Feeding

[Sandra Verbreyt]

I have 2 chickens Margo and Babs. Love them to bits. I would like to know how many times aday should I be feeding them their chicken seed? As you can see they are not your average chickens and I have found that they will not eat any scraps or left overs from the house. Is this normal? I have a compost pile in their run but they dont seem to want to go onto it. However they do have free acces to the whole garden during the day.

 

[Pyxis]

It looks like you have silkies, which are fairly common and don't require any different feeding than other breeds of chickens. They should have access to their feed all the time, and they will eat what they need.

Also, you say seed, was that a typo? Chickens shouldn't be fed a birdseed type food, they should be fed a specific chicken feed that usually comes in either pellets or crumbles. I see you're in Belgium so maybe it looks a little different over there?

 

[JedJackson]

Chickens can be finicky too. Yours are probably eating lots of insects and greens from your garden, which may be why they won't eat table scraps. Why eat leftovers when you can have something fresh? As Pyxis said, chickens need a specially formulated feed that includes the right amount of protein, carbs and vitamins and minerals, and this should always be available to them unless they are overweight and need special attention.

 

[luvmigirls]

I agree with the other posters, Chickens dont need bird seed and should have access to their chicken feed.
I would not keep a compost pile in their coop. It attracts to many mice/raccoons/bugs. What I would do is keep their feed bowl of their chicken feed full 24/7. The access to the garden is excellent.

Good Luck!

 

[Cindy in PA]

I agree with the other posters, Chickens dont need bird seed and should have access to their chicken feed.
I would not keep a compost pile in their coop. It attracts to many mice/raccoons/bugs. What I would do is keep their feed bowl of their chicken feed full 24/7. The access to the garden is excellent.

Good Luck!

Many people keep compost piles in their run. Compost does not attract rodents if meat & bones are not put in, which they never should be!

 

[lazy gardener]

Many people keep compost piles in their run. Compost does not attract rodents if meat & bones are not put in, which they never should be!

Agreed. A deep composting litter is by far the healthiest run situation you can provide, unless you have enough run space available that you can rotate pasture to keep each run covered in green grass/greens throughout the growing season. A bare soil run is a very unhealthy run, and an invitation to disease IMO.

Many studies have shown that birds that have access to compost have healthier guts, therefore healthier immune systems. A good composting deep litter is full of beneficial bacteria, fungi, as well as seeds, sprouting weed seeds (fresh tender greens) worms and other beneficial insects. The beneficial organisms in the DL keep the pathogens in check. I watch my flock working their DL, and am amazed at how full their crops are by the end of the day. A quick flip of some of the DL with my garden fork reveals hundreds of worms, nice spongy compost that smells like fresh forest soil, and lots of tiny weed sprouts.

As for meat and bones: I often give a chicken or turkey carcass to my flock. By the end of the day, they have picked every single bit of meat off so the bones are completely void of anything that would attract vermin or coons. Sometimes I pick the bones up, but often they get churned into the DL, and occasionally resurface as the DL gets churned up. No issues noted with rats, mice, nor have I seen evidence of coons prowling around my run. Of course, not seeing... does not mean that it does not exist.