Feeding Hens

keep going

whats ok to feed hens and whats not from kitchen waste-obviously no meat

darrcow

they wont eat raw potatoe skin. but they will eat almost anything else raw or cooked. i have been told dont feed them cakes because of all the sugar but my hens love left over cakes/scone ect

PaddyJules

We are new to keeping chickens too and struggled to know what to give them, so just thought I would throw in my knowledge but stand to be corrected!!

We feed our girls porridge in the morning, they are then free range for the day with access to layer pellets but they don't seem to eat them much. Evening time they get a bowl of stuff from the kitchen - all left overs from the dinner like cooked pots, veg, meat, gravy etc. They love pasta, couscous, tinned sweet corn. Then sometimes I would tie up a head of cabbage for them to pick at or a head of sweetcorn, cucumber.

Would be interested to hear from the more experienced keepers what they feed and also advice etc.

555guy

they will eat pretty much anything ... just don't give them raw spuds ... not sure why but think it has something to do with the starch ...cooked ones are fine.
If there is something they don't like you'll soon find out.

muppet_man

New to keeping chickens myself but from what I've read they'll pretty much eat everthing. Only thing all site agree on is don't give them tea bags.
Mine are confined to their run for about an hour in the morning where they have a mash made from layer pellets (makes sure their getting quality minerials into them) then free to roam garden for the day and kitchen srcapes in the evening.

Black Smoke

Throw a turnip into their run. Watch it get attacked!!

yellowlabrador

I always used to put a layer of the sand and seashell mix you can get for the bottom of birdcages. I would also grind down the used eggshells but you must make sure they are very fine or you could encourage the birds to peck at their eggs. I didn't bother too much with layers mash, but always gave them some rolled barley and corn on top of vegetable scraps and of course the freedom of the garden.

CJhaughey

They eat everything, where did you hear that you shouldn't feed them meat?
Birds are omnivores, they eat pretty much anything, look at Crows they eat plenty of meat, chickens eat worms grubs and anything that can't escape including frogs!
If you don't give them enough protein they won't lay much, Protein is very important to egg production.

aonb

Ive been keeping hens for years.
LAYERS PELLETS (approx $11/25kg bag) are the perfect food for hens. They contain all of the nutrients etc for a laying hen. Pellets are really the only food that hens need. You can feed them dry - the hens should have access to pellets all the time - or you can put hot water on to make a mash/porridge (which mine infinitely prefer)
Mixed Corn (approx $14/25kg bag) can be given in very small amounts, in the later afternoon, when the weather gets cold - it helps them to keep warm overnight. Corn alone isnt enough to feed the hens - they need the other nutrients from the pellets.
- You will get more eggs from them on pellets.
If you put rinsed eggshells in the microwave for 2 mins, and break them up into small pieces, the hens will love them, and provide calcium. You can also provide oyster shell (from feed stores) and grit. I give my hens a dish of probiotic plain yoghurt occassionally to provide a bit of calcium and also to keep gut flora healthy
If you really want to feed them scraps, NOTHING with salt in - this can kill a hen. (i.e. no gravy or any processed food) Pasta/rice/cooked (not raw) potato, bread(not very good for them), NOT avocado (poisonous), fruit is fine - they wont eat citrus fruits. If you do have veg waste, it will be eaten quicker cooked and mashed up than raw. Cooked food is generally unhealthy for hens - their crops arent designed to cope with human food - as i say, Pellets are all that they need ideally.
Feeding them scraps is fine, but you will find that they wont eat their pellets if theres scraps to be had. If they are free ranging they prob wont be very hungry/want anything other than the very tasty scraps - which can cause problems with their crops and egg production.
The most important thing is that they must be locked up at night - foxes are a major problem
keep their bedding fairly clean - reducing the possibilities of mites/lice etc - I lay newspapers on the floor of their coop.
Put straw (not hay) in their nestboxes to help keep eggs clean (and bacteria out)
Good luck - hens make WONDERFUL pets, and the added bonus of fresh homegrown eggs!!

Qualitymark

And never, never feed them anything mouldy. Mould is very very bad for fowl.

By the same token, bed them on shavings, but never on sawdust, which can block up their nares (nostrils) and cause them big problems.

If you want to give them potato skins, boil them or fry them first, and the chooks will be happy pecky chooks.

kowloon

Mine go MENTAL for cheese. No idea why they like it so much.

aonb

Kowloon, my hens too all turn into raving lunatics when theres cheese about - as you say, dont know why either.
I do know that if I have ANY problem getting them into their run for some reason, get the cheese (grated!) out, and they would follow me to hell!!!

Qualitymark

And if I haven't said this before (probably have) if you can get a starter for the Finnish yogurt viilli, they love it and it's very nutritious for them.

aonb

dont know anyone with the Finnish yoghurt starter,is it possible to buy this yoghurt anywhere in Ireland, then could make some again? Looked it up on wikipedia - looks yum - but often make my own yoghurt with just a probiotic shop-bought one as starter - probably some calcium/protein in, but probably negligble I imagine, given the amount they eat. Mine do like their yoghurt though!

(Another site I look at for hen keepers which is very good (downthelane.net) recommends giving hens in moult who need a bit of extra protein, a fish-based catfood (the pate type) or tinned tuna (in water or oil) - must get some because my very old hens who are moulting at the moment are looking miserable)

Qualitymark

aonb wrote: »

dont know anyone with the Finnish yoghurt starter,is it possible to buy this yoghurt anywhere in Ireland, then could make some again? Looked it up on wikipedia - looks yum - but often make my own yoghurt with just a probiotic shop-bought one as starter - probably some calcium/protein in, but probably negligble I imagine, given the amount they eat. Mine do like their yoghurt though!

(Another site I look at for hen keepers which is very good (downthelane.net) recommends giving hens in moult who need a bit of extra protein, a fish-based catfood (the pate type) or tinned tuna (in water or oil) - must get some because my very old hens who are moulting at the moment are looking miserable)

Can't remember where I got it when I got it - I think maybe from another member of an international homesteading maillist (remember maillists?)

It isn't actually that nice for humans except for one use: it makes spectacularly good smoothies, much nicer than with yogurt.

If you can find a source in Finland or Sweden, they can soak a clean handkerchief in viilli overnight then dry it and send it to you, wrapped in a plastic bag inside a jiffy-bag. The dried-into-lined method was how Scandinavian emigrants brought their yogurts to America and across the plains in America.

It's very, very easy to make, far easier than yogurt, much less fussy about temperature.