what food do you feed chickens besides laying mash? 10 pts?
Question by : what food do you feed chickens besides laying mash? 10 pts?
my chickens seem really hungry, they eat a whole cup of laying mash every day and chow it down. what other food do they really like? and how should i chop it up?
also— i have two 4 month old hens, when will they start laying?
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chickens love food scraps too, like left over fruit and veg and they love wheat too, they need more then just laying mash so they keep healthy. we cook up our left overs for our chickens with some wheat mixed in and they love it
hails
May 21, 2012 at 6:47 am
My chickens really love food scraps, but especially meat. They love eating left over bolognese and picking out all the mince.
Also, their absolute favourite is corn kernels. I buy a bag of frozen corn kernels and let it thaw, and sometimes warm it up as a treat, then just throw it out to them. They go nuts for it!
Krystal
May 21, 2012 at 7:18 am
Your 4 month old hens should start laying very soon BUT depending on where you are their laying may be delayed or stopped all together because of the cold and shorter days… provide a heat light and leave lights on past dusk for a couple hours.
Make sure your chickens are getting grit (ground oyster shells work well, they also provide calcium which is needed for eggs to properly form shells). Feed stores sell all kinds of feed for chickens… try a laying mix since you want eggs. I also believe a cracked corn mix is pretty popular with hens.
Provide them with fruits and veggies… lettuce, mellon, grapes, spinach… give it a try if they like it give them more! Also whole wheat bread is a great treat!
Karin
May 21, 2012 at 7:39 am
Most kitchen scraps will be greatly appreciated by your birds.Potato peelings,discarded green leaf.cook it and then mash it up.They go crazy for it.
Numero Uno
May 21, 2012 at 8:10 am
Hi,
You can feed them on layers pellets or mixed grain as an alternative to layers meal.
Kitchen scraps will be eaten also, but make sure it does not contain salt, as this is harmful to chickens.
Depending on the breed or strain of your 4 month old pullets, they’ll start to lay from 18-26 weeks old if given the correct lighting pattern of over 14 hours light per day.
Ironsun
May 21, 2012 at 8:14 am
They also it scratch or corn.They love to eat scratch. We have a lot of chickens so we should know
Jonah
May 21, 2012 at 8:55 am