2018 Newbie Chat!

[PNW_Peepers]

Yeah, I did all that, cut them open etc, tried them with cooked carrots too, they picked at them a bit, but not very much - not enough for me to keep trying. I do give them boiled eggs and I give them the egg shell too - egg & shell mashed - don't think we have a kibble here, but will try them with the cat food too. How often do you recommend I give the cat food?

Wet cat food is what @ChooksNQuilts is referring to I think.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I second what @ChooksNQuilts is saying. Treats are to be kept to a minimum. I give frozen watermelon on very hot days only. Other than that I give my girls animal protein at night. Chickens are omnivores, meaning they need both plant and animal proteins. Mine get boiled egg, black soldier fly larva, tuna, or anchovies.

I keep treats to a minimum, I didn't/don't give them all those things in one go and they don't have masses of what I give them. Earthworms are higher in protein than any meat or fish, they are packed with vitamins and minerals too, their feed has protein in it too. I do look into things, I have friends who are farmers/breeders, I ask them questions too. I don't know what a black soldier fly is, don't think we have them here - am going to try them with tuna as a tasty treat but the earthworms I give them has more protein than tuna. 6 earthworms contain 42g protein - you'd need at least 200g of tuna to get the same amount of protein. I won't be stopping giving them the lettuce, banana and peas every day though.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Wet cat food is what @ChooksNQuilts is referring to I think.

Ah, thank you

 

[CannedMonster]

Thank you, I love how knowledgeable you are and as always I thank you greatly for you help, advice and sharing your knowledge.
I won't bother giving it to them any more as they don't need it, its only that so many bang on about how good it is for them and how much they love it, I enjoy when my birds enjoy, so thought I'd give it a try.
I have them on the right feed, its what the top breeders and farmers over here use and the extras I give them are treats. They have lettuce, banana and peas every day - these are their favourites and I give them pasta or dog food occasionally as an extra treat but not very often, I give them meat (cooked) on some occasions and I give them cooked chicken sometimes too (I know there are those who don't agree because they are chickens but I'm ok with it and to them its just meat). They love cooked corn but I'm not giving them any, however I intend to give them cooked corn every night throughout the winter.
I'm going to have a chat with our vet as to whether he thinks I need to give the hens probiotics or not. As for the cracked corn mix - that too is only an occasional treat (although one time having left the door open, I entered to find two very happy chickens sitting in the corn mix bag having a whale of a time!) Other than the veg/fruit, I view these things as sweets, my grandson has his sweetie treats and the birds have theirs. I'll have to buy in some tuna as I want to try them with it, it is illegal to give chickens table/kitchen scraps, so we have to buy and store their food stuff separate to ours. If it has been anywhere in the home it can not be given to them, however if grown in the garden, as long as it doesn't enter the home they can have it - They free range 9/10 hrs most days and on occasion a little less if no one is here to watch over them - which isn't often - and if I'm digging in the garden and find earth worms I give them to them but mostly they find their own. I'd like to give them meal worms but it is illegal here to give them shop bought meal worms - to give them we'd have to farm them ourselves but not only do I not have a clue how to, I think where the heck would I get any to start with if I can't buy them!

Aww it sounds like your girls get plenty of yummy things. You’re doing a great job with them.

It’s illegal to give them kitchen scraps?
Why ever not?
What could possibly happen?

Illegal to give store bought mealworms?

Then what do people give the mealworms to if not chickens?

 

[CannedMonster]

Yeah, I did all that, cut them open etc, tried them with cooked carrots too, they picked at them a bit, but not very much - not enough for me to keep trying. I do give them boiled eggs and I give them the egg shell too - egg & shell mashed - don't think we have a kibble here, but will try them with the cat food too. How often do you recommend I give the cat food?

I usually try to alternate treats with my birds. Just for variety.
In the morning they all get sunflower seeds and a bit of homemade scratch.

In the late afternoon (they come up to the deck and stare through the sliding glass door) I get creative.
Sometimes tuna, sometimes mealworms, maybe a bit of cottage cheese, or cat food...
Whatever I have on hand.
So it’s up to you.
I’d only give them about a teaspoon to a 1/2 Tablespoon depending on what other things you’ve given.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Aww it sounds like your girls get plenty of yummy things. You’re doing a great job with them.

It’s illegal to give them kitchen scraps?
Why ever not?
What could possibly happen?

Illegal to give store bought mealworms?

Then what do people give the mealworms to if not chickens?

Awww thank you means a lot coming from you
Yeah, its a real bummer we can't give them scraps!
["The reason scraps are illegal for chickens is the potential for contamination in a domestic kitchen leading to disease transference and disease risk."] Apparently a vet did a test on two sets of backyard flocks, one flock fed scraps, the other not, the result was, those fed scraps had 37% incidence of Salmonella and those not only was 0.05% - admittedly a remarkable difference but that doesn't mean all kitchens would be the same.
As for mealworms - mealworms are imported so may have been fed or been in contact with animal protein which if infected could pass on disease - here's an excerpt from UK Government - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

["Dried terrestrial invertebrates (insects) and processed animal proteins (PAPs) of insect origin cannot be used in farm animal feed or in treats, eg hen treats.

