Hello y’all I’m a newbie

[Bryjag1965]

I have 3 , 18 week old hens , so far everything is going good , I’m needing to learn when to introduce new foods etc . I’ve given them grapes , watermelon , dry worms , they seem to eat all, when and what should I start giving them when they are laying ready . Thank you all for the threads , very informative

 

[AidKD]

Howdy! Welcome to Backyard Chickens! We're so glad that you decided to join us!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Really no need to give them treats at all. If you do give them some (i.e. for training), keep the portions minimal - they should mostly be eating their feed.

 

[Bryjag1965]

Thank you

 

[Mrs. K]

One of the things here is respected posters will give totally opposite advice, haha. Rosemary is right, too much treats are not good.

However, I keep a scrap bucket, and anything I scrap off of plates or clean up from food prep goes into the scrap bucket. Birds out free ranging will eat anything they can catch in addition to commercial feed. I think the eggs taste a bit better.

As for scraps - if is not cleaned up then it is too much. I think kitchen scraps are not as "treats" as meal worms, black sunflower seeds, and scratch.

Mrs

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

Treats can be a wonderful bonding time with our birds, we enjoy their company and they love the attention! Just make sure treats only compromise 10% of their diet, they need to eat their formulated chicken feed diet. Laying can be incredibly draining on the body of a hen and she needs to get all the necessary vitamins and minerals from the feed to lay instead of her body reserves.

Here is our Treats Chart...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens.47738/

Chicks can start having treats at 6 weeks of age. Chicks especially are unsure of new foods so go slow at first and don't expect much. However once one starts in, the others generally follow.

Enjoy your flock and welcome to ours!

 

[rosemarythyme]

One of the things here is respected posters will give totally opposite advice, haha. Rosemary is right, too much treats are not good.

However, I keep a scrap bucket, and anything I scrap off of plates or clean up from food prep goes into the scrap bucket. Birds out free ranging will eat anything they can catch in addition to commercial feed. I think the eggs taste a bit better.

As for scraps - if is not cleaned up then it is too much. I think kitchen scraps are not as "treats" as meal worms, black sunflower seeds, and scratch.

I'm not opposed to throwing in whatever we don't eat - in summer that means cups of blackberries, or carrot tops, or a corn cob that's mostly scraped clean. But they don't really need purchased treats - while those are useful when you're working with chicks and teaching them to go in the run, once they learn, they can be bribed with almost anything, like a handful of their regular feed.

In full disclosure we do buy bags of chicken treat mix sometimes but they get very small amounts, maybe 2 Tbsp a day total for 10 birds. And once in a blue moon I'll splurge and buy them a bag of imperfect veggies from the farmer's market at $1 a lb, especially if my garden isn't really yet productive. But that's less for the chickens and more because my hubby likes watching them eat.

 

[Bryjag1965]

I'm not opposed to throwing in whatever we don't eat - in summer that means cups of blackberries, or carrot tops, or a corn cob that's mostly scraped clean. But they don't really need purchased treats - while those are useful when you're working with chicks and teaching them to go in the run, once they learn, they can be bribed with almost anything, like a handful of their regular feed.

In full disclosure we do buy bags of chicken treat mix sometimes but they get very small amounts, maybe 2 Tbsp a day total for 10 birds. And once in a blue moon I'll splurge and buy them a bag of imperfect veggies from the farmer's market at $1 a lb, especially if my garden isn't really yet productive. But that's less for the chickens and more because my hubby likes watching them eat.

Thank you kindly
Bryan

 

[The Chick Addict]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!!! We are so glad to have you and enjoy your time here!

 

[Bryjag1965]

Thank you