[Aunt Sally]

I presume as you are heavily into recycling and using up things you will of course have ex-battery hens !

[too many girls]

i very much doubt that they will get enough nutrients from kitchen scraps to enable them to lay properly formed eggs, i would stick with a diet of layers pellets as a main food (after all it is designed to have everything a laying hen needs in it apart from grit) and give them scraps as a top up, mine free range a farm but i have layers pellets down for them all the time, that way i know they're properly fed, any bugs mice and worms are looked on as extra protein

[Feeb]

i would like laying hens, particularly to start with we are going to look for a local breeder to sort out the initial flock, after a while when i am a bit more familar with the whole thing, i will be more than happy to give home to a battery chicken

they are primarily a food source!

[Feeb]

i very much doubt that they will get enough nutrients from kitchen scraps to enable them to lay properly formed eggs, i would stick with a diet of layers pellets as a main food (after all it is designed to have everything a laying hen needs in it apart from grit) and give them scraps as a top up, mine free range a farm but i have layers pellets down for them all the time, that way i know they're properly fed, any bugs mice and worms are looked on as extra protein

i used to get eggs from a lady that fed her chickens on crushed chicken eggs, potatoe peelings, cooked kitchen scraps of any variety except chicken and some sort of chicken grain

that seemed to work really well

[Ice]

I've only had my three hens for a week now and it's my first time of keeping hens.  I listened to and took the advice I got from the many experienced chicken keepers on here.  I will adapt my way of feeding and raising my hens as I get more knowledge and experience.  That way I know my hens will be well nourished at all times.  Layers pellets are not all that expensive.

[Feeb]

but whats in them?

i am not concerned about using money, simply about using as much as we can from the house as well - i am really hoping we can become alot more self sufficient by this time next year very exciting stuff

[Aunt Sally]

Please don't forget it is illegal to feed chickens on meat.  I'll find you the DEFRA link

[Ice]

I'm not sure why you are wary of whats in the pellets.  You can experiment and make mistakes with veg, but not with hens.  I'm six summers into learning to grow veg and I'm still not self sufficient, but near enough this year.

[Feeb]

i realise these things take time - i am happy to put that time in as i find it all so interesting so not too worried about it taking a while to get sorted

we dont have enough space to be completely self sufficent, would need alot more space

From what i can gather you can feed chickens on anything so long as you are not selling eggs - i wont be feeding them chicken obviously but i see nothing wrong with feeding them the none compostable scraps (which wont be a great deal )

We dont generally have alot of food scraps in the house, most of the stuff we throw away is compostable, it just would be nice to give the remaining stuff to the chicks instead of into landfil, i will look into pellets now

'Layers pellets' sound a bit ominous though, surely the birds should be able to lay as they like?

[poultrygeist]

There are a lot of organic pellets available. You said the lady fed some sort if chicken grain. Layer's pellets are basically various grains with added protein, vitamins, minerals and trace elements in the perfect balance. If you happen to have a takeaway or your dinner doesn't go to plan, your hens may well go short as a consequence. I would start with the easy stuff and see if you can then replace with your own choice.
Please don't make the chooks part of an experiment in self-sufficiency unless you are 100% certain you can give them what they need.

Rob

[poultrygeist]

The hens will lay every day or every other day as they want.

The pellets merely provide the right balance of foodstuffs. They don't induce egg layign at all. If they did, there's a lot less thread saying "when will my hens lay?" 

Don't be afraid of them. They are everything your hens will need.

Rob

[Aunt Sally]

...  i see nothing wrong with feeding them the none compostable scraps (which wont be a great deal )

We dont generally have alot of food scraps in the house, most of the stuff we throw away is compostable, ...


...  surely the birds should be able to lay as they like?

If you don't have many food scraps how did you think you were going to feed them only on scraps ?  I'm puzzled  

What do you mean by "lay as they like" ?

[Aunt Sally]

It is vitally importaint that you don't give your hens anything which has salt or sugar added to it while cooking !  I will damage their kidneys.  Anything with fat is also bad for them.  Their liver can't deal with it.

[greenmoor]

I would always give layers a scoop or two of pellets,  I think you get better consistency with egg laying than when they are just left to forage, especially during winter months when maybe they just need a bit more energy to keep them fit.

[Feeb]

okies after a think we are going to go with pellets and the odd scraps for them too

i am looking at water feeders now but wanted to scatter food for them to peck at rather than have them taking food from a feeder

we are getting full chickens rather than chicks so will they handle a nipple feeder okay do you think? or should i just use a bowl for water?