Dried aquatic inverterbrates can only be used in farm animal feed (for non-ruminants) if they come from an approved ABP premises (or non-EU equivalent) – then they’re considered fishmeal."]

They can be used for reptiles, wild birds, non food birds, amphibians, lizards, non food fish, turtles, geckos, spiders etc - my friends daughter had a pet bearded dragon which loved snacking on mealworms - I would have liked to have given my birds mealworms but as I can't I give them earth worms instead.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I usually try to alternate treats with my birds. Just for variety.
In the morning they all get sunflower seeds and a bit of homemade scratch.

In the late afternoon (they come up to the deck and stare through the sliding glass door) I get creative.
Sometimes tuna, sometimes mealworms, maybe a bit of cottage cheese, or cat food...
Whatever I have on hand.
So it’s up to you.
I’d only give them about a teaspoon to a 1/2 Tablespoon depending on what other things you’ve given.

Never thought to give them sunflower seeds - would they be able to eat off a sunflower plant? - I have some grass growing in their run along with some parsley (although there's not much left of it once the ducks got it lol) I'm going to plant some lavender flowers in spring (they love lavender flowers) and I'm thinking I could grow sunflowers in there for them too but can they eat straight from the flower?

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Most pre-fab coops/hutches don’t have enough ventilation. If it’s a cover or blanket for the whole coop I would not use it.

Hmm, well I use a sheet to cover the front at the moment as it has wire mesh doors, left uncovered the lights from our bungalow disturb them. I don't pin it down, if windy it just gets blown off. The chickens have one solid door, the other mesh, so they can sleep in the part with the solid door to have shelter from the wind but the ducks doors all are wire mesh. If they'l be ok I'll leave it uncovered but just don't want them to get harmed from the cold and winds we get here.


hopefully you will be able to see these picture - this is a catalogue picture of the hutch we have only on ours we have taken out the stairs, blocked the stair opening and we have added roost bars upstairs where the chickens sleep. The four ducks sleep downstairs.
Of the two covers, I'm not sure of the material but one of them is thermal.

Would appreciate your thoughts on this?

 

[CannedMonster]

Never thought to give them sunflower seeds - would they be able to eat off a sunflower plant? - I have some grass growing in their run along with some parsley (although there's not much left of it once the ducks got it lol) I'm going to plant some lavender flowers in spring (they love lavender flowers) and I'm thinking I could grow sunflowers in there for them too but can they eat straight from the flower?

Yes but you would have to grow it where they can’t reach it otherwise they’ll snack on it and possibly kill it when it’s small.
Most people I know wait until the sunflower starts drying out and dying naturally in the fall.
Then they cut the head off and give it to the chickens.
They’ll eat the leaves and stuff too I believe.

 

[CannedMonster]

Awww thank you means a lot coming from you
Yeah, its a real bummer we can't give them scraps!
["The reason scraps are illegal for chickens is the potential for contamination in a domestic kitchen leading to disease transference and disease risk."] Apparently a vet did a test on two sets of backyard flocks, one flock fed scraps, the other not, the result was, those fed scraps had 37% incidence of Salmonella and those not only was 0.05% - admittedly a remarkable difference but that doesn't mean all kitchens would be the same.
As for mealworms - mealworms are imported so may have been fed or been in contact with animal protein which if infected could pass on disease - here's an excerpt from UK Government - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

["Dried terrestrial invertebrates (insects) and processed animal proteins (PAPs) of insect origin cannot be used in farm animal feed or in treats, eg hen treats.

Dried aquatic inverterbrates can only be used in farm animal feed (for non-ruminants) if they come from an approved ABP premises (or non-EU equivalent) – then they’re considered fishmeal."]

They can be used for reptiles, wild birds, non food birds, amphibians, lizards, non food fish, turtles, geckos, spiders etc - my friends daughter had a pet bearded dragon which loved snacking on mealworms - I would have liked to have given my birds mealworms but as I can't I give them earth worms instead.

So certain individuals gave chickens food that had salmonella and the chickens got salmonella so the do-gooders pass a law to save everyone.

I just give them cooked meats or eggs and such. No salmonella risk.
I don’t kiss my birds either.

That’s why we moved out of California. Too many dumb laws being passed when people could simply be educated instead.

I kind of get the mealworms thing though. If it’s imported they have to be careful about pathogens, especially since the UK is an island nation.

There aren’t any local companies that make dried mealworms there?

I agree about earthworms. They’re much better.
Fresh food is always better.
My girls find earthworms often. Usually in the spring.
I used to move rocks and pots for them so they could get the worms and bugs underneath.