Scratch blocks

[Pictorhens]

hi, I’ve got a 20kg bag of scratch - I’m looking to make my own blocks for my 6 chickens. Is there any easy recipes on what to do? Does anyone have any idea what I need to do to bind it together and what extras I need to put in for flavour and nutrition?

Thanks

 

[paneubert]

Welcome! The one time that I bought a 'flock block' for my birds, they ate it exclusively until it was gone. Not the best thing, because it was meant to be a treat, not a complete diet.
I think that for six birds, a very small handful or scratch occasionally would be more that enough. Any blocks you make will be too big.
Mary

The happy middle ground here might be to make the blocks a lot smaller. I made some "suet" blocks for the wild birds a couple years ago that were actually a lot more like a flock block than a suet block. I used molasses and gelatin powder versus actual suet/fat. Made them in small tupperware containers and just sort of whacked them out of the container when they were finished and ready to use.

Worked pretty well for the wild birds and I bet it could work for a chicken focused treat block that isn't 20-30 pounds each!

 

[AlleysChicks]

If you search the web there are tons of block recipes. And depending on what you want to use to bind the stuff together and what you want to put in it.
Scratch, food crumples, herbs etc. I’ve seen some crazy combinations

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! The one time that I bought a 'flock block' for my birds, they ate it exclusively until it was gone. Not the best thing, because it was meant to be a treat, not a complete diet.
I think that for six birds, a very small handful or scratch occasionally would be more that enough. Any blocks you make will be too big.
Mary

 

[N F C]

hi, I’ve got a 20kg bag of scratch - I’m looking to make my own blocks for my 6 chickens. Is there any easy recipes on what to do? Does anyone have any idea what I need to do to bind it together and what extras I need to put in for flavour and nutrition?

Thanks

I typed in Flock Block Recipe into the "Search Forums" tool here on BYC and got some hits. Here are a couple of the links:
Homemade flock blocks!
Flock Block Recipe!

There are others, try doing a search to find the one that works for you!

P.S.

 

[N F C]

When I make it, I keep the blocks small too. With only 5 chickens, there's no need for a huge block.

That's one of the nice things about making them yourself, you can make them whatever size you want.