Treating your Chickens?

[noregerts]

My husband works at a place that brings in lots of catered food. He brings leftovers (unserved) home a few times a week for our 21 hens. Lots of salad! They prefer the days he brings carbs like mac-n-cheese or potatoes!

 

[noregerts]

I hang a head of lettuce in the coop and they all peck at it and eat. I have six chickens so it is gone in about 10 -15 minutes and they love it. During the summer I place it in the freezer for about 20 minutes and they love that!

I do that with cabbage but I never thought to freeze it, that's brilliant!

 

[Courtburr]

I'm a daily-treater of 4 free-rangers (recently thinned my flock of 7 to make room for 2 pullets that just started laying......and got 3 chicks earlier this week, so will be back up to 7 in the big house soon enough).
Treats here consist of meal worms, scratch, a small bit of cracked corn, table scraps or left overs. The list of things I give is pretty vast and varies with the season. We fish, so I always keep some tiny or undesirable fish just for the birds. I throw them on the grill whole and flip them out onto the ground and step back to watch the feeding frenzy. They get the leftover minnows, wax worms, leeches, etc too. I have a heated bird bath that I leave under the faucet in the winter. After one of our ice fishing trips, I dumped the leftover minnows in the bird bath and the chickens went nuts chasing them and plucking them out of the water.
Along with the fish, their other favorites have to be string cheese and bacon scraps.....well, any meat scraps. I cut the fat/grizzle trimmings into small pieces and they absolutely love them.
This winter when the polar vortex was bearing down on us with -60 wind chills, I'd take warm cooked oatmeal laced with yummies like pomegranate seeds and bacon crumbles out to them morning and evening to warm their tummies.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Start the chick grit (the nice small grit) as soon as you can. It won't hurt and it can certainly help.

Great thanks!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

W

I am new to chicken raising, my chicks are 4 weeks old and I have only gave them the baby cakes that you buy at the feed store for them. At what age can you start treats, and what is acceptable for my age chicks? I will need to start them on chicken grits at the same time?

Wait until they are much older. Hopefully you feed them chick starter grower. This is all they need for the first few months.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I have 6 RIR's and they get treats daily. They get scratch grains, vegetable scraps and bread. I also give them cottage cheese or scrambled eggs to make sure they are getting enough protein. The girls get a handful of mealworms daily which they love, but my rooster will not touch them. During the hot summer days I give the watermelon to cool down. They also get greens and butternut squash from my garden. I don't let them free range because of the local predators so I give them things to make up for that.

 

[Courtburr]

I am new to chicken raising, my chicks are 4 weeks old and I have only gave them the baby cakes that you buy at the feed store for them. At what age can you start treats, and what is acceptable for my age chicks? I will need to start them on chicken grits at the same time?

I gave my 3 chicks (Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Speckled Sussex and Blue Cochin) that are 5 weeks old a few meal worms a piece yesterday for the first time. They got the hang of it pretty quick!

 

[Peep_Show]

Besides the chicken kibble, daily they get a bread roll in their treat ball and a handful per bird of corn and of mealworms. Weekly they get a bowl of mealtime leftovers mixed with a can of mackerel (fish found at the dollar store.)

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

W

Wait until they are much older. Hopefully you feed them chick starter grower. This is all they need for the first few months.

They are on egg lands best chick food.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I gave my 3 chicks (Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Speckled Sussex and Blue Cochin) that are 5 weeks old a few meal worms a piece yesterday for the first time. They got the hang of it pretty quick!

Ok great. My daughter said I can give them some too but crush them up first.