Hi! there, Part 4 of my guide is about feeding your chickens and what treats are suitable.
Chicks.
At this early stage in their life, it’s important to feed chicks with the correct feed, suitable for all their nutritional requirements. Chick crumb is the best option, and easily available from an animal or horse feed supplier. When your chicks are about six weeks old, you can give them grower’s pellets or grower’s mash.
Point of lay or laying chickens.
You shouldn’t have to much trouble finding a suitable feed for your chickens. There are many commercially produced poultry feeds available, which will provide your chickens with a balanced diet. Layers pellets or mash is a popular choice. Try to buy a good quality feed with around 17% protein. Each bird will need about 120g ration per day. Chickens can also be fed cereal feeds such as mixed corn, wheat and split maize. Feed them twice a day – giving them the pellet ration in the morning and an early evening feed of cereals. Corn will take longer for the bird to digest, so they will be full when they go to roost. Corn is useful as an evening feed in the winter, because it will maintain their body heat.
Vegetables.
Hang brussel sprout stems up for the chickens to peck at. This makes an excellent boredom breaker, and may discourage from pecking each other. They will also eat most greens.
Grit.
Chickens need grit in their diet to help them digest their food once it enters the gizzard. This can be bought from animal feed suppliers. You can either sprinkle a handful occasionally on the ground or feed in a trough.
Oyster shell.
Chickens need calcium in their diet to produce strong eggshells. This can be provided in the form of oyster shell. Just leave some in a bowl for them to peck at.
Water.
Fresh clean water should be available at all times. They don’t mind drinking from bowls, but to keep the water clean, use poultry drinkers, available in plastic or metal.
Treats.
Occasionally it’s nice to give your chickens a treat. Below is a list of some favourite treats you can try.
Sultanas and raisins – A good treat to try with hand feeding. Hold your hand out with a few sultanas or raisins, close to the ground. If they are hesitant at first, throw some to them. It won’t take them long to start eating from your hand.
Sunflower seeds – These help to keep the feathers healthy. Feed a small handful once a day.
Spagetti or pasta – Chickens just love cooked spagetti, they’ll even try to snatch it from you. Great fun watching them eat it, but not very nutritious.
Potatoes – Only feed these cooked. Don’t give raw potato peelings, they are poisonous.
Sweetcorn or peas – tinned sweetcorn and frozen peas are a favourite. Cook lightly before feeding.
Bread and cake – leftover bread or cakes are a favourite treat. Feed occasionally.
Cereal – They will enjoy any leftover cereal from breakfast. Try to avoid high sugar and chocolate varieties.
Mealworms – Quite expensive, at around 3 or 4 pounds a bag. Available from pet shops. But your chickens will love them. A nice occasional treat.
Kitchen scraps – You can feed a variety of kitchen scraps, but avoid onions and anything mouldy. This will also cut down on your food waste.
Hi all, The weather is picking up here in the UK, and my girls are starting to lay again. I think we are getting about one egg a day from each of our thirty hens. I’ve had several blue and green eggs, which is great, as they’re really tasty.
