Hi Adam.
Going to Norfolk tomorrow hopefully! OH has promised me a trip to Bircham Mill, and Hunstanton and maybe I'll get my little visit to Norfolk lavendar if I promise to buy him a coffee! lol
If you are West Norfolk, take a look at Bearts of Stowbridge. Their chicken feed prices, even retail are quite good.
The battery hens are usually fed on layers mash, but when we first got ours, we were told by the rescue co-ordinator that they soon get used to pellets, and as pelleets are slightly less messy, that is what we've always done.
Got our first rescues ooooohhhh about 15 years ago, but those ones were actually rescued from a free range farm which wasn't so bad. Since then the ones we've had were ex battery. Yes it is awful the way they are kept, but we as consumers must take a lot of the blame as over the years we have demanded cheaper and cheaper food.
Hopefully now more and more people are coming to realise the cost of thsi cheap food to the animals involved. But I will get off my soapbox now, sorry!!
Some people use grit pots, some people scatter it around. I've actually got mine in a very expensive feedeer that I bought last year as a try out, but it is too small, although it carries 10kg of feed, for the 20 hens if they all want to eat at the same time, like first thing in the morning!
We use 10kg feeders and 12 litre drinkers for our girls, but if you say want up to half a dozen birds, then a 5kilo feeder and 6 litre drinker is ample.
Again everyone is different. Some peeps on here use the smaller sizes but thinking about the 1.5 kg feeders I've got, I only use them for chicks.
DEFRA recommend at least 1sq metre run space per bird, but we try to get people to give them at least 2 sq metres each. Do you have enough room for that? Would be lovely if you can arrange it so that you can rotate runs.