foraging

I put old leaves from the ground all around my property in the chicken run. These girls are THRILLED. They’ve been foraging through this all day. This is safe, right? They don’t leave their huge run, and I just realized that I may have disturbed the bacteria/biodiversity that they’re used to. I...

I know of a neighborhood that has a huge gated (4 ft) public property with many trees, bushes, grass and pond and is home to well over a hundred ducks of various breeds. I also saw a number of different breeds of geese. Beautiful and peaceful. I assume they forage for food and eat from the...

Looking to seed my free range area this month! Having difficulty picking out a good all-around foraging seed for my poultry that wouldn’t be harmful to my horses if they snacked on it while walking by. Context: this area is dedicated for my poultry and their foraging needs. My horses only walk...

Yes I know the quarantine procedure so I don’t need that lecture here. I initially chased her off but my hens forage all day on 4 acres. This hen wandered into the yard and joined my flock as they foraged before I was aware. She is young and appears healthy. I have asked all the neighbors I know...

Hello! After spending the last few days doing reading in books and online, I have a few questions about prepping for our spring arrivals. I'm in Wisconsin. Our birds will be all female; pets, layers, and garden keepers. We have 13.5 acres, primarily wooded besides the gardens. 2 acres are...

If anybirdie has any good ideas for button quail foraging treats, please let me know! Hitoko loves digging around his enclosure and as a current lone quail I think he’d have fun with it.

Hey everyone! Our sweet boy CCP (just under 7 weeks old!) has been having some time outside with my partner and I. Yesterday was his first foraging trip in the yard. He had peas for the first time, and met our chickens. He seemed to be totally confident, and gave Biscuit a little hiss! 😂 He got...

A couple of weeks ago, I got 8 young hatchery-quality Plymouth Barred Rocks. They were young enough they needed to spend a couple nights in the house. Boy, were they ever messy! They are nicknamed athe Messies for a reason. They also went berserk when night fell because they were accustomed to...

Hello, new here! Please forgive me if I ask a million questions! My ducklings are about a week old (hatched on Monday, arrived to me Thursday AM). I would love to take them into their finally finished pen to forage (under my supervision!), but I am not sure at what age I should begin doing...

Hi! I have a flock of 18 beautiful hens. I would like to let them out to forage in the yard in the evenings. However, the perimeter of my house and garage has been treated with Terro shaker insecticide. The active ingredient is Lambda cyhalothrin. I am trying to find out how much time needs to...

We have a ton of black walnut trees on our property. Every year I collect them. And every year I screw them up. Last year I left them in the husks to sit out in the sun and dry up. But when I removed the husks and the shell the nut meat was deflated. This year I watched a youtube video on...

At the risk of offending Muscovy Ducks everywhere, I'm hoping for some insight. We just got 4 ducks a week ago, a drake a couple days later, and I've never seen such lazy behavior from any bird... LOL! We had a new cattle panel hoop coop ready for them, kept them penned in it to bond them to...

Good Day Everyone. I live in Southern New Jersey and have been following this site and researching everywhere since Someone planted the idea in my head in April to get a couple chickens. Now 4 months later I have 250, 25 or so different breeds (most Heritage, or/and dual purpose). I free...

Greetings all! Our seven silver Appleyard ducklings are now almost 7 weeks old and HUGE! They are living in the duckhouse and attached run, and most mornings we move them about 25 feet from the run to the fenced garden. In the evening, we move them back to the run. They've figured out that...

I have a 3 week old duckling on a chick starter diet. Now that it has grown, I'm letting it roam around the garden, and it eats enormous amounts of insects, earthworms and slugs. Should I change the diet to a bit less protein rich feed, or is it OK to continue feeding it the same way. She...

Hey all! I'm a new BYC member, and go my first flock May 10th. I have: Black Aussies, Dominiques, Anconas, and Americunas. I bought them primarily because they are good foragers. I have a large field, and wooded area that they will find lots of food in. I plan on supplementing with chicken...