hen scratch

[sunket77]

I just started my flock on pellets, they haven't started laying yet but the heat has been RIDICULOUS! Could I maybe get some hen scratch for them also, maybe just to give them something to scratch at? I don't free range. If I get scratch what kind of grit should I get them? I live on a white caliche road could I give them caliche for grit? They are 18 or 19 weeks old.

 

[faykokoWV]

I could be wrong, but be careful with giving cracked corn as scratch during the summer, still with a millet or flax. Cracked corn can raise their body temperature.

I'm not familiar with the composition of caliche, if its a soft stone it may not be hard enough to be grit. Most commerical grit is granite.

 

[jhm47]

Corn will not raise body temps. Almost all commercial feeds contain corn as their largest component. Whole corn is a good treat, and your birds will love it.

As to grit, it really is not necessary unless you are feeding a lot of whole, really dry, hard textured grains. There are billions of chickens raised each year without ever seeing a bit of grit.

 

[Buzzy]

If they're outside on dirt and able to pick up tiny stones and such they don't need commercial grit.

But scratch is entertainment for them - I definitely think you should scatter something for them to scratch at. I use wild bird seed mix and they love it.

 

[fiberart57]

Hello,
I would hesitate to give them caliche. I grew up in southern Arizona and the caliche there was very salty and high in other minerals. This may not be good for them.

Grit is available in bags for a small price at the feed store. I bought a bag about two months ago and haven't even used one-fourth of it.

Mary

 

[BCMominMD]

Purina makes a product called flock block which I first read about here. It's a block of seed stuff that keeps them busy, satisfies their need to peck and you don't have to portion it out. I have one in my coop on a cement block.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Id like to hear you have added some shade and shrubbery, first. Do they have a dust bath, preferably under a shrub? These will go a long way towards protecting them from environmental heat. Chickens are jungle fowl by ancestry and so thrive best with shade and overhead cover.

I had to look up "caliche"...
Caliche is a sedimentary rock, a hardened deposit of calcium carbonate (lime). This calcium carbonate cements together other materials, including gravel, sand, clay, and silt. Caliche occurs worldwide, generally in arid or semi-arid regions, including in central and western Australia, in the Kalahari Desert, in the High Plains of the western USA, and in the Sonoran Desert. Caliche is also known as hardpan, calcrete, kankar (in India), or duricrust. The term caliche is Spanish and is originally from the Latin calx, meaning lime.

I would refrain from dumping road rubble in their pen, since you don't know where its been. If they are on the dirt, in an area where caliche is prevalent, then I'm certain they can find their own grinding grit.They may also get more than enough calcium from the caliche in the soil so that egg shells will be strong. If you want to add some grinding grit to be certain, crush some old brick or mortar and toss it in where they can get it. Or just go the nearest wash and find some small gravel.

As for scratch, you can add some. Don't consider it more than a minor supplement and you should be fine. IF you want to give them something to do so they wont be "bored," ** give them green feed instead.
Any sort of vegetation will do that isn't toxic like green grasses, garden or produce waste (cabbage or lettuce cores, roots veggies, etc.) - heck, even 'nopales' will do. Simply hang these greens in a bundle about 18" high from the top of a 3 ft. stake in the pen. The chickens will get exercise jumping up and down to peck the greens and will so have something to do.



** Where do we get the notion that chickens get bored and so must have something to do?

 

[cristy17]

Go to your local feed mill; they may have a mix to give your flock. Mine makes one that comes with grit and oystershell included with the grains. Its all I feed my flock and they're doing great.

 

[cmom]

I give my birds grass clippings, leaves, peanut shells and alfalfa. They love scratching in it.

 

[countrylover88]

could you please help me? What is the difference with scratch and pellets? And why do you have to hang veggies. I always just throw it in the coop.