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| Never let it be said that our chickens are poorly fed. Today I tilled two new gardens and the hens had a worm feast. |
We have happy, fat, hens.
Normally we give them what everyone else gives their chickens: Layena Pellets from Purina. The pellets have a higher than average percentage of calcium and are not medicated, so the eggs are good and the shells are hard. But they can go through about fifty pounds of the stuff in a week, so we augment the pellets with copious amounts of whole grains we got from a client who had about 3200 pounds of defunct survival food stored in his attic. Mostly wheat (3 varieties), but there are oats, barley, and corn too. We mix one scoop of grain into their pellets. But they eat quite well here besides.
The vegetables from MacGreggor's Garden, that don't come up to snuff aesthetically, go into the chicken run for nearly instant disposal. If tomato has a defect, and plenty of them do, then the chickens get a feast. About every three day or so I put five pounds of tomatoes out but they also get beans that grow too large, monster cucumbers, failed melons, and the kitchen scraps from cooking.
Normally we give them what everyone else gives their chickens: Layena Pellets from Purina. The pellets have a higher than average percentage of calcium and are not medicated, so the eggs are good and the shells are hard. But they can go through about fifty pounds of the stuff in a week, so we augment the pellets with copious amounts of whole grains we got from a client who had about 3200 pounds of defunct survival food stored in his attic. Mostly wheat (3 varieties), but there are oats, barley, and corn too. We mix one scoop of grain into their pellets. But they eat quite well here besides.
The vegetables from MacGreggor's Garden, that don't come up to snuff aesthetically, go into the chicken run for nearly instant disposal. If tomato has a defect, and plenty of them do, then the chickens get a feast. About every three day or so I put five pounds of tomatoes out but they also get beans that grow too large, monster cucumbers, failed melons, and the kitchen scraps from cooking.
Needles to say, they a free roaming, so there aren't very many bugs on the ground. They chase around all day, browsing bugs and seeds from all around the Farm. Nearly omnivorous, I even seen them eating a dove that didn't pay attention and they occasionally find a vole, or a mole, poking his head up and chase each other around trying to steal it away for themselves.
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| Many of the more mature hens have taken to following me around whenever I am on the tractor. They seem to know that I bring good things to the surface. |
As Fall comes in and Winter approaches, our chickens are going in very healthy, fat, and happy.
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