What Do You Feed Chickens?

Laverne chilling on the temporary roost in the run

We love our chickens! Who knew they'd be so much fun?! Really they are fun to sit by the chicken coop in a shady spot and laugh at their crazy antics, they greet you with such admiration and idol worship, they are gorgeous creatures to look at, you can pet them and hold them (someone told me the other day she used to have a chicken that would just hop up in her lap!)...ummmmmm plus they give you food i.e. eggs!

Finding eggs is the trophy of chicken ownership of course. Each egg is unique in size, shape, shell color and design. I've enjoyed a little chicken-study the past few weeks as the egg laying began to figure out just which of our six girls was laying which egg. I'm a little nerdy that way, but it's been a fun endeavor and now I'm the resident expert on "who laid this egg?!" A title I've really always dreamed of. LOL Yesterday was our first half dozen day - all six hens laid an egg yesterday! The final one to lay (I feel sure it was Shirley) dropped her first egg several days ago and it takes a few egg cycles to get regular. Our Black Stars should lay about every day taking one day off every week or so. Big Bird, the yellow Red Ranger might only lay every third day give or take. At least that's her M.O. so far and heavier birds tend to be less prolific layers. The Black Star variety were bred to lay daily.

Once they awaken at sunlight, these funny birds spend their day eating, drinking, scratching, dirt bathing, egg laying, and general chicken silliness. And pooping. Oh yeah, don't forget that - they seem to poop all the time. But all that vitamin-rich chicken poop can go straight into the compost (unlike other fresh manure) and composted for our garden. So they are like little wild squawking compost machines! It all begins with commercial layer feed.

The girls have all day access - an all you can eat buffet - to their commercial layer feed with it's 15% protein and high calcium to help with the formation and production of eggs. Without this stuff, we could make our own but you want to ensure a healthy flock and this is a key step in that. Much of the commercial feed also has medication to help prevent common bird issues.They also have all day access to water in their run.

However, just like all animals, they love food and treats. And just like all pets, chicken owners want to give their girls yummy snacks in appreciation for all those eggs! My girls see me coming with a bucket and it gets loud and rowdy up in the chicken run - all of them hollering and singing and declaring their deservingness of a snack! These girls love acorns, blackberries, muscadines (unripe, ripe, peels only, and dried), strawberries, pears, apples, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, basil flowers, acorns, marigolds - all healthy, nutritious snacks if given in moderation. They also love bread and cooked pasta but don't get much of it since it lacks much nutrition. (One cannot live on junk food alone, even if they are a chicken!) There are a lot of other great food treats chickens may safely have and I'll be working on getting them some fun, delicious recipes!

This is a gigantic zucchini that hid from us in the garden until it was way past the size we want to eat. So instead of just tossing it in the compost, I scooped it out and ran the pulp through the food processor along with some other veggies like cucumber and squash ends. Added the puree back to the zucchini shell and topped it with breadcrumbs, chicken feed, and dried marigold flowers. Garnished with leftover corn on the cob (unsalted, unbuttered) for a perfect chicken snack feast! Needless to say, it did not last long!

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Hope you have a wonderful week full of rich experience. Be nice to yourself ! 

Cheers,
Ramsey