Polish Thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jenniferlamar70]

Wellies is yet another breed I would've loved to have in the flock.  And from reading it seems owners really love their Polish for sweetness and docile temperaments.  I almost went with a Polish hen to add to my little gentle flock when I was looking into a white egg layer after re-homing our dual-purpose hens and Leghorn layer.  Fate guided me to experiment with a Blue Breda instead which is about the same weight as a Polish and lays white eggs.  I decided to try the Breda in lieu of the Polish because Breda have absolutely no comb and just a tiny triangle tuft of feathers on their head.  I already had the two crested Silkies and didn't really want a 3rd full-crested bird.  Thus, the Breda experiment began and I haven't regretted it.  As much as the Polish would've been cute to add to the flock as a gentle breed we found the Breda quite comical and gentle too and I won't have to deal with a 3rd crested hen.  I'm so limited in space and have the Silkie dynamic to deal with that it narrows a lot of choices in breeds I would like to add.  The Breda turned out a laying dynamo that outshines any other laying breed we've experimented with (except for our previous White Leghorn).  The Silkies are cute and are good layers when they're in their cycle but we wanted a couple hens that were more consistent layers throughout the year.  I gave up on a colorful egg basket after realizing the colored, brown, or white egg layers, were not going to get along together!  DH stresses if he sees his Silkies getting picked on so it's nice to have found not only a lightweight large fowl that is docile around them but is also giving us a steady egg supply as well.  Hey!  It only took us 5 yrs to cycle through a bunch of breeds before finally getting a combo that worked for us!  We aren't zoned for roos and sadly had to re-home two lovely cockerels over the years.

You know I didn't know if it would work but we just took the one polish bantam roo out and placed him with 8 standard size hens. He is in rooster heaven lol. We haven't had any problems with them getting along. Our hens are pretty docile though. We can add chicks and they still don't usually act aggressive. They have been pretty good sports this hatching season lol..

 

[Sylvester017]

You know I didn't know if it would work but we just took the one polish bantam roo out and placed him with 8 standard size hens. He is in rooster heaven lol. We haven't had any problems with them getting along. Our hens are pretty docile though. We can add chicks and they still don't usually act aggressive. They have been pretty good sports this hatching season lol..

Most of our large fowl, dual-purpose, egg-layer breeds were nice as pullets and got along with the Silkies. It's after about 18+ months the adults started to get bossy or, in one of our cases, so downright mean she was cannibalizing one of the bantams in the coop at night. Our White Leghorn was actually friendly for about 3 yrs before going bonkers on her flockmates and had to re-home her too. I eventually got tired of the assertive dual-purpose and common layer adult hens and started looking into the more docile breeds since DH loves his gentle Silkies so much. There are a lot of docile gentle breeds to choose from but most are not what you would consider "production" or "utility" breeds. Since we already had the froo-froo Silkies I was hoping to find a breed that could lay a fair amount of white eggs but was small enough and gentle enough to not turn into a bully like the heavier dual-purpose breeds all seemed to do around the bantams. I went nuts considering an array of breeds like bantam Wellies, Ameraucana, Araucana, Cochin bantams, Crevecoeur, Dominique, Dorking, Easter Egger, Faverolles, Pavlovskaja, Polish, Sultan, even Coronation Sussex which all seemed to have decent temperament reviews. And through a fluke of research decided to experiment with a Breda and it made our Silkies happy and especially my DH happy and me happy because I am now getting a steady source of eggs from a peaceful backyard flock -

. Our 3-yr-old Blue Wheaten Ameraucana layed pretty pastel blue eggs and was especially docile for a large fowl and we really liked her but had to put her down recently

. Poor Ameraucanas are just too heavily-feathered to tolerate our humid SoCal heatwaves and I won't get another to subject them to our climate. I grew up on a farm with all kinds of livestock and really miss the morning sounds of crowing roos, the cry of peacocks, and the bellowing and bleating of cows, goats, and sheep. In the suburbs the closest I can get to farmlife is a little limited flock of sweet hens!

