Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Just been watching the chickens eat after my day off. They ate the dried split green peas!

 

[Molpet]

I imagine truly free range chickens must get into leaf piles and that doesn't even cover compost heaps which are really just moldy kitchen scraps placed outside!

Mine have leaf piles under the trees and along the old barb wire fence line .
I also save dry leaves for winter, but they are stored under an overhang.
Some mushrooms come up that the chickens don't eat but the turkeys eat.
Styrofoam is the only thing I have seen them eat that they shouldn't.

 

[Perris]

Styrofoam is the only thing I have seen them eat that they shouldn't.

It has been trialled as an insect feed for about a decade now and it wouldn't surprise me if there's more of it in chicken feed than is supposed to be and allowed to be as unavoidable packaging plastic that accidentally got into the mix.

Our instinct is to say plastic is inedible, but actually, some aren't. See e.g.
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/84197

 

[Perris]

Just been watching the chickens eat after my day off. They are the dried split green peas!

I told you they'd get there sooner or later

 

[Molpet]

It has been trialled as an insect feed for about a decade now and it wouldn't surprise me if there's more of it in chicken feed than is supposed to be and allowed to be as unavoidable packaging plastic that accidentally got into the mix.

Our instinct is to say plastic is inedible, but actually, some aren't. See e.g.
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/84197

Years ago I read a study of sea turtles and Styrofoam, plastics and such in a science publication. It effected the endocrine system.
Of course I can't find it on the Internet.
I know when mine found and ate Styrofoam they were laying much more than normal for a couple days. Most had reproductive issues at the end.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Is there anything besides comfort?

Back in the day, when I worked at a bank in Manhattan, you dressed to a certain standard. (heels, skirt no more than an inch above the knee, matching suit jacket, etc.. Casual Fridays meant you could wear slacks..lol) Then I moved to Phoenix, went in to a bank on my first day, dressed for work... they were wearing jeans and t-shirts. LOL

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks - I will look to see if I can source a copy of the illustrated version.

On the subject of fungi, I have a question for you, Shad, and the other experienced chicken tenders on this thread concerning mold (a type of fungus).

I live in a clearing in the woods and pile the many, many, leaves that fall into a huge mountain not far from my Chicken Palace (my chickens have a large covered run and also range within an electric fence perimeter, but do not truly free range).

Periodically I go to the leaf mountain and fill a couple of lawn bags with leaves in various states of decay and tip them into the covered run. This is a very popular event and it seems many happy hours can be spent digging through the pile looking for interesting things to eat. At the bottom of the leaf pile are lots of worms, but higher up there are endless small insects that thought the leaf pile would be a safe home.

Here on BYC I have read that what I do is inadvisable because of the risk of toxic molds. So far, I have ignored this advice reasoning that chickens were originally forest floor birds and so leaf mold must have been an everyday part of life for their ancestors, but I admit to feeling a bit anxious every time I give them a bag.

I imagine truly free range chickens must get into leaf piles and that doesn't even cover compost heaps which are really just moldy kitchen scraps placed outside!

Any thoughts or words of reassurance for me?

I use leaves in the run. No problems so far.
The only thing that I've read should be avoided is bark mulch. Apparently as it decays some varieties produce a fungus that is toxic. I don't know much more than that and rely on the chickens knowing what's good and what isn't.

 

[Shadrach]

I told you they'd get there sooner or later

I've seen them eat a reasonable quantity of fermented peas but this is the first time I've seen them empty a tray with 30% dreid split peas. I can only assume C didn't feed them what they expect these days and they were hungry.

 

[BDutch]

Thanks - I will look to see if I can source a copy of the illustrated version.

On the subject of fungi, I have a question for you, Shad, and the other experienced chicken tenders on this thread concerning mold (a type of fungus).

I live in a clearing in the woods and pile the many, many, leaves that fall into a huge mountain not far from my Chicken Palace (my chickens have a large covered run and also range within an electric fence perimeter, but do not truly free range).

Periodically I go to the leaf mountain and fill a couple of lawn bags with leaves in various states of decay and tip them into the covered run. This is a very popular event and it seems many happy hours can be spent digging through the pile looking for interesting things to eat. At the bottom of the leaf pile are lots of worms, but higher up there are endless small insects that thought the leaf pile would be a safe home.

Here on BYC I have read that what I do is inadvisable because of the risk of toxic molds. So far, I have ignored this advice reasoning that chickens were originally forest floor birds and so leaf mold must have been an everyday part of life for their ancestors, but I admit to feeling a bit anxious every time I give them a bag.

I imagine truly free range chickens must get into leaf piles and that doesn't even cover compost heaps which are really just moldy kitchen scraps placed outside!

Any thoughts or words of reassurance for me?

Every autumn I collect the fallen leaves of my fruit trees and a few other nearby trees from the lawn. I dump them in the run to compensate the nitrates of the chicken poop. Never had a problem with it.

 

[SimpleJenn]

My girls love leaves! I give them a pile every so often, I had hubby dump the leaf vaccuum bag in the woods near the run so I can easily grab a snow-shovel full