Peeps in Europe!

[NickySpink]

This is an article about DEFRA's ruling on scraps. It seems to use a sledge hammer to crush a bug (or a chick!). www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/can-you-feed-human-food-and-kitchen-scraps-to-chickens.html#

Personally, as I have only 5 hens purely for my own consumption of their eggs I really cannot see why I should not feed them cooked vegetable peelings once a day in small quantities (there are only 2 of us in our household so there is not a vast amount). I do give them the end of of my own machine made bread - mushed down in lots of water - which has hardly any sugar or salt in it.

I cannot find it now but I am sure I read somewhere that you can give a cauliflower to your hens to peck at but not if the said cauliflower has been taken into the kitchen first!

Mine are free range throughout our large (three quarters of an acre) garden and scratch around in the grass and catch frogs and mice occasionally - so much for them not liking meat. They also love the stale end of cat food left in the bowls at the end of the day.

To conclude I am afraid I shall go on as I am with my happy, healthy, and good egg laying hens After all I am just adding a second stage to composting, as the straw and poop from their run goes onto the compost heap instead of the veg scraps going directly there as in the (pre chicken) era.

 

[KingD]

I am sorry for your flock!
I know the feeling lost my previous flock due to mareks.
Your ducks look adorable, how talk active are they?

Yes I know. It is annoying.

The ducks are pretty quiet when I'm not outside. As soon as they see me
they become extremely talkative lol!
Do you keep ducks?

 

[KingD]

A warm welcome from me too @KingB and @NickySpink glad you found us.

Thank You! Seems like a nice friendly thread.

I'll be candling my second batch of 18 eggs today, so fingers crossed for them.

Awesome! What breed will be hatching from the eggs?
Good luck with them!
Will you upload some pictures if they hatch? Please do.

 

[abpatchy]

This is an article about DEFRA's ruling on scraps. It seems to use a sledge hammer to crush a bug (or a chick!). www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/can-you-feed-human-food-and-kitchen-scraps-to-chickens.html#

Personally, as I have only 5 hens purely for my own consumption of their eggs I really cannot see why I should not feed them cooked vegetable peelings once a day in small quantities (there are only 2 of us in our household so there is not a vast amount). I do give them the end of of my own machine made bread - mushed down in lots of water - which has hardly any sugar or salt in it.

I cannot find it now but I am sure I read somewhere that you can give a cauliflower to your hens to peck at but not if the said cauliflower has been taken into the kitchen first!

Mine are free range throughout our large (three quarters of an acre) garden and scratch around in the grass and catch frogs and mice occasionally - so much for them not liking meat. They also love the stale end of cat food left in the bowls at the end of the day.

To conclude I am afraid I shall go on as I am with my happy, healthy, and good egg laying hens After all I am just adding a second stage to composting, as the straw and poop from their run goes onto the compost heap instead of the veg scraps going directly there as in the (pre chicken) era.

Oh wow... we don't have those restrictions in GErmany. I read that vegans are allowed to feed their chickens scraps... that kinda made me realize why they are doing that. They are probably afraid of another mad cow disease kinda situation.

 

[NickySpink]

I am sure you are right about the mad cow thinking. But really - 5 hens?

 

[LoreWalker]

On the matter of feeding scraps - our chickens (and 2 bunnies) get quite a lot of foodscraps every day. Our "neighbour" has a large vegetable garden and she collects food for our chickens regularly, especially in the summer months when the garden is growing more than she can eat all at once. Cauliflower leaves, lettuce, and all manner of other fruit and veg. They also regularly get lawn clippings and weeds. And if not to eat the plants themselves, the chickens love digging through it for insects and it is free "bedding" that we will compost later.
Then they also get any safe, store-bought fruit and veg that has withered beyond what we consider edible but isn't rotting, like some apples, bell pepper, or carrots once in a while. They go absolutely ballistic for pumpkin and pumpkin seeds!

And a little update on our flock - Our chicks are growing really well still. Rather than just chick cheeping, they are starting to sound a little more like chickens since this week. The past 2 weeks or so they had been acting pretty fearful of us whenever we gave them fresh water and feed.... Then yesterday two of them jumped into J's arms and refused to leave

We allowed them to roam with the adults for a little bit to test the waters this morning. It went relatively well, but they're still a bit young to be left with the adults unsupervised. And we don't trust the chicks to find their own way back inside yet, either, so we let just the adults out to go out in the garden and enjoy themselves there. The chicks could run around in the indoor pen with a little more space than they're used to that way!


The plan is to make an enclosed outdoor run they can all be in every day, with a net covering the area to protect against predatory birds as well. Once we have that, it's safer for the chicks to be outdoors, and we won't have to worry as much about our chickens either digging up our yard, or them not getting enough days outside when we're both away from home for work. I'm starting on it as soon as the nets I ordered arrive in the mail.
It'll have plenty of shade, a few spots for sunbathing, and some sandy areas for dust baths. Happy chickens! (Hopefully )

 

[AnnaWolf]

Yes I know. It is annoying.

The ducks are pretty quiet when I'm not outside. As soon as they see me
they become extremely talkative lol!
Do you keep ducks?

No I don't, my neighbour has 2 runner ducks who can squak happily all day long. I like the sound but I also like the sound of the breeding harring gulls in my neighborhood.

 

[BDutch]

This is an article about DEFRA's ruling on scraps. It seems to use a sledge hammer to crush a bug (or a chick!). www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/can-you-feed-human-food-and-kitchen-scraps-to-chickens.html#

Personally, as I have only 5 hens purely for my own consumption of their eggs I really cannot see why I should not feed them cooked vegetable peelings once a day in small quantities (there are only 2 of us in our household so there is not a vast amount). I do give them the end of of my own machine made bread - mushed down in lots of water - which has hardly any sugar or salt in it.

I cannot find it now but I am sure I read somewhere that you can give a cauliflower to your hens to peck at but not if the said cauliflower has been taken into the kitchen first!

Mine are free range throughout our large (three quarters of an acre) garden and scratch around in the grass and catch frogs and mice occasionally - so much for them not liking meat. They also love the stale end of cat food left in the bowls at the end of the day.

To conclude I am afraid I shall go on as I am with my happy, healthy, and good egg laying hens After all I am just adding a second stage to composting, as the straw and poop from their run goes onto the compost heap instead of the veg scraps going directly there as in the (pre chicken) era.

If you have only 5 chickens I wouldn't bother too much about many rules and regulations. They are ptobably meant for the chicken industry. But the rules and regulations about medicines and poisons (against red bird mite /rats etc) are important to follow imho. Because if you don’t follow these regulations you could poison the chickens or yourself.

 

[NickySpink]

My feelings exactly

 

[KingD]

So who's going to win the Football!!?