My own treat/scratch mix recipe

[Echelontheory101]

So my chickens have always really liked the "fruit and worms" treat mix by Love My Girls brand but at $9.99 to $12.99 a 5 lb bag across 11 to 20 chickens is just more money for the amount than I'm willing to spend. So I decided to spend a little bit more up front to get 50 lb of treats that I use as treats and evening scratch in the winter and my girls seem to love it. Just sharing in case anyone else that likes to give treat mixes wants to make their own a little more cost effectively! And this 50lb obviously goes a long way since I throw only a couple handfuls a day!

I also use this mix to make my gelatin treat blocks that I'll hang in a suet basket once a week as well since I can slip all sorts of herbs and vitamins as needed into the gelatin and dont have to gross up their waterers with supplements

- Raw unsalted shelled pumpkin seeds 5lb - I buy from amazon that are meant for humans its cheaper than looking at "seed" at feed stores
- Black oil sunflower seeds 15lb - i get on Chewy because I wanted ones sourced and grown in north America
- Black soldier fly larvae 10lb - I do buy the expensive north america grown sourced and produced BSFL but you can get it much cheaper if you're cool with the grown and produced in China stuff. I get mine on Chewy
-Diced freeze dried strawberries 2lb - amazon. This is totally optional but my girls LOVE dried fruit
-And then just for the winter I also add 2 or 3 bags of Love My Girl 5 grain mix 10-15 lb total since my girls dont really like cracked corn.

 

[Echelontheory101]

Also happy to put my gelatin treat blocks recipe in here if anyone is interested!

 

[Debbie292d]

We buy Kalmbach's Henhouse Reserve for our scratch, but yours looks great!

I'd like the gelatin recipe please as we have extra suet feeders and I'd like to try that in one coop. If it goes over, I'll need to buy about a dozen more suet feeders lol.

 

[Echelontheory101]

We buy Kalmbach's Henhouse Reserve for our scratch, but yours looks great!

I'd like the gelatin recipe please as we have extra suet feeders and I'd like to try that in one coop. If it goes over, I'll need to buy about a dozen more suet feeders lol.

Mine get Henhouse Reserve mixed into their feed, its a great mix!

This recipe makes 4 suet squares that fit a regular size suet basket if you need more or less you can just adjust accordingly the recipe is pretty flexible it's not like not having exact amounts is going to mess it up.

I sprinkle two packets of unflavored gelatin over half a cup of cool water (i use knox brand cause its cheapest but whatever you have is fine) and let it bloom for 10 to 15 minutes then I add about a heaping teaspoon of black strap molasses and 1/2 cup of hot/boiling water and stir to dissolve the gel. Then I add any vitamins I want to add like nutri -drench, vet RX, poultry cell etc if needed. Then you can add any dried or fresh herbs/spices you want or need.

People who don't want their chickens to have too many treats can do one cup of feed and one cup of treats I do two cups of the treat mix and I like to add a couple of craisins or unsalted peanuts to it too if I have them around. Then you just pour the liquid over your treats in a bowl mix it all up and then put into containers I have square silicone molds that make perfectly sized suet baskets but you could use square tupperware, square baking dish and cut into four pieces etc basically it's just that gelatin mixture over two cups of stuff. What the stuff is you can completely customize. Press it down firmly in whatever you put it in so that it doesn't crumble once made.

Then put in the fridge for a couple hours so the gelatin can set up and then right into the suet feeder it goes and the chickens go crazy for it because of the molasses in the gelatin. In the summer I put them in the freezer instead of the fridge since the gelatin can get a little melty in hot temperatures

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you! I love this idea!

 

[Echelontheory101]

Thank you! I love this idea!

You'll have to let me know how your ladies like it!