[kensington chicks]

Hello everyone,

We are newbies, and have had six girls for five weeks now.  Two Sussex, Two Black Columbian and Two Rangers.  They are all doing well, and four of them have started laying.

My question is how many ' greens ' should they be given?  They have layers pellets in the drop feeders.  Is is a cabbage or something like every day??

I have been giving them courgettes and marrows from the garden, and a few tomatoes each day but wondered if this is too much or not enough?

Thanks for all the experienced members who keep replying to us newbies, I have been reading the forum all month !   

[Lindeggs]

Hello Kensington chicks, welcome to the forum

You will find a wide variety of answers to your question on here!  A lot of people will say that everything the chickens need is in their pellets, so they should be encouraged to get all their nutrition from a good quality, commercially produced pellet and only given greens to relieve boredom and/or as a treat.

Personally I take a different approach and I think a chicken should be given as many greens as she wants to eat.  I see greens and other vegetable matter as part of her staple diet, not as an alternative to a staple diet.

I'm in the lucky position of being able to allow my chickens to free range, so I can give them the choice of as much commercially-produced feed as they like, and also as much plant matter as they like.  They eat a huge amount of grass and weeds in the course of a day, in addion to the supplied food in their feeder.

So all I can say is keep reading these forums, take into account everybody's reply to your question, and do what you think is best for your chickens. 

[Fisherman]

I do the same as Lindeggs but I also give them surplus veg greens when the are kept in their run. It stops them getting bored being able to scratch about and I also believe the veg helps colour up the egg yolks due to the carotene in them. I give them any of the brassica family, lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, courgettes, tomatoes etc. Some say feeding them too many greens gives them the runs but not in my experience. They just eat as much as they want and don't appear to overdose on it.

[joyfull]

mine also free range and get as much grass as they can eat plus whatever crops are growing in the field around us - they loved the farmer when he sowed corn the other year  .
The do have several feeders and they come running out in the mornings to eat from these first before going out and about 

[Dominic]

I'm an "as much as they wanter" as well.
Mine have pellets and water available, and grass in the run, and whatever they can find free ranging.
I've read they need at least 25% pellets, and mine seem to be on about that.

[kensington chicks]

Thank you so much everyone.

My girls are in their run in the morning, and they are allowed to roam part of the garden all afternoon, evening, so they are eating grass, weeds, and the hedge !

They do eat their pellets in the morning, and go back and fro in the afternoon to eat them also.

I think I will continue to give them the excess from the veg plot, and a cabbage etc now and again.  As for the tomatoes, they last approx 10 seconds. 

The chap I bought the girls from told me not to give them lettuce, but after reading the forum and a couple of mags I don't see why not?  Probably just not too much.

Thanks again, KC

[JaK]

We don't have grass here at the moment (garden has been a building site for ages), so my chicks just get greens from the raised beds as well as their chick crumb.

[Lindeggs]

KC, apparently too much lettuce will give them the runs.  I've not had that problem and I suspect that if they have plenty of greens to choose from as well as the lettuce it shouldn't be too bad.

When I picked up my pullets from the breeder they had been living in a pen under a pear tree.  Apparently too many windfall pears also gives them the runs!  :blink:

[jamima]

I also agree with Lindeggs about feeding , i do everything she does and people say they have never seen such yellow yolks so must b doing something right 

[kensington chicks]

Thanks for the tip about the pears Lindeggs, as my pen is also under my 150 year old pear tree.

I will have to keep an eye out for how many they eat!

Have a good weekend everyone.  KC x