[Selkie]

Thanks for calling me a lady Sue, it's made my day

I know they like animal protein but I thought milk was a no-no (being birds and not mammals) and I also thought you weren't meant to give them eggs incase it encourages them to eat their own? (though perhaps if they're cooked then they don't realise it's egg that they're eating?)

Sorry if these are dumb questions

[sue.hole]

yes rosemary - you are right about raw eggs, but mine are naughty and sometimes drop eggs from the perch bars or break them in the nesting boxes, and they eat what they can  - they are out of the cages, so can't expect top manners from them really. h, b , egg, mixed in with their mash, well of course they don't recognise this. I've only had hens for a couple of years, so I'm no expert - we just learn  by our mistakes as we go along, but they are fussy and know what they like, so we give them what they like.

[Selkie]

i would not give cows milk as cows milk is only any good for baby cows really, i'd use goats milk,

Is goats' milk lower in lactose then?

[richyrich7]

Hiya Rugby Mad IMHO your hens will benefit from a SMALL amount of cod liver oil given once a week, mixed corn is good last thing in the evening about 1/2 hour before locking up time, I use it to get them in  :roll: don't give a huge amount mine get a handful between 2 birds, corn takes them a while to digest so helps them keep their body temp up on cold nights.

I would personally not give hens any form of treats first thing in the morning as they need to eat layers to get the best out of them, to many treats can lead to fat hens and this leads to low egg production also can cause health problems eg prolapse etc

Mine have a fairly strict diet of ad lib layers pellets, greens or free ranging, funny tho' they are reluctant to eat greens left in the run but will eat them if put on the floor of their shed,  they love grass best. A little cod liver oil occasionally and they have always oyster shell and most important water. Corn and the occasional sunflower hearts are fed like I mentioned above just before lock up, gives me a chance to give them the once over and they always come in when they hear the corn tin

And like has been mentioned before, daylight length does affect their laying performance, as the days lengthen you should see an increase in egg production.

They are what you feed 'em  

Hope this helps

[richyrich7]

I forgot to mention, please don't let your hens eat raw egg if they get a taste for it, they may become egg eaters   :shock: and that is a very difficult habit to break, for me an egg eater would have to be culled.  

[sue.hole]

YES - GOATS MILK IS LOWER IN LACTOSE, IT IS PERCEIVED AS LESS ALLERGENIC THAN COWS.

[Selkie]

Thanks for that Sue, I'm not going to start giving mine milk anyway but thanks for clearing that up.

[Viv]

i don't give them loads of cows milk, and it is boiled up first, It usually has soaked right into the mix, they get this about 10 am after they have been at the layers mash. Today they had the remains of the Christmas pud and a bunch of grapes that were starting to go sticky.

They seem to enjoy what I am giving them. but, I do hope that I am not causing them any harm :oops:  :oops:

[Viv]

I think I read that if you somehow get mustard powder into an egg this will deter the hens from eating them as they hate mustard. Can not remember exactly how to do it, think you had to blow the egg and then put the mustard in as a liquid and leave it where the egg eaters can get to it. :roll: i

[Rob the rake]

Show them this.....

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/robtherake/022006-chicken-small.jpg

.....and you'll have a basketful by the morning.