Had trouble with the Flock Block.....

[feathered fannies farm]

.........thats all they will eat when I have it in their house. They wouldn't eat any of their crumbles.

Just wanted to peck at the block. We had watched a show on RFD TV about chickens and the Purina folks on the show said putting the flock block in would give the chickens something to do when they had to be closed up together, to keep down the pecking at each other. We have had so much snow in the last couple of weeks that they haven't been able to get out of their house.! After the second day I took it out. I didn't think it could be good fo them to eat just that. Has anyone else tried the flock block and had the same results??
Thanks,
Tammy

 

[silkiechicken]

It must taste good to them! Now I bet they are wondering if they didn't' give you enough eggs because you took it away.

I mean if I had something tasty to eat, I'd probably pass on the rice and barely too.

 

[redstars]

I have 2 one in the run and one inside.
They still eat their food but they do love to peck on the blocks.

 

[Noble Rooster]

There are recipes on here where you can bake your own flock block using their feed, with as much or as little scratch and other treats as you want to include; this way, you know they're not just eating junk, but their feed in a different form. I baked my own the other week and the girls devoured it It was 95% layer pellets with a handful of cracked corn and black oil sunflower seeds. It was a good distraction when everyone was closed up with last week's snow storms.

 

[Baymen Moe]

I just started using a flock block for pecking issues and my chooks are still eating their layer pellets as before.

 

[gritsar]

I make homemade flock blocks for my chooks. Since I can pick and choose what I include in them, I know that I'm not giving them unnecessary fillers and preservatives.
They eat em all up, go get some layer feed and still fill up free ranging. Bunch of pigs.

 

[cherylcohen]

The novelty will wear off and they will go back to the pellets.

 

[nanawendy]

Gritsar, what do you use for binder...Lard?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I used egg. Others have used molasses. There's a long thread on making the homemade blocks. I'll see if I can find it for ya.
Okay, I wasn't able to come up with the thread using the search feature, but I know it's in here somewhere.

I mix a little wild bird seed, some bread, beaten egg, some scratch (the ground up kind, looks like cornmeal) and bake in a low heat oven for about two hours. If it doesn't hold together well for you, you can add some molasses.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Quote:
This would be a great way to make sure you control the amount of "extras" your girls are consuming. I have used the Purina Flock Block several times for my 13 girls. The first time, it was gone in a few days. Didn't need to use another one for a while (used it while we were gone for a long weekend...left them with several waterers and feeders, as well as the flock block in the pre-egg days). I have used it twice this winter as a "boredom buster". They last me now about 2-3 weeks. Another thing to help with boredom is to hang a head of cabbage using a wire coat hanger around the core and suspend it from the ceiling...woohoo Chicken tetherball!