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Most of our large fowl, dual-purpose, egg-layer breeds were nice as pullets and got along with the Silkies.  It's after about 18+ months the adults started to get bossy or, in one of our cases, so downright mean she was cannibalizing one of the bantams in the coop at night.  Our White Leghorn was actually friendly for about 3 yrs before going bonkers on her flockmates and had to re-home her too.  I eventually got tired of the assertive dual-purpose and common layer adult hens and started looking into the more docile breeds since DH loves his gentle Silkies so much.  There are a lot of docile gentle breeds to choose from but most are not what you would consider "production" or "utility" breeds.  Since we already had the froo-froo Silkies I was hoping to find a breed that could lay a fair amount of white eggs but was small enough and gentle enough to not turn into a bully like the heavier dual-purpose breeds all seemed to do around the bantams.  I went nuts considering an array of breeds like bantam Wellies, Ameraucana, Araucana, Cochin bantams, Crevecoeur, Dominique, Dorking, Easter Egger, Faverolles, Pavlovskaja, Polish, Sultan, even Coronation Sussex which all seemed to have decent temperament reviews.  And through a fluke of research decided to experiment with a Breda and it made our Silkies happy and especially my DH happy and me happy because I am now getting a steady source of eggs from a peaceful backyard flock - .  Our 3-yr-old Blue Wheaten Ameraucana layed pretty pastel blue eggs and was especially docile for a large fowl and we really liked her but had to put her down recently .  Poor Ameraucanas are just too heavily-feathered to tolerate our humid SoCal heatwaves and I won't get another to subject them to our climate.  I grew up on a farm with all kinds of livestock and really miss the morning sounds of crowing roos, the cry of peacocks, and the bellowing and bleating of cows, goats, and sheep.  In the suburbs the closest I can get to farmlife is a little limited flock of sweet hens! 

Well it sounds like you guys have the perfect flock for you though. We have 2 cuckoo marans, 3 easter egger/ameraucana, 1 white leghorn and 2 black sex links with our white crested black polish roo. Then we have our 2nd white crested black polish roo and what I believe to be an American game hen bantam size. We just purchased from a hatchery 6 polish hens for my boy lol. Also 3 faverolle, 2 light brahma, 2 buff brahma and 2 buff orpingtons. We also wanted some sweet hens that are know for brooding. Then their are all the chicks we have just hatched. Not all of these we are keeping but we do plan on growing then out to see personalities to help decide. We have some welsummers, large fowl cochin,silkies,ayam cemani,jubilee orpingtons and ancona ducklings. We will keep a few of each but unfortunately we don't have room for all. We also have a rouen and 2 Swedish ducks. Shoot I forgot the 6 olive egger roosters.. they are the reason we are starting a bachelor pen.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well it sounds like you guys have the perfect flock for you though. We have 2 cuckoo marans, 3 easter egger/ameraucana, 1 white leghorn and 2 black sex links with our white crested black polish roo. Then we have our 2nd white crested black polish roo and what I believe to be an American game hen bantam size. We just purchased from a hatchery 6 polish hens for my boy lol. Also 3 faverolle, 2 light brahma, 2 buff brahma and 2 buff orpingtons. We also wanted some sweet hens that are know for brooding. Then their are all the chicks we have just hatched. Not all of these we are keeping but we do plan on growing then out to see personalities to help decide. We have some welsummers, large fowl cochin,silkies,ayam cemani,jubilee orpingtons and ancona ducklings. We will keep a few of each but unfortunately we don't have room for all. We also have a rouen and 2 Swedish ducks. Shoot I forgot the 6 olive egger roosters.. they are the reason we are starting a bachelor pen.

