[ActionFlack]

I really don't understand why!! They show the right way up to me! Even if I flip it so its upside down to me, it doesn't change it for you! Maybe I need to invert their coup??

[ANHBUC]

I will ask the tech team if they know what causes it.   

[ANHBUC]

Thanks Aunt Sally.   

[barley]

just a thought in this hot weather 
why not leave kitchen meat scraps out in the heat of the day ( out of reach from kids and pets )
in a couple of days it will be crawling with maggots - I bet they would go down a treat with the hens

now that's wot I call proper recycling   

[ANHBUC]

just a thought in this hot weather 
why not leave kitchen meat scraps out in the heat of the day ( out of reach from kids and pets )
in a couple of days it will be crawling with maggots - I bet they would go down a treat with the hens

now that's wot I call proper recycling 

I think that would attract more than flies, rats and of course Mr Fox would love it.   

[barley]

just a thought in this hot weather 
why not leave kitchen meat scraps out in the heat of the day ( out of reach from kids and pets )
in a couple of days it will be crawling with maggots - I bet they would go down a treat with the hens

now that's wot I call proper recycling 

I think that would attract more than flies, rats and of course Mr Fox would love it.   

point taken on rats and foxes - need to leave up out of reach some where
I'm giving it a go this weekend with the sunday roast remains - will leave it in the green house on the shelf out of reach - should get nice and hot and smelly in there  - flies not a problem cause the chooks like catching and eating those too

[Chrysalis]

Maybe a bokashi bin would be a more pleasant/hygenic way of recycling meat products??  

[coop-de-tat]

Do chickens like apples?

The large cooking variety I mean...

I am setting up a new chicken coop and will be introducing 4 or 5 girls to it soon. I have an oldish but fairly small apple tree I want to look after but is smack in the middle of the new chook area. There is a tidy little apple crop on the tree which I'm hoping to make some nice wine out of for Christmas (and a few crumbles and tarts) Will my new chickens possibly make a meal of my crop before me?

CdT

[ANHBUC]

They will have a peck at them and if they like them they will eat them.  They may be too sour for though so you will probably just have to wait and see.   

[coppermaran]

on my allotment i have discovered many things chickens will eat   hawthorn berries    rose hips   all your greens most ripe fruit sweetcorn in fact not much they wont eat even on one rare occasion i saw a welsummer hen of mine with a small shrew in her beak and yes she down it in one   But nothing cooked from the kitchen because i keep pigs i know thats a no no from DEFRA

[danfinn1]

Well one of mine was trying to drink spilt coffee from the table on Saturday.Quite funny to watch as both she and I were unsure whether she liked it.

To explain, our boys (34) and (32) came round to help me fell a couple of young sycamores. After we had got them down and logged up I made us all bacon and egg sandwiches and let my hens out. The boys got fed, split some coffee and then said goodbye. I was left finishing off my sandwich being watched by three pair of eyes. Hen the decided to jump up on the arm of the chair opposite to get a closer look at what I was eating, she then noticed the coffee and took a few sips . I did explain that DEFRA would not like it but she just jumped down beep beeped and walked off

[andreadon]

We discovered a couple of weeks ago that our chickens do not like savoy cabbage - i thought it would be very popular indeed, but they took off the out couple of green leaves and left the rest! 

They loved the spring greens though.

[leanda]

Can they eat grapes and vine leaves please?

[New shoot]

Mine regularly help themselves from the vine in the back garden, so yes.  They eat a few leaves, but aren't that bothered.  Grapes on the other hand cause a frenzy 

[Tom Parrot]

Hello readers,
This topic caught my eye and went through all the replies. Interesting.
As for kitchen scraps, including meat, it could all go into a HOT BIN. I've had one for many years now and if the mix is right it makes lovely compost. If the mix is not right and you have the space, after composting in the hot bin put it onto a normal compost and mix it in.
It can get to over 120 degrees centigrade. Normally about 90/100 degrees.
As for vegetables for the hens. I grow Swiss Chard for them and they prefer that to other brassicas.
Plant out the tomatoes and the bottom leaves are quickly eaten. With the hens jumping up to eat those leaves higher up. Helps to ripen the tomatoes lower down so no harm done.
Low growing fruit can disappear before you get a chance to taste it.
All good fun!!!!!!!!!!