So, I got out my food processor last night & threw together this idea I had been toying with for a while for a good winter treat to augment my lovely ladies' dry layer pellet diet. I'd love it if I could get any input, ideas, critiques, and ~especially~ some other Mama Hens who love their flocks as much as I do to try it out & tweak it for the better. I pulverized all the ingredients to as fine a powder/sludge as my food processor would make. I don't have a name for it yet, so I'd appreciate any brilliant ideas for that as well (
):
4 parts Organic Baby Spinach
1 part Raw Organic Almonds
1 part Egg Shells
1 part Raw Organic Quinoa
1 part Raw Organic Chia Seeds
2 parts eggs
After obliterating each ingredient in the food processor, I mixed them in with the eggs well & spread to about 1 inch deep in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil. I baked for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Once it cooled, I crumbled by hand. It's moist, like a zucchini bread loaf. I'm hoping I can safely dry the crumbles so I don't have to worry about refrigeration or mold. The chickens all went bananas over it!
I'm thinking of substituting the spinach with any of the following in future batches: Kale, Broccoli, Mustard Greens, Bok Choi, or Cabbage.
Any thoughts?
4 parts Organic Baby Spinach
1 part Raw Organic Almonds
1 part Egg Shells
1 part Raw Organic Quinoa
1 part Raw Organic Chia Seeds
2 parts eggs
After obliterating each ingredient in the food processor, I mixed them in with the eggs well & spread to about 1 inch deep in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil. I baked for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Once it cooled, I crumbled by hand. It's moist, like a zucchini bread loaf. I'm hoping I can safely dry the crumbles so I don't have to worry about refrigeration or mold. The chickens all went bananas over it!
I'm thinking of substituting the spinach with any of the following in future batches: Kale, Broccoli, Mustard Greens, Bok Choi, or Cabbage.
Any thoughts?
. I want something that will keep their yolks good & dark in the months we won't have any greens for them to forage, but I need it to also have good calcium content to keep it from slowing down their laying, so except for the quinoa (which I thought would be good because it contains complete amino acid chain in the absence of bugs for protein) and eggs which I used for the binding ingredient, everything else is a good source of calcium. Plus, this gives me a way to make the ground egg shells completely unrecognizable so as not to encourage egg eating.
