Homemade Scratch/Treats

[donrae]

The tiny amount of scratch you'd need to reward them for coming to you would not cause any problems. My 1000lb horse will trot up for about half a cup, a chicken really only needs a few pieces. It's a reward, not a meal or even a snack. Plus, your regular feed is likely mostly corn. Scratch makes a nice distinctive sound in a metal scoop to call the animals up. Plus, in a pinch, if you have a loose animal you can scoop some small gravel in the can and trick them, it sounds about the same.

 

[wamtazlady]

When I got my first chicks I would say "here chicky chicky" every time I fed them or gave them a treat. I continued to do that all summer long. When we headed south for the winter (we're snowbirds) my neighbor took my hens into his coop. Six months later we came home. I cleaned out the run and the coop. Saw that my neighbor had let the hens out. I yelled "here, chicky chicky" and all 5 of my girls came running home.

 

[jetdog]

I hang a cabbage a little higher than their heads so they have to jump to peck at it,keeps them busy for hours,I especially like this in the winter to break up the long days of being locked up.

 

[Lb4paws]

Yes. They MUST have grit.

You can buy scratch without corn, or you can make your own blend. I make my own because most scratch seems to have milo, and my birds don't like it (which means I get pigeons and rats!

Mine get random mixes of:

BOSS
Barley
Buckwheat
Cracked Corn
Rye
Red (hard) Wheat
White (soft) Wheat
Oats
Safflower Seeds
Meal Worms
Black Soldier Fly Larva

what's BOSS?

 

[yyz0yyz0]

what's BOSS?

Black Oil Sunflower Seed