Looking for a very healthy mash recipe...

[mertzee]

Does any have a recipe they wouldn't mind sharing for mash? I'm a fairly new chicken mom and I have 5 hens that have been spoiled by my mom giving them too much in treats (unknowing she was hurting their nutrition) and they basically quit eating their crumbles. I have some pellets I added water to give them a healthy change and fool them into thinking they are getting treats but I need a good recipe for some GOOD HEALTHY mash as they have gotten quite thin. They have been free ranging for the last several months and are not getting enough to eat (kind of hard to believe since they are on over a half acre lot that backs up to a brushy tree line). I have layer crumbles out at all times but they are now spoiled and won't eat them them hardly. All she has to do is open the door and they come flying for treats - Even come to the screen door and squawk at her for them. I need to get some weight on them as they feel like skin and bones! Poop looks fine so I'm fairly certain its a nutrition issue. I'm hoping it would help regulate their laying as well.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My birds' food mixed with water is their number one treat, and they rarely get anything else as a treat.

A side benefit is that it makes it easy to give them other things mixed in, like electrolytes in extreme heat. Or a probiotic like yogurt, or kombucha. And, since it's mixed with water, they get a little extra hydration on hot days. It can be cold on hot days, and warm on cold days too.

Exactly so. Heartily agree. Double thumbs up!

and if you are fond of fermented feed, wetting it and waiting isn't much different than wetting and serving, except you keep a few buckets around in various stages of the process. I'm not opposed to fermented feed, but didn't find the cost savings to approach the figures often claimed. So sometime I do, sometimes I don't...

 

[kerbotx]

A good mash is just feed + water; you might consider using a higher protein feed of 18-20% to get their attention again. And just go cold turkey - no treats at all - if you can, to reset their eating habits. Boiled eggs are a great supplement to their diet, especially this time of year as they molt (if you're in the northern hemisphere.) I give my flock mash every morning for breakfast, and sometimes again later in the day, just what they'll eat in 10 minutes or so - they love it that much!

 

[mamajos]

I do the same as @kerbotx. Wet the 18%-20% feed, no treats. They love their mash, and they are getting the complete diet made just right.

 

[Sally PB]

Also wet commercially complete feed as mash. Birds love it, helps with heat management as well.

My birds' food mixed with water is their number one treat, and they rarely get anything else as a treat.

A side benefit is that it makes it easy to give them other things mixed in, like electrolytes in extreme heat. Or a probiotic like yogurt, or kombucha. And, since it's mixed with water, they get a little extra hydration on hot days. It can be cold on hot days, and warm on cold days too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Also wet commercially complete feed as mash. Birds love it, helps with heat management as well.

 

[nuthatched]

No treats, no mash. Just give them feed, they'll eat when they're hungry enough.

 

[mamajos]

I do mash as their treat—I don’t do it every day or even every week. It’s fun to see them go crazy with it. But yes—you only need to feed their food, as is, and fresh water.

 

[3KillerBs]

No treats, no mash. Just give them feed, they'll eat when they're hungry enough.

This. No healthy animal will starve in the presence of food when given no opportunity to pick out a preferred treat.

They may complain and it may seem harsh, but just like you can't have a healthy child on a diet of cake and ice cream only you can't have a healthy flock on a diet of treat foods.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

We would do ice mash when it got up to 115 degrees! Just cold water, ice, and food and they loved it!