch and Peck Layer since they started laying.
Now they seem to be boycotting. They do get greens daily and still eat that but not much feed. Any tips? But, before that, first make sure your food is still fresh and theres nothing rotten about it.
Am Godwin U. I really wish to start a layer business, just with 25 numbers of layers about to lay or just starting layering. Please, what will be your advice or what do I need to know before starting. Thanks Godwin. Yes, read this article for tips on getting your chickens to start producing. I got a chick from a friend not knowing what all I was getting into. I have educated myself and like having my chicken. She is sweet and sits in our laps often.
I have two questions. One, should I get another one? I read now that chickens are social and get lonely.
Will she be alright with me and my kids or does she need a chicken friend? Two, I read an article about salmonella and am now paranoid about it. Is this really an issue? Chickens are flock type, I would provide her at least one companion. Salmonella is a lingering fear many people have, proper hygiene and proper coop care and you will be just fine.
My 4 black stars eat a whole bunch of kale every day and also love carrot tops and lettuce. Laying pellets and kitchen scraps daily. Free range during the day with their best friends Poppy the dog and two cats who sometimes sneak a nap in the nest boxes. All three are friendly, and they lay pretty well too. I have 8 chickens and half of them are having their feathers picked.
I have been told they are not getting enough protein. I have been feeding them Scratch and Peck and also ferment for some of their feeding. I have been supplementing their feed with boiled eggs 2 for the eight of them and other days a can of sardines mixed with feed.
Any suggestions on what else to do or feed them? They have more than the required amount of room in their coop and run. I have read that someone lost all their chickens because they fed them raw oatmeal and it expanded in their stomachs and killed them. We love our girls and they love us. Thanks for the article. The hens 5 have been very happy since arrival providing a regular supply of 5 eggs a day.
We stopped giving them layers pellets and instead make food in the mixer — this consists mainly of carrot and beetroot peelings, cabbage leaves, dandelion leaves, left over fruit pear, apple without pips , etc. They also have about 2 hours everyday roaming in the garden looking for grubs, eating grass etc. Eggs production has dropped and we may get 2 eggs a day.
My chicks 9 love blueberries and watermelon. Thanks for all the great info!! This is our first time having chickens, and they are more fun and work than I expected! Who knew that chickens were shop interesting!
A friend of mine incubated some of her eggs and they hatched yesterday. I was just looking to see if there was some kind of treat i could bring to them next week. I have lots of slimy slugs in my garden though.
Thanks for an informative site! I am having a hard time getting them to eat healthy. They want the scratch. But they hardly eat that too. They are free range. They eat dog poop. If they want to scratch there are still healthy options to spread on the ground you can buy. Advice very much needed. I built my own coup much to the excitement of my two children.
On closer inspection they are in very poor condition and are huge and seem to have trouble walking. I do not have the heart to send them back.
Will my girls ever walk or produce eggs. They are not able to climb the ladder into their nesting boxes, so will have to make a weather proof box on the floor. My hens put small pebbles in their feeder. Do you have any idea why they would do this? They also put dirt in their water. Otherwise they are beautiful, healthy and laying well. Chickens naturally consume grit to help them digest.
It is possible a few pieces of rock made it in there while they were consuming the pebbles they found. Depends on your purpose for raising them. I love your helpful tips. I have 9 hens and 1 BR rooster. I think my girls are ISA browns but not positive since they were variety ordered but look to be mostly the same breed but not any I that I was promised when ordered. Anyway they are 19 weeks old and been laying eggs for about 5 weeks so they started super early and doing great but this week I have gotten a rubber egg 3 times and 2 days of a super thin shell.
They are on layer feed, get a tray full of veggies, some fruit, oats, etc for dinner snack, access to oyster shell, and scratch spread in the morning before they free range. The last couple of weeks they have all been laying almost every day so its not even taking them 24 hours to lay.
I love my girls and my Rooster Dandy. Yup they are all named after flowers, lol. Question: We often have very rainy winters — will the chicken pellets hold up in a light to moderate rain for a few hours, or will it turn to mush immediately?
Yes it will probably get soggy but not always a bad thing. Birds should be fine with consuming it. Thank you for your help. I just got 3 older hens and do not know anything about chickens so all you question and answer sure help.
I would so your chickens have a sense of structure and know when it is time to rise, eat, sleep. Hi from Portugal! I tend my neighbours chickens when they are away often. Their that is the chickens enclosed garden is very large and 7 hens , a cockrel and 2 turkeys share the space. There is also a separate enclosed space for a hen and her 2 adventurous chicks. All the fences seem secure but obviously not to the chicks!
The chicks get into the main space frequently and also into the attached organic garden. When I appear they scamper home.
All the birds seem to get on well. Currently I am cooking an excess of haricot vert from the organic garden as a treat. What a life!! What can I do? We enjoy cutting up a quarter cup of cucumber, about a blueberry each and a banana to split once a day. The chickens go crazy! We then do the same at night minus the banana so we may do squash or more cuke.
Your thoughts? Make sure your not over feeding something they cant contain themselves with. But we typically leave feed out and they feed on demand. Its a different story on treats, do not over feed treats.
I feed our RIR just about all kitchen scraps, veggies n fruit only. They get a good diet but they have completely stopped laying. For a yr now. We were getting so many eggs, close to a dozen n a half. But, a yr ago they completely stopped laying. Nothing we feed them has changed. The RIR killed them. We got a RIR rooster, by chance , in the 12 chicks 8 yrs ago. He is HUGE n mean. Strange that they stopped all of a sudden though. I suggested this option because my three white Leghorn provide me two eggs almost every day.
My home offers chicken a better life than my friend can offer. They are still settling in, only six days, no eggs yet! The Brahma are one year plus old by the way. Unfortunately whilst my friend was catching the five Brahmas he inured the leg of one and it now hops around with obvious pain when she puts weight on her left leg. Feeding your hens or chickens , a complete and balanced diet is essential to making sure they stay happy and healthy.
Layer hens are omnivores so can eat a wide variety of different foods. These feeds can come in pellet, mash or crumbed forms and are made up of a mix of grains corn, oats, soybeans , grit ground oyster shell or limestone and vitamins calcium. Feed can be provided in a feed dispenser or container, and other seeds and grains such as wheat and corn could also be scattered in the environment to supplement their diet and encourage natural foraging behaviour.
In addition to a good quality poultry feed, a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables can also be given daily. Examples of raw fruits and vegetables that can be fed include: vegetable peels, bananas, apple, berries, carrot, bok choy, silver beet, spinach, cabbage or broccoli. As a treat your hens can also have some cooked food such as rice, pasta, beans, or bread in small amounts [ 1 ].
Hens should never be fed food scraps that contain anything high in fat or salt, and do not feed them food that is rancid or spoiled. Of course, always make sure they have water to digest food and feed. You may wish to design, buy, and mix your own feed , or even grow all the grains, seeds, and other components of a comprehensive chicken feed. There are several different commercial feed choices with different purposes for each one.
Some of the specifics differ. Always follow the directions of your specific feed and check with your feed supplier or store when in doubt. The most common meat chicken, known as a broiler, is the Cornish Cross a hybrid Cornish and White Plymouth Rock chicken. This type of bird grows rapidly and efficiently for the best meat production. Omayio D. G, Abong G. O, Okoth M. Curr Res Nutr Food Sci ;4 3. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
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