What i did in or around the hen house today

[akaskip]

Good idea for a thread.

Oh dear, so much to do before winter. The shed that I'm planning to use for a winter coop hasn't arrived yet. And when it does, I'm going to have to build a run.

14 (approx) pullets have been locked up in the chicken tractor and a small dog run for the last 2 weeks because they were beginning to lay and I wanted them to learn to lay in nest boxes. This has happened and we are getting about 5 eggs a day. So today I opened the gate of the run and let them out. We shall see whether they go back there to roost at night. Fingers crossed. There are still a few cockerels to butcher, and I should get to it because it's a waste of money to feed them.

  Was there a roost in the chicken tractor?, if so, they should come home too roost before dark, we don't let ours roam anymore, but when we did they would always come back through the gate and in to the house on their own just before dark, at times it would look as though they are racing back to get the best spot on the roost , the rooster is usually the last one in, he checks and double checks to make sure his ladies are in and then he hits the roost.

[kats]

Yes, there are roosts in the tractor. Well, I hope ours behave as yours did. Fingers crossed.

[kiwi]

OOOOHHHH lovely all the chicken experts in one place.

My little ladies are just starting laying, I have expanded their run they have a lovely patch under bushes with lots of ebeegeebees to scratch, I have started making mash for them out of kitchen scraps (I have a book put out by the British War Ministry on how to feed rabbits and chickens on kitchen scraps) and they are loving that my question is (because it isn't covered in a wartime book) can I give them a porridge made out of quinoa, I have some of dubious quality and I am trying to grow some, also what about semonlina, couscous and things like that, just thinking in case I have left overs.  Also what about corn, they are  too small for whole corn kernels but what if I grew some, dryed it and crushed the corn into little pieces would that be ok, I am just thinking of things I can grow.  The book and a website I went to said anything we eat they can (with obvious modifications) and they will even eat a little left over meat.

  Could you tell us the name of the book and the website, they both sound very interesting

http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Poultry-Rabbits-Penguin-Handbooks/dp/0141038624

http://www.keeping-chickens.co.uk/chicken-mash/

[kats]

My trouble with that chicken mash business is that nearly all the ingredients they put into it, we use as human food. Leftover rice is saved to become fried rice, dry bread becomes bread crumbs, etc. Instead, we have a chicken bowl into which we put things like grungy lettuce leaves, egg shells, stray veg scraped off plates, rotting cucumber and squash, etc. This we give raw to the chooks every morning with a bit of scratch and they love it.

[akaskip]

OOOOHHHH lovely all the chicken experts in one place.

My little ladies are just starting laying, I have expanded their run they have a lovely patch under bushes with lots of ebeegeebees to scratch, I have started making mash for them out of kitchen scraps (I have a book put out by the British War Ministry on how to feed rabbits and chickens on kitchen scraps) and they are loving that my question is (because it isn't covered in a wartime book) can I give them a porridge made out of quinoa, I have some of dubious quality and I am trying to grow some, also what about semonlina, couscous and things like that, just thinking in case I have left overs.  Also what about corn, they are  too small for whole corn kernels but what if I grew some, dryed it and crushed the corn into little pieces would that be ok, I am just thinking of things I can grow.  The book and a website I went to said anything we eat they can (with obvious modifications) and they will even eat a little left over meat.

  Could you tell us the name of the book and the website, they both sound very interesting

http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Poultry-Rabbits-Penguin-Handbooks/dp/0141038624

http://www.keeping-chickens.co.uk/chicken-mash/

  Thanks kiwi,

[kiwi]

My trouble with that chicken mash business is that nearly all the ingredients they put into it, we use as human food. Leftover rice is saved to become fried rice, dry bread becomes bread crumbs, etc. Instead, we have a chicken bowl into which we put things like grungy lettuce leaves, egg shells, stray veg scraped off plates, rotting cucumber and squash, etc. This we give raw to the chooks every morning with a bit of scratch and they love it.

My grandmother always used to boil up the potato and carrot peelings in water saved from cooking vegetables (that wasn't used in soups and stews) other peelings too and then mash it up with a handful of wholemeal flour.  They always gave the chickens warm mash in winter, it is another way of warming them up.

[kats]

My trouble with that chicken mash business is that nearly all the ingredients they put into it, we use as human food. Leftover rice is saved to become fried rice, dry bread becomes bread crumbs, etc. Instead, we have a chicken bowl into which we put things like grungy lettuce leaves, egg shells, stray veg scraped off plates, rotting cucumber and squash, etc. This we give raw to the chooks every morning with a bit of scratch and they love it.

My grandmother always used to boil up the potato and carrot peelings in water saved from cooking vegetables (that wasn't used in soups and stews) other peelings too and then mash it up with a handful of wholemeal flour.  They always gave the chickens warm mash in winter, it is another way of warming them up.

