Cheap and healthy natural snack for hens

[PhillyDelcoChix]

Hello all,
Just checking in on what you guys have found your chicks love, especially fruits, veg, grains, herbs...anything that can be relatively inexpensive and/or even better: grown in my backyard!!! 🌶

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Mine like comfrey, broadleaf plantain (a prolific weed), dandelions

 

[ColoradoPip]

I spent the winter on the hunt for supplements and food sources that are self-sustaining and require minimal management. Mealworms and fodder rose to the top.

Raise your own mealworms. I was able to find aquariums for free and only have to pay for food/moisture sources. They take a few minutes every few days to change moisture sources out, need to change the bedding monthly or so, keep them warm, and outside of that they are self managing!

Fodder systems take a little more planning. I practiced over several weeks using several styles of containers and am ready to set my system up once I finish my coop build. You can invest as much or little into fodder as you want, I grew some in BPA free storage/tupperware containers that cost 50 cents each but ended up settling on black seeding/seedling trays that cost ~$3 each.

Here's an imagine of my trial area:

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Mine love dandelions, squash and sprouted grains. They like the broadleaf plantains too but not the thick fibers in the big leaves. Berries are always a huge hit, and melons/melon rinds.

 

[BDutch]

• My bantams like fresh grass and some of the wild herbs. Good for vitamins. If chickens eat grass, you need to give them acces tot small stones to grind them.
• They like cooked rice, bread crumbles and boiled spaghetti a lot, but rice and such isn't healthy food (not enough proteins).
• And they love fruits, like pear, grapes, strawberry, blueberry, cherry, apple etc.
• In general, they don't like veggies, certainly not uncooked.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Can't believe I forgot this, the hanging cabbage game!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Just remember, chickens are like children. The more treats you give them, the less of their balanced nutritional feed they will eat, and you may see a drop in thriftiness and egg production. My hens forage a good portion of the day so I do not give them snacks and treats any more. They get plenty of greens and bugs all on their own.

 

[PhillyDelcoChix]

Just remember, chickens are like children. The more treats you give them, the less of their balanced nutritional feed they will eat, and you may see a drop in thriftiness and egg production. My hens forage a good portion of the day so I do not give them snacks and treats any more. They get plenty of greens and bugs all on their own.

Yes very good point!
I give them feedin the morning, then a healthy treat midday/afternoon, and feed around 5pm before they go to sleep.
They’re still living indoors right now as they’re about 7 weeks old and it’s far too cold in my neck of the woods!

 

[PhillyDelcoChix]

• My bantams like fresh grass and some of the wild herbs. Good for vitamins. If chickens eat grass, you need to give them acces tot small stones to grind them.
• They like cooked rice, bread crumbles and boiled spaghetti a lot, but rice and such isn't healthy food (not enough proteins).
• And they love fruits, like pear, grapes, strawberry, blueberry, cherry, apple etc.
• In general, they don't like veggies, certainly not uncooked.

All good ideas! Thanks!
My chicks, however, do like raw veggies, over cooked veggies certainly.
I gave them large chunks of raw pumpkin after Halloween, and food processor chopped chunks of veggie pieces leftover from dinner like cabbage core, carrot ends, broccoli stem, etc.
Maybe it helps that veggies were introduced to them before fruit?!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You don't leave the chick starter available all the time? How about grit? Once you start feeding anything other than their chick starter they need grit.