What special care do you give your flock?

[EmmaDonovan]

I feel bad they can't free range (too many predators) or forage (not much to forage in the desert) so I try to make sure they regularly get some greens and and other treats like spinach, oat or wheat grass, cabbage, pumpkin, apples, etc. When it's hot they get frozen peas and blueberries.

 

[ManOverBoard]

Year round, my girls love grapes -- not only to eat, but to use in spirited games of keep away, as one hen after another will steal a grape and run at full speed with the flock in close pursuit.

We love when they do this,we refer to it as a chicken version of capture the flag

 

[ManOverBoard]

Do you mean other than kitchen scratch? Because they LOVE it when we bring out the small ice cream bucket with the discards of vegetable prep! For special things I go and sit in the coop and hand feed them very special treats. For which they go nuts.

Yes, things that others might do only occasionally or not at all but you do all the time just to give your girls that extra bit of love and care. Something like an extra special supplement, special fancy bedding or coop decor/furnishings, something perhaps you grow in your garden specifically just for them, etc.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Here in UK we are not supposed to give kitchen waste...something about contamination (?)

Ridiculous. People have been feeding chickens scraps for thousands of years. My own chickens eat scraps, bugs, dog poop, decaying predator corpses, poisonous plants that would instantly kill mammals, etc. They're basically little dinosaurs that eat absolutely anything they can, and they're perfectly healthy doing so and make healthy eggs

 

[hammyanne]

My girls go nuts for the insides of cantaloupe. Dido usually grabs a huge piece and scurries off, then swallows it one gulp. It’s hilarious and horrifying. Sometimes I shop for produce with them specifically in mind

And then this isn’t really a special treatment tip, per se, but I have a hen, Fiona, who lost one foot to frostbite this past winter and she’s still getting the hang of hobbling around. Sometimes I’ll scoop her up to expedite her journey. I call it “Air Fiona” and I think she appreciates it.

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

For example, we give our girls a couple drops of organic oregano oil in their water.

Why do you put oregano oil in their water? I've never heard of doing that.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

I play music for them and....cough give them lessons in chemistry/nuclear science. I also show birds through 4h so those in particular get special treatment. Otherwise I just spend a lot of time with the others and let them outside the fence a lot

 

[Livia Ammon]

I throw them some ‘ancient wheat’ that I got. It isn’t ancient really, just too old for ‘health standards’ for human consumption. The ancient part comes from the type of wheat, it’s an ancestral variety. They like to scratch around in their bedding looking for it. I also have a sour cherry tree that bears lots of gross cherries, so I let my rooster hop up and fetch cherries for my girls. It’s the cutest thing.

 

[peafowl_Lover]

I give my girls all my quail and goose eggs I hardboil them first. They frequently get canned sweetcorn and peanuts. Sometimes I buy them a peck block. I mostly just give them that in winter when there is less to forage for.

 

[CabritaChicks]

I cut bouquets of flowers, herbs and spices and hang them in the coop. Not only does it make it smell good, but they get a kick out of playing with it and tearing it apart and the tiny little bugs in it.

I also give table scraps- especially watermelon rinds.