Wow! What a lovely variety!!! Questions: Did you get Black Polish girls for your Black Polish boy to keep the breed pure if they hatch chicks? All Polish varieties are cute but I get the biggest kick out of watching the White Crested Black Polish! The Tolbunts are almost regal-looking but the Black Polish tophats are so much fun to watch! And how did you get 6 OE roos instead of OE pullets for eggs? Is your Amer Game bantam a hen or roo? I'm curious about how your White Leghorn will act around your assortment of breeds. Our White Leg was a sweet alpha for 3 yrs and then went bonkers on her flockmates -- we gave her a few weeks to settle down but she wouldn't so we reluctantly re-homed her into a friend's layer flock. She was quite the alpha there also except the dual-purpose there were her equals and she couldn't bully them. Same with our Cuckoo Marans that we re-homed into the same flock where she couldn't get away with being mean there like she was to our bantam littles here. I never had Sexlinks but my friend rescued 3 Red links but before the year was out all 3 died, one because of eggbound and unknown about the other two. They get spent too fast from frequently laying huge eggs that I decided not to get them. My friend liked her sweet Buff Orp except when she was a mean broody but she and a couple of her EEs were her favorites. My friend also experimented with Cornish Cross for meat but said they were hard to keep alive because they would lazily lie around the pen all day and crows easily could kill the ones lying against the coop run wire. She lost half of the Crosses before 2 months old and the meat was tasteless unless soaked for 24 hours in some brine or sauce before cooking. Your Brahma, EEs, Favies, Polish, Amer Game, and Orps should be sweet hens but don't be surprised at how skittish the White Leg will be compared to the other breeds in spite of a lot of handling. White Legs come jumping on you for treats but are not fond of human hand touching. Kinda the same with Marans. Ours was a rather aloof standoffish Marans and I always felt they did better in a flock of their own breed. The Wellies should be a better temperament than Marans and give probably just as pretty dark eggs as the Marans. We thought our Marans would give solid darkish brown eggs but found she layed just as many speckled and splotchy eggs as a Wellie does. Folks had ducks on the farm but I passed on them because I know how messy/smelly they can get in a small yard like ours. I fleetingly considered a couple of smaller Welsh Harlequins but I restrained myself from the impulse -

. I envy your ability to have such a nice assortment of poultry!

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Wow!  What a lovely variety!!!  Questions:  Did you get Black Polish girls for your Black Polish boy to keep the breed pure if they hatch chicks?  All Polish varieties are cute but I get the biggest kick out of watching the White Crested Black Polish!  The Tolbunts are almost regal-looking but the Black Polish tophats are so much fun to watch!  And how did you get 6 OE roos instead of OE pullets for eggs?  Is your Amer Game bantam a hen or roo?  I'm curious about how your White Leghorn will act around your assortment of breeds.  Our White Leg was a sweet alpha for 3 yrs and then went bonkers on her flockmates -- we gave her a few weeks to settle down but she wouldn't so we reluctantly re-homed her into a friend's layer flock.  She was quite the alpha there also except the dual-purpose there were her equals and she couldn't bully them.  Same with our Cuckoo Marans that we re-homed into the same flock where she couldn't get away with being mean there like she was to our bantam littles here.  I never had Sexlinks but my friend rescued 3 Red links but before the year was out all 3 died, one because of eggbound and unknown about the other two.  They get spent too fast from frequently laying huge eggs that I decided not to get them.  My friend liked her sweet Buff Orp except when she was a mean broody but she and a couple of her EEs were her favorites.  My friend also experimented with Cornish Cross for meat but said they were hard to keep alive because they would lazily lie around the pen all day and crows easily could kill the ones lying against the coop run wire.  She lost half of the Crosses before 2 months old and the meat was tasteless unless soaked for 24 hours in some brine or sauce before cooking.  Your Brahma, EEs, Favies, Polish, Amer Game, and Orps should be sweet hens but don't be surprised at how skittish the White Leg will be compared to the other breeds in spite of a lot of handling.  White Legs come jumping on you for treats but are not fond of human hand touching.  Kinda the same with Marans.  Ours was a rather aloof standoffish Marans and I always felt they did better in a flock of their own breed.  The Wellies should be a better temperament than Marans and give probably just as pretty dark eggs as the Marans.  We thought our Marans would give solid darkish brown eggs but found she layed just as many speckled and splotchy eggs as a Wellie does.  Folks had ducks on the farm but I passed on them because I know how messy/smelly they can get in a small yard like ours.  I fleetingly considered a couple of smaller Welsh Harlequins but I restrained myself from the impulse - .  I envy your ability to have such a nice assortment of poultry!

