[Minx14]

hello everyone. well i'm new to both this chat page and have, as yet, to take the plunge to become a hen keeper....but there are quite a few areas that i am still unsure on and this is one...when you mention feeding them mash, do you really mean mash as in potato?? like i said i am a novice, well even worse than that really as i dont even have one hen yet !! but i can't wait. many thanks to anyone who will reply to my question...once you have stopped sniggering  !!! Sally.x  

Edited title for search clarity - moderator

[hen-night]

hello sally and welcome, this forum is great and very informative, but so is the internet. Ive only been keeping chickens for nearly a year myself, and found a lot of information online. It will give you a insight about poultry, and answer alot of your questions. But use the forum also cos its great to chat.Aden...

[nerdle]

I really like Virginia Shirt's book (yes that is her name) The right way to keep chickens.  Really cheep(!) secondhand form Amazon.  Do an Eglu course as welll - cheap again and so interesting and fun.

[Casey76]

Hi Sally, welcome to the hen house

Pleased don't be embarrassed about asking any questions at all - you never know how many other people out there are wondering the same thing

Mash for hens is not mashed potato   Mash is a dry food which looks a bit like fine oatmeal and has little bits of wheat and maize visible in it.  It is meant to be fed dry, and is more usually used in large production units.  However it can be mixed with a little water to make a crumble-like texture.  Fed this way you have to replace it every day, otherwise it spoils very easily.

When the mash is extruded through a press it forms pellets, and most hobby hen owners will feed pellets as they are more convenient, and can be fed from large volume gravity feeders without clogging up the openings.

I'm sure someone will come along soon and correct me if I'm wrong I live in France, so the composition of mash in the UK might be slightly different, but it should be similar.

I can recommend the Haynes Chicken Manual as a good book to start from, if you want some further reading.  Not only does it have sections on husbandry, but it also has a section on the more readily available breeds in the UK.

Good luck

[joyfull]

Hello, Casey is exactly spot on as to what mash is, I give mine a warm mash porridge in the morning when it is snowy to help tempt my hens out (mixed with hot water), they love it, otherwise they get layers pellets and dry mash. Mash can be very messy unlike pellets.
Another good book to try is this one by Cara Martin (nee Harrison) and her father (this sites owner John Harrison. The details can be found here:-

http://www.allotment-garden.org/book/backgarden-chickens.php

Welcome to the site and yes ask as many questions as you like - it is best to ask people who will have been through the same things and can give you the benefit of their experiences. Also before getting your hens please take a look around your local area for a poultry friendly vet as not all vets will treat chickens which is a shame as backyard poultry keeping is one of the fastest growing hobbies 

[Tony H]

Hi and welcome  just a small word of caution about information on the web! some advice given is not always fact but mearley the orthers own vews, I found out to my horror that i was putting my chicks health at risc after following temperature advice given, It was only when others on here told me i had got it wrong  now i double check a few sites to make sure the facts are correct. needless to say you always get good advice on here 

[Mickle]

As previous have said correctly Mash today is a Dry balanced meal containing all nutrients required for healthy stock and can be served hot or cold,

 
50 odd years ago we knew mash as Corn/Wheat/Barley meal mixed with food leftovers and boiled potato/ vegetable peelings,
An addition of Karswood poultry spice for the vitamins and minerals, served hot, the chickens would eat you to get to it and the eggs always tasted great.

[JACDORE]

yes dont ever feel silly asking a question, it just extends your knowledge and correct knowledge at that.  I mean how did the first hen keeper get on, trial and error and then having a new no3vice as the same silly questions that turned into valueable advice.  My girls have both pellets and mash.  I have 5 ex battery girls who all had their beaks clipped so eating mash ensures they do get good food inside.  They can eat pellets but struggle so as i say just to bump it up we give mash.  Be careful not to give it constant to girls that havnt been snipped as just makes them lazy and gannits.

[Raven81]

I give my ladies layers pellets, and if the weather is really cold I mash some up with hot water.

Please don't feel silly to ask anything on here, when I first started I asked some things that now seem really obvious.