Rin : Happy healthy chickens! We treat our girls and two boys (who’ve lived together since they were chicks – they don’t fight each other and actually are quite close ❤️) to diet supplements of natural yoghurt, live maggots, lots of greens (lettuce, cucumber, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower) and a tablespoon of apple cider (Hic) vinegar every so often in their water to improve their general health and gizzard digestive health!
Anyone else got any diet supplement tips?
Rin
Heron way Community Allotment – Feltham
My girls love a frozen watermelon slice when the weather gets hot and porridge or oats made with water and a small amount of biocult stirred in and served warm in the cooler months. I also give them a small amount of fresh mince meat with porridge oats stirred in to make it a crumbly mix I then microwave for 20 seconds (just warm). They start queuing up by the door with their watches synchronised at 3:30 pm on the dot for this treat we call tuk tuk (from the sound mother hens make to let their chicks know they have found food for them). I also feed them meal worms occasionally which I breed myself. They love sunflower seeds as well and I buy the cheap black seeds and soak them for a couple of days (rinsing daily) until they begin to sprout which makes it much easier for them to get to the actual white seed inside. Pumpkin seeds are another favourite as is the flesh of the pumpkin or squash. They all love their green vegetables too which I grow for them in a raised bed that is covered (or the possums would eat it all even if the chicken didn’t). On top of that they get to free range all day so they are 10 very spoiled mixed breeds of bantams. The important thing is to limit supplements and treats to a small amount daily but variety is no problem and I’m sure others will have heaps of ideas for you.
I use almost the same treats as Diane, but I also add cooked brown rice to my girls’ diet. I figured that Japanese raise chickens and they must be using rice in the diets of their hens, so I started adding it, and it’s the girls’ favorite food I also add dried mealworms and they seem to love them, too…and a pinch of dried kelp goes with every feeding.
It has been very hot here in the Midwest and although I change the water out every couple hours, add frozen bottles of water to the bowls to keep them cool, I have big tubs they can cool their feet in, all shaded, fans in the coops, I am still losing my birds to the heat. What else can I do? I cant leave them outside or free range due to opossums, fox and coyotes. Their pens are huge and they are getting more than enough grass, sand, layer pellets and water. Please help.
A few other cooling things you could try might be giving them treats of things like frozen figs, tomatoes and water melon from the fridge as mentioned by subscribers here https://www.keepingchickensnewsletter.com/newsletter/july2011/keepingchickens_page02.htm Putting ice packs in the coop (such as frozen 2 litre bottles of water) kept in shaded areas can sometimes help as it gives them something cold to stand near / sit on.