Ok I'll try to answer all your questions first so I don't forget what they were lol. Yes we did purchase the chicks to try and keep the breed pure. I'm hoping to breed them next year. If it doesn't work out they are still my favorites. I also will keep my silkies with them since they are also bantam. My American game hen or possibly Sumatra we are not sure which is a hen. She is sweet but very skittish. She wasn't always that way just became so once she matured. We played the hatching game this year because it's more affordable then the hatcherys. Shipping is just so expensive. I ordered 9 olive egger eggs. 1 didn't hatch. 8 did hatch. We got 2 pullets and 6 cockerels. Suprise, suprise lol. It gets better. They are not the only roosters we hatched. Almost each breed I purchased had more roosters then pullets. Some luck. Our White horn is definitely not the alpha. She is very sweet and easy to catch lol. She actually gets along with all the other hens. She even gets along with young chicks except for when it's treat time lol. Our 2 marans are also very sweet but do not like to be held. They are a little less tolerant but still pretty easy going. My 2 black sex links are probably the most aggressive. They are much sweeter to people though. I have 3 easter egger hens. One is very skittish but super sweet once caught. The other is our alpha. She shows dominance over everything but won't do to much physical damage unless provoked. She is the sweetest and loves people. My youngest easter egger is the most easy going of all. I did have silver laced wyandottes but they became super aggressive so I had to find them homes.. the rest are all still young except my polish roos. I love having the variety. Itales it easier getting to know them as pets..

 

[Sylvester017]

Ok I'll try to answer all your questions first so I don't forget what they were lol. Yes we did purchase the chicks to try and keep the breed pure. I'm hoping to breed them next year. If it doesn't work out they are still my favorites. I also will keep my silkies with them since they are also bantam. My American game hen or possibly Sumatra we are not sure which is a hen. She is sweet but very skittish. She wasn't always that way just became so once she matured. We played the hatching game this year because it's more affordable then the hatcherys. Shipping is just so expensive. I ordered 9 olive egger eggs. 1 didn't hatch. 8 did hatch. We got 2 pullets and 6 cockerels. Suprise, suprise lol. It gets better. They are not the only roosters we hatched. Almost each breed I purchased had more roosters then pullets. Some luck. Our White horn is definitely not the alpha. She is very sweet and easy to catch lol. She actually gets along with all the other hens. She even gets along with young chicks except for when it's treat time lol. Our 2 marans are also very sweet but do not like to be held. They are a little less tolerant but still pretty easy going. My 2 black sex links are probably the most aggressive. They are much sweeter to people though. I have 3 easter egger hens. One is very skittish but super sweet once caught. The other is our alpha. She shows dominance over everything but won't do to much physical damage unless provoked. She is the sweetest and loves people. My youngest easter egger is the most easy going of all. I did have silver laced wyandottes but they became super aggressive so I had to find them homes.. the rest are all still young except my polish roos.

I love having the variety. Itales it easier getting to know them as pets..

TY for your kind reply! You are not the only Wyan owner to give me feedback about their tendency for domination. They are so beautiful and before doing any research I was going to get bantam Wyans but as fate had it a friend of ours gave us a couple Partridge Silkies for free -- a few years ago she ordered hatching eggs for a tidy sum and gifted us with a couple Silkies so I never got Wyans. I imagine the bantam Wyans are probably gentler than the LF Wyans varieties which seem 50/50 on pros/cons. I've also received feedback from a few Black and Red Sexlink owners about their assertiveness. I really liked the Polish, Houdan, and Crevecoeur reviews and feedback I got from owners, along with Favies, Brahmas, and Cochins. It's been a rollercoaster ride experimenting with different breeds but we've finally settled on our favorite backyard group for peaceful co-existence with just the right amount of pet chickens for our pleasure and right amount of eggs for just the two of us

