[feelingbroody]

Greetings all!

Preparing the Sunday lunch today I wondered what tasty morsels of the veggies would , if any the girls like. Please any tips. I have put a suet cage up with some sliced cooking apple in but they seem scared of the cage! so far I have given them grapes and strawberries and a few snail shells ! they dont like lettuce so I am just feeding corn and growers pellets as they were only hatched in early feb. Maybe their taste buds havent developed yet LOL so please I dont want to make them sick so if you could let me know I would be most grateful, also in what sort of quantities may I feed these added food stuffs.
Thanking you !

Broody  :blink:

[Nails]

Hi i give mine any veggie peelings left overs tat i have, potatoe skins need cooking before giving to the chooks, i just pop it all in a big pan and cook it up!!!!
No Meat tho!

[grenhouse]

Mine get all the veggie peelings, bits of rice and pasta (not too much).

Don't give them too many treats though, especially the carbs!

Steve

[Pretty Chick]

If you give them treats, make sure you don't give them too much because they need to eat their pellets. Their pellets have the right balance of nutrients they need.
I hardly ever feed mine scraps.

[Flowerpower136]

They're just like peeps, they've all got their own likes and dislikes, so you have to keep trying different things, but not too much.

Ours won't touch lettuce or broccali, but demolished a whole cabbage last weekend.  I strung it up at chook head height, and they loved it, it dissappeared in not time, stalks and all!

Tinned sweetcorn goes down well.  In fact it's gone before it touches the ground.

[feelingbroody]

thanks for that peoples     I have just watched them play rugby with some grapes and then a few cherry tomatoes ...better than watching the real thing I think  So I guess moderation moderation moderation , I was just concerned about what not to feed really as I didnt want them to have a problem due to my ignorance!
Thanks again

Broody 

[hillfooter]

Cook all veg except salad.  Don't feed citrus fruit otherwise fruit is OK particularly apple.  They love anything with seeds including melon, peppers, pumpkin.

Keep extras such as pasta, rice, corn to no more than 10grams.  A small handful of corn each per day is fine.
HF

[feelingbroody]

Hi HF

I have strung up a whole head of broccoli for them to peck at, is this ok or should it be cooked broc?? they dont seem to like anything green at all only grapes and cherry toms to date is it a matter of experimenting ?? they look scared when I put new things like scary broc in their coop

Thank you again

Broody

[sarah f]

my girls just love bananas 

[hillfooter]

Hi HF

I have strung up a whole head of broccoli for them to peck at, is this ok or should it be cooked broc?? they dont seem to like anything green at all only grapes and cherry toms to date is it a matter of experimenting ?? they look scared when I put new things like scary broc in their coop

Thank you again

Broody

If it's fresh greens that's Ok but as you've discovered they aren't as keen on the green veg as some would have you believe.  Cooking it helps make it more palatable and particularly carbohydrates such as potatoes which are dificult to digest without cooking.  Mine won't eat lettuce leaves but give them a lettuce heart and they love it.  

They tend to eat what their companions eat (it's a survival instinct).   You may have noticed that the last handful of corn you throw down is always the prefered one they dive for.  Even leaving far more accessible and plentiful batches of corn to compete for the latest handful.

Many keepers find they won't touch carrot raw or cooked and mine certainly won't so they can be very choosy.

Any kitchen pealings should be cooked just from a hygene perspective and legally you shouldn't feed any animal on kitchen (or restaurant) waste if it is a species which might enter the human food chain.  For most chicken hobbists who just eat the eggs this is a bit of a technicality.

Some people feed protein such as tuna or even worse cat food and they certainly go mad for that but I wouldn't recommend this at all, though increased protein has it's place in convalesing sick birds.

Keep the staple diet layers pellets and a handful of corn in the evening and the odd treat such as boiled rice, pasta sweetcorn is fine.  Green Veg are not what I class as treats and are also fine in moderation so as not to displace the pellets as their staple diet.  Anything with seeds is ok apart from citrus fruits.  Avoid hi protein treats such as dried meal worms cat food etc completely unless you need to boost their protein intake for some medical issue.
HF

[hillfooter]

my girls just love bananas  

Yes bananas are ok.  I once was passing a market at closing time and saw a green grocer putting a whole box of over ripe bananas out for disposal and I asked if I could have them for the chickens and as you say they were a big hit.  However they are quite fattening so not too often.
HF

[feelingbroody]

  HF wow food for thought  ok will do at the moment the babies are not on layers pellets they apparently progress from growers to layers ! have I got that right??

blimey parrots were dead easy compared to these lovely lovely chooks 
and I would not touch another exotic ever after experiencing the delight of the individual personalities of these little birds, who'd  have thought ??

[hillfooter]

HF wow food for thought  ok will do at the moment the babies are not on layers pellets they apparently progress from growers to layers ! have I got that right??

blimey parrots were dead easy compared to these lovely lovely chooks 
and I would not touch another exotic ever after experiencing the delight of the individual personalities of these little birds, who'd  have thought ??

Get them onto layers by 16weeks.   Phase it in by adding the layers in increasing amounts to their feed until its all layers.  You can do this over a 2  week period or so.
HF

[feelingbroody]

Get them onto layers by 16weeks.   Phase it in by adding the layers in increasing amounts to their feed until its all layers.  You can do this over a 2  week period or so.
HF


Hi HF

May I ask the reason to putting them on layers pellets ie what is the difference between the two, just so I can gain knowlege!

thank you
 

[joyfull]

the amount of protein, calcium, vits and minerals etc are different. These feeds are formulated to suit their growth and development at the correct ages.