suit

[mommabs]

Is it ok to feed the girls suit u get at the store for wild birds??

 

[Kelsie2290]

Some people like to feed a bit of suet as a winter treat when it is really cold. Like any other treat, just feed it in moderation, since even the suet blocks with seed or grain in them are really high in fat.

 

[mommabs]

Ok. So i have 9 chickens, is it ok to put a whole one out there?? Or is that too much?

 

[Kelsie2290]

The small ones are only about 6-8 ounces? usually I think, so I wouldn't have a problem with that for that many hens. You might want to start gradually and see how they like it (and share it, don't want one hen eating it all) and so they get used to it and don't have digestive upsets. There are a number of threads on BYC about making your own suet cakes, or various websites they make ones with meal worms and sunflower seeds in them etc especially for chickens.

 

[VillageFarmer]

This is our first winter with chickens, we have one roo and 18 girls (all of which are Dominique - supper cool birds!). For the past 4 weeks the weather has been typical for northern New York with below 0 nights and three feet of snow already. Pre-snow days, the kids free ranged over our's and the neighbor's yard and garden, but now with the snow they only venture to the edge of the doorway. I was concerned about them not coming out of the coop to warm up during the days when the sun shone and being cold all of the time. I remembered hearing my Granddad telling stories of hanging a skinned carcass in the coop during the winter for their chickens to pick at, so with the onset of this cold weather, I have hung a 3 pound chunk of beef suit I got from our local butcher in the back corner. At fist the kids were not sure if they liked having it hang in their space, but after I broke pieces off and hand fed them, they quickly figured it out and regularly peck at it now. I have not turned any of the heat lamps on so far and they all seam to be handling the cold well.