. I had a friend's 12-yr-old niece visit to sit and hold each of our chickens because she wants to keep chickens and came to look over our breeds. Every one of our girls were perfect ladies sitting in her lap as she pet and talked with each one -- it was so precious! Of course the Silkies and Blue Breda got her most favorable vote because of their unique looks and docile natures. The Blue Wheaten Ameraucana is a sweet girl once she is settled in your lap but she is heavier than the other hens and wasn't as cuddly in a small girl's lap.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

TY for your kind reply!  You are not the only Wyan owner to give me feedback about their tendency for domination.  They are so beautiful and before doing any research I was going to get bantam Wyans but as fate had it a friend of ours gave us a couple Partridge Silkies for free -- a few years ago she ordered hatching eggs for a tidy sum and gifted us with a couple Silkies so I never got Wyans.  I imagine the bantam Wyans are probably gentler than the LF Wyans varieties which seem 50/50 on pros/cons.  I've also received feedback from a few Black and Red Sexlink owners about their assertiveness.  I really liked the Polish, Houdan, and Crevecoeur reviews and feedback I got from owners, along with Favies, Brahmas, and Cochins.  It's been a rollercoaster ride experimenting with different breeds but we've finally settled on our favorite backyard group for peaceful co-existence with just the right amount of pet chickens for our pleasure and right amount of eggs for just the two of us .  I had a friend's 12-yr-old niece visit to sit and hold each of our chickens because she wants to keep chickens and came to look over our breeds.  Every one of our girls were perfect ladies sitting in her lap as she pet and talked with each one -- it was so precious!  Of course the Silkies and Blue Breda got her most favorable vote because of their unique looks and docile natures.  The Blue Wheaten Ameraucana is a sweet girl once she is settled in your lap but she is heavier than the other hens and wasn't as cuddly in a small girl's lap.

I absolutely love the silkies. The's are actually my first experience with them. I have 2 partridge and 1 buff. They are only about 4 weeks but are finally starting to look fluffy instead of raptors lol. It's great that you have such a calm and loving flock. That's our goal too. All our chickens are pets and the eggs are just extras lmao. I really love the little buff orpingtons. Even at their young age they are so mellow. Makes me regret not getting more. I have 3 ameraucana eggs in my incubator so I'm hoping for a few purebred this year. I love my easter eggers too though..

 

[Sylvester017]

I absolutely love the silkies. The's are actually my first experience with them. I have 2 partridge and 1 buff. They are only about 4 weeks but are finally starting to look fluffy instead of raptors lol. It's great that you have such a calm and loving flock. That's our goal too. All our chickens are pets and the eggs are just extras lmao. I really love the little buff orpingtons. Even at their young age they are so mellow. Makes me regret not getting more. I have 3 ameraucana eggs in my incubator so I'm hoping for a few purebred this year. I love my easter eggers too though..

Yep, the Silkies seem to be favorites with everyone who sees them - even the guys like them. My DH won't part with our 2 Silkie hens and they're now the oldest hens in our flock. B Orps get pretty fluffy and big and can be mean broodies but then they get back to normal afterwards. Our Silkies were never mean broodies -- they'd puff up if we got near their nest but never hurt us with their warning pecks and we could easily handle them to take them off the nest to eat/drink/exercise before they'd run back to their nest. I hope you have success with your Amer hatch! We adored our Blue Wheaten Amer (my avatar) -- she was a kooky spooky jittery jumpy wary cautious alert bird yet the sweetest mellowest personality when you earned her trust. She was non-combative toward flockmates and preferred to flee if at all possible rather than fight a challenger. It seems to be a non-combative nature that EEs and Amer's have. Plus the purebreed Amer's will 99% give blue/blue-green eggs. Our girl layed pretty pastel blue XL eggs. Such big eggs for only a 5.5-lb hen! Amer's aren't production birds but their pretty colored eggs make up for lack of quanitity. I miss our sweet girl but won't get another one - our humid climate is not conducive to the thick under-downed chicken breeds. Silkies are fluffy but don't nearly have the thickness of underdown that Amer's have. When we had to bathe our Amer's dirty tush it took forever to blow-dry her where the Silkies were quick to shampoo and dry in comparison.

