MJ's little flock

The chicks had another full day out in the run today and at one point I was delighted to come upon them in a cuddle puddle. The pullet grower food is now underway, concurrently with chick starter. A few mouthfuls of pullet grower have been sampled with delight and I'm glad it was found palatable.

The hens had a full day roaming the garden, by which I mean they sat under their shady tree all day long, eating pellets and drinking water, except for Ivy and Katie who departed for the nest box when nature called.

So it was a lovely day. Beautiful weather too. A little breezy and sunny, but not hot.
 
The chicks had another full day out in the run today and at one point I was delighted to come upon them in a cuddle puddle. The pullet grower food is now underway, concurrently with chick starter. A few mouthfuls of pullet grower have been sampled with delight and I'm glad it was found palatable.

The hens had a full day roaming the garden, by which I mean they sat under their shady tree all day long, eating pellets and drinking water, except for Ivy and Katie who departed for the nest box when nature called.

So it was a lovely day. Beautiful weather too. A little breezy and sunny, but not hot.
Sounds delightful for all concerned.
I hope you and Blossom both got some time to enjoy it too.
 
Clever Clogs says she's big enough for the perch now.

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Are the Sussex the exact same age as the Australorps ? They seem so much bigger !
I've been asking myself that very question! That's the problem with buying chickens, there's no guarantee of precise age.

Either the sussex are maturing faster or they're a little older. Whichever, I felt it was time for pullet grower food.

When I went to the mill last week, they recognised me from October and we had a chat about cockerels and feed. They said it's called pullet grower, but they intend the label to indicate age. When they were designing the product and packaging, they considered calling it "Pullet & cockerel grower" but it didn't have the same conversational ring to it and most people raise pullets anyway. So it's a feed for that age group and it's good for both sexes, even though it's called Pullet Grower.

My one concern is that it's a mixed grain and I've had a lot of trouble with FLHS in the past when feeding grain mixes. I much prefer a pellet.

Long ago when I was feeding a grain mix, Peggy put herself on a corn-only diet and fractured her liver.

Once Dr Mark had taken a look at her liver, he knew exactly what was wrong and said "Feed these specific pellets, with these specific supplements." Which I've stuck to ever since, except when I can't get the supplements.

Through that diet, she and her friends have thrived.

From the comments I've read on BYC, I have no doubt the quality of pellets I can buy in Australia is better than those available in other markets. The hens find them palatable and they're very healthy on that diet, with large, well-digested poops.

Anyway, the mixed grain format of the pullet grower troubles me. However the lady at the mill said it was nutritionally optimised for the age group and that they're checking the market tolerance and roi of producing it in crumble or short cut pellet format.

The competing brand is in crumble format but it's medicated which doesn't go over very well with experienced chicken keepers on byc. I haven't really understood their reasons, but I still follow their advice which is frequently given in quite urgent terms.
 
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