Eat with chickens

[MWSIFarm]

Each morning I use the "poop rake" to remove the big blops from under the roosts and add it to a pile outside the coop in the chicken yard. That pile (actually two of them) has loads of straw that came with the poop removal and the whole things gets turned daily by both me and the chickens. Once it gets to about two wheelbarrows full, I load it up and wheel it out to the main compost heap. The chickens also visit that compost heap on good weather days when they venture further afield. I sometimes add the sheep manure as well. Goat pellets are too small to collect as they fall through the tines of the poop rake.

Orange and lemon peels....these are given to the goats. They love them.

And every day I do literally what the title of this thread says. I cut up an apple and go outside to eat it. Chickens come running and 3/4 of my apple inevitably goes to them. "An apple a day, does NOT keep the chickens away."

As an apple farmer this is great to hear, you should take more out to them every day

Its been such an eye opener on how much scraps we do have in the house now we pile them up for the chickens. The compost bins never starve here because we are lucky enough to have an abundance of sheep manure and fresh fruit rejects to go around!

 

[Perris]

Nothing much and if the banana gets past attractive-for people stage I give it to the chickens peel included. But I find that banana skins are only partially eaten by my spoiled Princesses and then either dry to big black strips or are very slow to compost down in the deep litter. They are slow in the compost heap too - but as that sits there for years it doesn't matter so much.
Do your hens eat banana peels?
By the way, this is the same logic as for orange skins - I don't think the hens would eat enough to be harmful but they don't rot down well in the deep litter in the run.

Sometimes I peel a banana and the chickens get the fruit while the peel goes to the mealworms (who love them, and quickly reduce them to black shrivelled strips), other times I chop up a banana peel and all and the chickens wolf it down just the same.

Thanks for the tip on citrus peel too - I save pistachio shells for that purpose, and didn't know peel works too (and smells nice to boot!).

 

[629864]

As an apple farmer this is great to hear, you should take more out to them every day

Its been such an eye opener on how much scraps we do have in the house now we pile them up for the chickens. The compost bins never starve here because we are lucky enough to have an abundance of sheep manure and fresh fruit rejects to go around!

What kinds of apples do you have? For pies, I always prefer granny smith because they retain some tartness. For just eating fresh, my go-to apple is pink lady (or any of the other names this one goes by) because it's just the right combo of sweet and tart. For treats for my goats and chickens, I buy whatever bag is cheapest...they don't care . And as admitted above, the chickens usually get to share my pink lady as well, unless I stay inside to eat. The best snack ever is a bowl of cut up apple slices.

 

[RoyalChick]

Sometimes I peel a banana and the chickens get the fruit while the peel goes to the mealworms (who love them, and quickly reduce them to black shrivelled strips), other times I chop up a banana peel and all and the chickens wolf it down just the same.

Thanks for the tip on citrus peel too - I save pistachio shells for that purpose, and didn't know peel works too (and smells nice to boot!).

Stand well back. If you throw a paper bag of dried orange peel into a nearly gone fire it really shoots up in flame!

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

OH, i love this thread, that's so great to see there are many happy chefs + birds.

 

[MWSIFarm]

What kinds of apples do you have? For pies, I always prefer granny smith because they retain some tartness. For just eating fresh, my go-to apple is pink lady (or any of the other names this one goes by) because it's just the right combo of sweet and tart. For treats for my goats and chickens, I buy whatever bag is cheapest...they don't care . And as admitted above, the chickens usually get to share my pink lady as well, unless I stay inside to eat. The best snack ever is a bowl of cut up apple slices.

We grow mostly Pink Lady (Believe it or not this variety was invented and founded 30min drive from our farm here in Western Australia…… the two original Pink Lady Trees ever in the world still stand at the agriculture research centre today)

Our next biggest crop is Granny Smiths, the best cooking apple in my opinion.

We also grow Modi (Variety From Italy) and Bravo (A dark purple variety also founded here in Western Australia!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

My rule of thumb for apple pies and cider is “Never use one variety if you can use three. Never use 3 if you can use 5.”

 

[3KillerBs]

I never buy people food for the chickens specifically, but they get all the trimmings.

This morning it's asparagus ends and celery leaves from last night's dinner and DH's evening snack (his diabetic replacement for chips and pretzels is celery). Later today there will be carrot peels, green pepper cores, and *maybe* some tired coleslaw from Sunday. No apple cores today -- we've run out of apples.

I am planning my garden with the intent of growing extra winter squash for the chickens because a good-sized squash once a week or so for a flock of about 20 keeps the egg yolks nicely golden.

 

[Sally PB]

I tend to use over-ripe bananas for baking or smoothies because they actually taste more like bananas if they are over ripe!
Citrus peel makes very good fire starters - they are also good for reigniting a fire from hot ashes/embers - it is the oil in them. You need to dry them but that isn't much hardship because they smell lovely and tend to deter rodents. I hang them in bags around the kitchen and garage and then use them when we have a bonfire or to light the fireplaces in the house.

For bananas, the riper it is, the sweeter it is. Some people don't like them like that, but I do. Until they get mushy, then they're for smoothies or they go to the freezer to collect for banana bread.

I did not know that about citrus peels! I gotta start eating oranges again. We burn a lot of wood, and dry kindling in the winter can be hard to find.

 

[3KillerBs]

For bananas, the riper it is, the sweeter it is. Some people don't like them like that, but I do. Until they get mushy, then they're for smoothies or they go to the freezer to collect for banana bread.

I did not know that about citrus peels! I gotta start eating oranges again. We burn a lot of wood, and dry kindling in the winter can be hard to find.

When I was a kid we always saved orange peels to toss into the fire for color and scent.