Size comparison of a blue Ameraucana egg 2.5-oz, a white Breda egg 1.75-oz, and tinted Silkie egg 1.25-oz


2 pink Buff Leghorn eggs with a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana egg


Cuckoo Marans brown egg 2-oz, White Leghorn white egg 2.25-oz, Buff Leghorn pink egg 2-oz, and 3 tinted Silkie eggs 1.25-oz


Tiny "fart" egg from one of the Silkies next to a normal tinted Silkie egg and white Breda egg (far left)


Silkie "fart" egg next to jumbo store egg


"Fart" egg had a tiny yolk inside!


I had fun taking photos of the only Silkie "fart" egg I ever got in 5 yrs of having Silkies!



After a couple years of having fun with a colorful egg basket I settled down to keeping gentle docile breeds as pets and the Breda is such a laying machine (on top of being a docile breed) that we haven't needed to add any assertive production/layer types for eggs. I never expected an exotic-looking little chicken like her to be anywhere good at laying so we've been very pleasantly surprised at her egg production. For a 4-lb lightweight large fowl she gives 1.75-oz eggs consistently 4 to 5 eggs/wk. She started laying last November and is still a laying dynamo. She loves eating but I don't mind since she produces so many eggs every week for such a slender bird! Added vitamins are a must for good laying hens. Those of us owners who have been sharing info about our Bredas have all been bowled over at how good layers they are. The Polish reportedly are fair layers but I'm thinking I hit jackpot experimenting with the Breda instead. Houdan were another cute funky bird I researched, has a crest, 5-toes, but it's a rather large bird in comparison to Silkies or Polish so I didn't try them. So many breeds I'd like but haven't got the space or zoning to have more than 5 hens in our little cottage backyard!!! We are allowed 5 hens but 4 is the most comfortable for us to keep. Maybe if/when the Silkies really slow down in their old age we'll add a 5th chicken for eggs but that's a big maybe

?!

