Pozees, that was the same reaction I had! LOL, we went out for a bite after the Sustainable Living Fair (that's where I heard the fellow speak) and I saved all the stuff we didn't eat...snuck it out in napkins. There was some bits of gristle and meat, the drips and drabs of veggies, the rind from my ham, and Dave even snagged a tablespoon or so of bacon crumbles from the salad bar. I gave it to them yesterday morning, and had the BEST time watching them go at it all! Then in the afternoon, I cut up a small strip of roast that wouldn't fit in my canning jars and oh my gosh, it was like the "Chicken Five Hundred"! They went totally nutso! Since it was fresh I didn't cook it...just cut it into sort of worm-sized pieces and "tried" to hand feed...a couple of 'em about took my fingers off. When one would get a piece she'd take off running and the others would chase her all over the run trying to steal it away. I finally just tossed the handful in so they could sort of eat in peace, but they devoured them all and scratched for an hour afterwards looking for more!
So, I'm definitely going to be feeding them more meat. The fellow even suggested that, after making chicken stock, just give them all the stuff you've been cooking...even the chicken bones! He said that after being in a crock pot for 24 hours or so, they'll be soft enough for them to eat and it'll also give them more calcium and minerals. After more thought on the whole thing, I finally decided that what protein they don't use for egg production, they can use for their own bodies' health. From now on, I carry baggies with me to restaurants so I can bring all the fiddly bits home for them.
Woohoo, Wendell! Bet you'll be seeing some real "action" before too long. When we first got the girls, we got a small bag of oyster shell for them, and we keep and grit in shallow cans attached to the legs of the coop. When we see them getting low, we just top it off. I've been saving their egg shells as well, and once the oyster shell is gone, we'll be using that instead. They must have good instincts as to what they need, because we've never had a thin shelled egg. Even the teeny tiny one we got that was yolkless had a good, strong shell. With the extra meat stuff we plan to give them, I'm thinking the grit will be even more important...they'll need it to grind up all that good stuff. Since they're always pastured on grass with no other access to it, we've been pretty "religious" about making sure they have access to it all the time.
