Author Topic: Food available all day (Read 3639 times)

egbert · « **on:** June 05, 2010, 11:01:07 am »

Hi

Beautiful weather this week - my chooks are drinking water by the gallon! They have plenty of shade, but do seem to drink an awful lot.

Anyway, I digress. I tend to put the layers pellets in a feeder in the morning and then leave it in all day. I know they have plenty as they always leave some, and almost every day they are given greens as well as my MIL cooking them potatoes all the time.

Just wondered, as all the advice is to give them pellets in the morning, whether I should actually be taking these out rather than leaving it in all day - could I be giving them too many pellets full of vitamins etc and making them ill?

This has come about from my MIL, who I mentioned before was always slightly eccentric and is now on a decline every day, accusing me of neglecting them because at 10 pm last night (before I had got round to shutting their door) they had scratched all the grass into the feeder so it was covering their food and, in her opinion, they couldnt eat it. (They were in bed at that time) Since it was a light covering and they like digging/pecking for their food, and dont need pellets at 10 pm, I dont really think this is neglect. Although, please correct me if I am wrong? $:-\$

Anyway, this morning my perfectly happy chickens leaped out of their house - always freaks me out when they fly out straight at my head as I am in the pen with them - went to their feeder which was all freshly filled, flicked a load of pellets out into the scratched up grass from the day before and went exploring to find it - I think they find this much more fun than eating piles from the clear plastic feeder myself

HappyHippy · « **Reply #1 on:** June 05, 2010, 01:07:52 pm »

I don't think your chickens are likely to over indulge themselves on layers pellets or make themselves ill because of them. Mashed tatties on a daily basis however might not be such a good thing

Ours get pellets in the morning, greens and corn in the afternoon and if we've tatties left they get them in the evening - but only a couple of times a week. Their feed gets scattered on the ground and they scratch about pecking it up - no feeders for me

I think it's more like their natural environment that way and it keeps them busy for longer. They do drink TONNES of water, I was surprised exactly how much, but then with that feather duvet wrapped round them you can't really blame them

Your MIL sounds like my mum

Never kept a chook in her life, but an expert on EVERYTHING (she thinks

) The only advice I can give is - smile, nod and then, once she's out the way do it your way

CameronS · « **Reply #2 on:** June 05, 2010, 01:40:01 pm »

As someone once said,

Ex, is of unknown quality, and spert, is a drip under pressure,

the definition of expert

Daveravey · « **Reply #3 on:** June 05, 2010, 01:45:23 pm »

My birds have access to pellets 24/7.

The only time the feeder is out the run, is when it's empty, get's a good scrub out & refilled

sheila · « **Reply #4 on:** June 05, 2010, 03:49:15 pm »

Potatoes? My girls would rather starve then eat them. i think I am too kind to them they can afford to be choosy

HappyHippy · « **Reply #5 on:** June 05, 2010, 04:07:15 pm »

Sheila - mine love mashed potatoes, almost as much as tomatoes

It's soooo funny to watch them fight over them, your girls must have more expensive tastes than mine

Wizard · « **Reply #6 on:** June 05, 2010, 06:58:10 pm »

H H Our hens always had mash mixed with mashed boiled pig taters out the copper they loved them.

valr · « **Reply #7 on:** June 07, 2010, 08:50:23 pm »

What are pig taters Wizard?

Sound rather horrible

My girls love mashed potatoes but won't touch tomatoes or grapes which is weird apparently! They are being really fussy just now and seem to be ignoring their layers pellets ... I have some available all the time and it never seems to go down! I chucke them a couple of handfuls of corn and mealworms in the late afternoon/early evening and they eat that up fast enough!

Wizard · « **Reply #8 on:** June 07, 2010, 10:03:39 pm »

Hello vair Pig taters when the taters are riddled there may well be a 2" riddle on top any thing larger than 2" continues on up the elevator into bags.less than 2" drops through on to a 1" riddle and comes on out and up the other side of the elevator and is bagged off Those that pass through a !" riddle come out the side of the machine and and are scooped up and these is known as pig taters (taters Vair are Potato to you) These little taters used to be boiled in a copper and fed to the pigs sometimes they were mashed with barley meal

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #9 on:** June 08, 2010, 09:43:20 am »

Egbert, check your bag of the brand of pellets you use. Some do give advice on the amount, as you can overfeed them. When I introduced pellets I gave them ad lib and a few of my ducks got egg bound, too much protein...So now they get pellets only in the morning but grain ad lib and everybody has been happy and well since. My chucks love all veg, including cooked potato peelings, grapes, apples and all else, really. Carrot peelings are not a favourite

Hardfeather · « **Reply #10 on:** June 08, 2010, 10:04:21 am »

For layers it is usually best if they consume 2.5 ounces of pellets/head/day, so it's best to get that into them before feeding them anything else. Traditionally, wheat was fed later in the day to heat them through the night.

Hens at free range will eat more 'wild food' and will subsequently eat less of the pellets. Pellets are really aimed at birds which do not have free range.

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #11 on:** June 08, 2010, 10:43:13 am »

All my birds are free range but the pellets always go, they must be really tasty! I found that they eat as many as I would give them, so I rigorously stick to the amount I put out in the morning.