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Yep, the Silkies seem to be favorites with everyone who sees them - even the guys like them. My DH won't part with our 2 Silkie hens and they're now the oldest hens in our flock. B Orps get pretty fluffy and big and can be mean broodies but then they get back to normal afterwards. Our Silkies were never mean broodies -- they'd puff up if we got near their nest but never hurt us with their warning pecks and we could easily handle them to take them off the nest to eat/drink/exercise before they'd run back to their nest. I hope you have success with your Amer hatch! We adored our Blue Wheaten Amer (my avatar) -- she was a kooky spooky jittery jumpy wary cautious alert bird yet the sweetest mellowest personality when you earned her trust. She was non-combative toward flockmates and preferred to flee if at all possible rather than fight a challenger. It seems to be a non-combative nature that EEs and Amer's have. Plus the purebreed Amer's will 99% give blue/blue-green eggs. Our girl layed pretty pastel blue XL eggs. Such big eggs for only a 5.5-lb hen! Amer's aren't production birds but their pretty colored eggs make up for lack of quanitity. I miss our sweet girl but won't get another one - our humid climate is not conducive to the thick under-downed chicken breeds. Silkies are fluffy but don't nearly have the thickness of underdown that Amer's have. When we had to bathe our Amer's dirty tush it took forever to blow-dry her where the Silkies were quick to shampoo and dry in comparison. Size comparison of a blue Ameraucana egg 2.5-oz, a white Breda egg 1.75-oz, and tinted Silkie egg 1.25-oz 2 pink Buff Leghorn eggs with a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana egg Cuckoo Marans brown egg 2-oz, White Leghorn white egg 2.25-oz, Buff Leghorn pink egg 2-oz, and 3 tinted Silkie eggs 1.25-oz Tiny "fart" egg from one of the Silkies next to a normal tinted Silkie egg and white Breda egg (far left) Silkie "fart" egg next to jumbo store egg "Fart" egg had a tiny yolk inside! I had fun taking photos of the only Silkie "fart" egg I ever got in 5 yrs of having Silkies! After a couple years of having fun with a colorful egg basket I settled down to keeping gentle docile breeds as pets and the Breda is such a laying machine (on top of being a docile breed) that we haven't needed to add any assertive production/layer types for eggs. I never expected an exotic-looking little chicken like her to be anywhere good at laying so we've been very pleasantly surprised at her egg production. For a 4-lb lightweight large fowl she gives 1.75-oz eggs consistently 4 to 5 eggs/wk. She started laying last November and is still a laying dynamo. She loves eating but I don't mind since she produces so many eggs every week for such a slender bird! Added vitamins are a must for good laying hens. Those of us owners who have been sharing info about our Bredas have all been bowled over at how good layers they are. The Polish reportedly are fair layers but I'm thinking I hit jackpot experimenting with the Breda instead. Houdan were another cute funky bird I researched, has a crest, 5-toes, but it's a rather large bird in comparison to Silkies or Polish so I didn't try them. So many breeds I'd like but haven't got the space or zoning to have more than 5 hens in our little cottage backyard!!! We are allowed 5 hens but 4 is the most comfortable for us to keep. Maybe if/when the Silkies really slow down in their old age we'll add a 5th chicken for eggs but that's a big maybe ?!

I'm curious what supplements you use? I posted something awhile back about nutrition and got generic answers like just feed layer feed etc.. I just feed regular and then free feed oyster shell since we keep a mixed age flock but I would like to keep my chickens as healthy as possible. I don't know much about chicken nutrition and I'd like to learn. I've heard some herbs are very beneficial. I'm planning an herb garden next spring. what do you suggest keeping in mind we have all ages and boys/girls and ducks lol....

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm curious what supplements you use? I posted something awhile back about nutrition and got generic answers like just feed layer feed etc.. I just feed regular and then free feed oyster shell since we keep a mixed age flock but I would like to keep my chickens as healthy as possible. I don't know much about chicken nutrition and I'd like to learn. I've heard some herbs are very beneficial. I'm planning an herb garden next spring.

what do you suggest keeping in mind we have all ages and boys/girls and ducks lol....

Wow! I haven't been around ducks since I was a teenager so can't help with them. Chickens are easier for me to manage now as we keep them for pets but with a bonus surprise egg-layer in our Breda.

What we do is get organic unheated, unpressed, non-pelleted, non-crumbled loose Scratch n Peck brand of layer feed with 18% protein and has oyster shell in it -- but we provide an at-will extra supply of oyster shell for the laying hens that need/want it. A hen or roo that doesn't need extra calcium will ignore it in the feed mix. We also get the organic Scratch n Peck 3-grain scratch mix which is (I believe) barley/wheat/oats that we keep in a treadle feeder for hens that don't want the layer mix. Lately I've been considering getting some pelleted or pressed organic crumbles as an added feeding bonus for the Silkies since their beaks are so small and are such dainty eaters.

The first feeding in the morning we only provide the layer feed and have a side bowl of a little wild bird seed mix (little or no hard corn pieces since the Silkies won't eat the hard corn kernels) and we might scatter a small handful on the ground so there are several different places the hens can go to eat without bothering each other. We put ice cubes in their Brite Tap nipple valve water jug during this heatwave.

A couple hours later we put out a round slice of cantaloupe with center pulp and seeds. We put out some fish flakes or dry meal worms scattered on the ground for their foraging. A couple hours later we visit with them by slicing up our home-grown cukes in circles and hand-feed to them (we want them to keep tame). Later in the day we might feed them some cooked salmon or thawed cooked small shrimp or half a can of meaty high-protein catfood or cooked turkey or lamb. Sometimes we feed fresh corn sliced off the cob. We vary and limit these treats.

