Proper feeding for non-free range laying hens

[Going Quackers]

Grit is definitely available at your farm supply, i just toss it down it our girls run so they can peck away when they need it. My birds cannot free range here either to many air predators would take them, so i provide various types of branches and stumps for them, i also found they love pumpkin and will clean one down like you wouldn't believe... i also toss scratch around and BOSS for hunting practice lol

If they are molting some birds can look quite poorly if conditions were not decent in there last home being a rescue you may need to wait and see what they look like after they have molted off that lack of past care.

 

[Shan30]

Great ideas

I'm going to be giving 3-4 or our girls to my sister in law (once I see her finished coop and run for approval lol), won't make a huge difference but a bit.

Definitely starting the grit and I'm considering the fermented feed but want to research it more. I've heard some negative things about feeding it through the winter too. Although winters here are pretty mild and it rarely snows (yes in Canada!)

I will also take a look around the property and see if I can get them some more obstacles to play on. Maybe a nice buggy rotten log.

Would love to expand the run but we only have 6" to 1' of soil and then it's solid rock so fencing is difficult.

I was hanging out in the coop last night tucking everyone in and noticed that the lowest ranking girls have the palest faces. Could be that they are not getting their fair share. I might choose these ones to give to my sister so they won't have so much competition for food.

 

[Shan30]

Sorry one last question...can I over do it with greens or eggs? There isn't much edible greenery left in the run. They don't touch the bamboo and salal.

 

[mickey328]

In general no, you can't over do it...only if they eat them to the exclusion of their feed and that would be rare. I give our girls supplemental protein at least every other day especially when they're laying. They haven't molted yet but they'll need it then as well to help with feather production. They only get the eggs that we find cracked, but I give them yogurt, cheese, meat and cooked beans. They also get lots and lots of greens. All the weeds we pick go in their run, we give them kale, chard, spinach, comfrey and clover. The greens are what contribute to those nice, firm, gold yolks. The ones from the store are pale because those chickens never get anything but processed food (poor things).

Do you have an issue with a lot of predators where you live? Where we are, we mostly have hawks. There are skunks, some coons and foxes in the area, but ours is a residential neighborhood and we have a 6' fence around the back yard and never get any critters in it. We also have 3 dogs, so that probably has a bit to do with it, LOL. Also because of the dogs, we don't let the chickens have the run of the whole back yard, but I wanted them to have access to grass, so we built a portable coop and run. The run is about 20'' high and the frame is made of metal conduit, about 9' x 9'. DH put it together using the conduit and T's and used cable ties to attach the wire, leaving a flap in each quadrant we can open to put in treats, food and water. It's light enough that one person can easily drag it or two can lift and carry it. It's tall enough they can freely walk around in it but is covered to discourage any avian predators. We move the whole set up about every 3 days so they always have fresh grass and it doesn't get wrecked by them scratching on it. They're locked in the coop at night.

Perhaps if you don't have any serious daytime predators, something like this would work for you? It was very easy and would solve the problem with trying to put in permanent fencing.

 

[Shan30]

Something portable is a good idea. So far we haven't had an issue with anything but the hawks and wandering dogs who we are pretty sure stop here every day and are definitely interested in the chickens. We live pretty far out on 5 acres that's mostly forested. The main predators here are coons, mink, cougars and a very high bear and wolf population. No coyotes or skunks on the island yet.

We bought this place in the spring and have a lot of overgrown gardens to clear out. It might work to wire off these gardens and let the girls have at them.

At the moment we drop off a couple dozen eggs to the produce guys at our local grocer and in exchange we pick up all the extra lettuce, kale, cabbage, tomatoes and berries. The girls freak out when they see us unloading produce boxes haha!

I figured that to much lettuce and kale wouldn't hurt anything but had to ask thank you!

 

[mickey328]

Mine are the same way when they see me with the "goodie bowl", LOL They like all that stuff but go totally bonkers when it's meat of any sort. What a great trade you've got going there! Hope the extra produce is organic or pesticide free.

Since our garden was done for the season, we parked the coop beside it and put up a wire fence around the whole thing and just turned 'em loose. They've been having a fabulous time! They've already spread out all the bunny poo and hay we had laying around back there. I figure to leave them on it all winter...come spring it should be just about ready to plant. Wire wouldn't do much to stop the sort of predators you get there, so if you do, I'd make sure to keep a pretty close eye on them when they're out. But I'm sure they'll help you a lot with readying those gardens!