Yes, I agree that warm feed is a good idea in winter. I think I shall adopt Jock's idea of porridge and scraps once the weather gets cold enough.

[urbanfarmer]

My trouble with that chicken mash business is that nearly all the ingredients they put into it, we use as human food. Leftover rice is saved to become fried rice, dry bread becomes bread crumbs, etc. Instead, we have a chicken bowl into which we put things like grungy lettuce leaves, egg shells, stray veg scraped off plates, rotting cucumber and squash, etc. This we give raw to the chooks every morning with a bit of scratch and they love it.

Glad I'm not the only one! As a single person, I cook just what I need, and rarely have leftovers, but I do mix up the pieces, ends, egg shells, etc., left from the cleaning/preparing process. Hope this thread sticks. Most of my questions are in regards to chickens and/or rabbits.

[kiwi]

Gave the girls porridge yesterday but added crusts of bread (son has aversion to crusts at the moment) they loved it once they got over having sticky stuff on their beaks, the breeder we got them from only ever fed them pellets so every new food is a learning curve,  when I potted up my tomato seedlings out of the greenhouse there was an ant nest in the bottom of the pot, I left it as undisturbed as possible then yesterday arvo I put the remaining potting mix plus ants and eggs in the run, they nearly knocked me over trying to get the ants. 

[kats]

Well, I let the chickens out of their new run yesterday for the first time and it was not an unqualified success. Most of them went back in to roost, but not all of them. Hub says supply food in the run only in the evening and see if that works, so I'll try that tonight.

[akaskip]

  Since we are not letting the girls roam anymore i took a nice wheelbarrow load of dirt and dumped it in the pen for them to scratch through and when i was walking back out that damned rooster nailed me in the back of the leg , since they are penned up now he thinks he owns the joint, i guess he doesn't remember what happened to the last one who thought he was king sh#t

[HungryRaven]

About half my chickens look like cartoon characters with a mohawk head spike.  Those mostly run loose all day because they roost in a cave they dug under the henhouse.  The other half  join the roosters in the coop and I let them out during the day.   My 4 turkeys outgrew the chicken tractor so now they stalk around the yard all day in a little herd and at night they fly up to some 2 X 4s they found about 7 feet high.  In the rain I went out with a ladder to try to round them up.  Then I realized they looked perfectly dry and fine even in the rain.  I guess that is the benefit of not going with white domestic types.  They often just fly around the yard flying better then my little bantam chickens.  Yesterday I saw one suddenly up against the 2nd floor window flapping it's wings and for some unknown turkey reason was trying to enter the house through the window.  I have no idea why they don't hop the 3 foot fence and leave the yard.  It would be no barrier to them but they choose to stay within the boundary.     

 But right now my poultry situation is pretty out of control considering winter will be coming within a few weeks.  As soon as my spike chickens crawl out of their weird bird cave and find 2 feet of snow they are going to be in trouble.    The turkeys will hop or outright fly to the back deck for food but I still need to get their winter housing arranged.   Last fall I found myself in the middle of the night crawling on my stomach in chicken poo with a fish net catching chickens and throwing them in the coop with the normal birds so I am sure that will be a fun activity I'll be doing this weekend.  I found after a few nights of throwing them in the coop they tend to go in themselves.  My turkeys I am going to have to build them some shelter.  I have a 10 X 10 greenhouse I might tie down so it doesn't blow away like last year and I will attach it to a chain link dog kennel for extra room for them.   If it gets real windy I'll have to put them in the garage in case the wind destroys their shelter. 

In winter for my chickens I just give them warm water every morning in a steel dog dish and then again in the afternoon.  I have to put a little bit of warm water on the back of the bowl upsidedown first to knock the ice out but that is quick.  I have a water heater for chickens but sometimes even with the heater it freezes up and the metal dish is foolproof if I put it between some cement blocks so the stupid birds don't instantly knock it over. 

[urbanfarmer]

I LOVE chicken sagas! Keep us posted!   

[justanouveaufarmer]

"As soon as my spike chickens crawl out of their weird bird cave"

   You can't make stuff up that's as funny as real chicken stories.

[kiwi]

I always wondered why people go "potty" over their chooks and now I got some I know, they are such characters.

What do you give your girls for calcium?  I have heard some people toast egg shells and grind them up and give them back to the chooks, but some people say that can encourage some chooks to peck their own eggs,  I saw ground oyster shell in the shop where I got the chook wheat from, and on another forum they say to give them a small dish of lime.  Mine get layer pellets but because they are foraging they are less pellets so may not be getting enough calcium, protein won't be a problem they gets lots of bugs and worms, and when my quinoa grows I will give them quinoa which is high in protein too.