Every late afternoon when the hens do their last foraging before roost we offer cooked organic brown rice mixed with Rooster Booster vitamins per directions and a sprinkle of Brewers' Yeast powder and some bee pollen mixed into the rice. Our hens love the aromatic varieties of brown rice (jasmine, basmati, texmati) with the added supplements camouflaged in the rice kernels. We don't use white rice since the cooked organic brown is richer in nutrition. I got the rice mix idea from a Silkie breeder and modified my recipe to use brown rice instead of white and added vitamins, Brewer's Yeast, and bee pollen rather than her recipe with broccoli which my Silkies hate. In winter we scatter raw shelled sunflower seeds but not in summer since they don't need the extra fat content then.

For a week at the beginning of each month we switch from Rooster Booster general vitamin granules to Rooster Booster Multi-Wormer granules to add to the afternoon rice mix. If a hen is broody, or molting, or laying a lot, we bring her in from roost (the chickens are easier to handle then) and give her just one drop of children's no-iron Poly-Vi-Sol liquid vitamin maybe 1 or 2x per week. Our Silkies will slurp the vitamin drop directly from the palm of our hand! I never have to shove vitamins or medicine in a syringe down their throats because they will drink them from our hand! Vet still can't believe it~LOL! For some reason hens during molt or brooding lose their appetites and look generally reclusive or lethargic so a vitamin boost helps nutrition. There are chicken vitamin supplements like Rooster Booster, etc, but sometimes a lethargic chicken doesn't eat well enough to eat all the supplements she needs. For molting chickens some people use Feather Fixer feed but I've never used it yet. I keep my molters well-supplied with protein foods. We keep quinoa, chia, and flax seeds on hand to scatter as foraging seeds.

During heatwaves we will give the hens blueberries, a watermelon slice, a hand-fed banana, chopped-up fine chard or greens but nothing stringy that could impact their crops. No apple seeds, raw potato skins, or avocados with skin or seeds, no chocolate. I personally don't give them cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, or anything from the cruciferous or nightshade plant family. But every owner has feeding quirks for their hens and those were my personal choices after reading this poultryhelp website: http://web.archive.org/web/20160313051928/http://poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html We don't feed any more than our 4 chickens can consume in 10 minutes. Free-range or backyard open-range chickens are grazers and don't necessarily gobble up huge quantities of produce. To keep flies and rotting to a minimum we clean up any produce that the chickens don't finish in a few minutes but usually it will be gone.

As for herbs I think that is a personal choice of what the owners research and want to use. There are commercially-sold nesting box herbs but I've never tried them. I grow a lot of herbs but my hens are not particularly crazy about them the way they love my home-sprouted greens seeds. Find what your chickens like best and sneak their chicken vitamins into it. I believe Rooster Booster is the only FDA-approved chicken vitamin but I know there are some powdered supplements that can be added to water. It's a pain to keep refreshing the vitamin water every day so I choose to use the Rooster Booster products and liquid no-iron children's Poly-Vi-Sol instead.

One product I absolutely refuse to use is diatomaceous earth. After reading the hazardous warning to wear gloves, mask, and goggles to protect from inhaling it I couldn't figure how to put those protective things on my chickens ~ LOL! I've had a couple hens over the years with respiratory issues and I don't need to add DE to their respiratory problems (or myself)! Dust-bathing is dusty enough for them! But to each his own - it's just what I do. Manufacturers will sell anything and market it for chickens without the product necessarily being good for chickens so every owner has to decide for themselves.

As you already know housing, feeding, preventative health maintenance, supplementation, medications, etc, can be a widely personal decision for each owner depending on the number of birds they have, what breeds, environment, space, etc. What works for my 4 hens might not work for an owner of 50 mixed breeds on their property.

Didn't mean to talk your ear off