Chickens: Feeding

Your hens can, as most animals do, find there own food providing that there is a range of ‘supplies’ (such as greenery, grass and insects) within their free range area - however this is not necessarily practical in most gardens and probably will not provide all of your hens’ dietary requirements for laying the perfects eggs.  There are a range of specially formulated feeds for hens called layers pellets or layers mash/crumb; these foods contain a mixture of maize, wheat, oats and barley.  Both forms of the layers feed, the pellets and crumb, contain the essential dietary requirements such as oils, proteins and carbohydrates that hens need to produce good quality eggs.  You can feed your hens other foods but you need to be certain that they are getting all of their dietary needs to keep them happy, healthy and laying good quality eggs.  With mixed feeds and layers feed you need to ensure that they are of high quality to ensure to they use Soya as the source of protein, this can be easily checked as most will have the vegetarian label.

Just as most animals (and humans), chickens will like a variety of feed which can be provided through a range of treats.  Hens will eat between 120-150g layers pellets a day and you can offer them a range of treats.  Treats can include a range of leftovers from the kitchen just make sure they do not contain salty, sugary, fatty or citrus foods.  You can provide some interest and stimulation by hanging up scraps of food for your hens to peck at.  It may take some time for your hens to come to learn that the scraps left for them are food so just be patient.  One treat they can come easily some to learn to eat are insects and worms in the ground which they will dig for themselves or you can always give them a helping hand and use a trowel.

Treats

One popular treat with our girls is cooked spaghetti pasta, which we cook in garlic as this is good for boosting the hens’ immune system, the popularity is probably due to the resemblance to worms.  Other favourites include:

• Worms, slugs, flies and other insects
• Oats
• Vegetable peelings
• Weeds
• Chives
• Other forms of vegetation - make sure that it is not poisonous

There are different opinions for when treats or scraps should be fed to you hens as follows:  If you fed them scraps/treats in the afternoon then you can be sure that they will have already eaten some of their feed providing them with their dietary requirements.  However, feeding scraps in the afternoon can mean that there may be leftovers at the end of the day, which if not collected and disposed of, may attract vermin.

Feed Containers

Chicken feed can be given to hens in a range of devices that are specially designed for feed or just basic containers will do.  Some purpose designed chicken feeders can dispense small amounts of food at a time and can protect the feed from the elements if it is used outdoors.  Omlet have specially designed feeders that can be filled with layers pellets to feed your hens for a set period.

Grit

Naturally chickens do forage for their own food and because they do not have teeth they pick up grit or small stones to help grind their food down.  Grit is stored in small amounts in one of there organs (the gizzard) where their food is ground down ready for digestion.  Therefore it is essential to provide your hens with grit in case they cannot find adequate grit in their surroundings.  Grit is sometimes mixed into chicken feeds or it can be bought separately, such as oyster shell grit, which should be served separately from their standard feed.  A cheaper option is pop your egg shells in the oven for a while (approximately 20 minutes) until they have become brittle and hard.  Once cooled crush them up and serve them to the hens; be patient as the hens may take a while to become aware of what it is you are offering them.

Battery Hen Feed

Battery hens are generally fed with layers mash and this is the only type of feed they are aware of and know.  Therefore when re-homing ex-bats then it is necessary to feed them on layers crumb so they will eat and it is a food they are comfortable with therefore helping to ease the re-homing process.  If you wish to you can slowly convert them to other feeds like layers pellets.  The feed company Small Holder Range offer a specially formulated range of feed for ex-battery hens. 

Roaming For Food

When your hens free range (if they are allowed to) they will forage around your garden for food and unlike you they will not necessarily care what greenery they peck at - this means they may take a liking to your favourite plants or young vegetable plants.  Manicured lawns are not ideal to let your chickens roam on unless you are willing to compromise with the quality of your lawn as they will peck at it for the grass, insects within and possibly to create their own dust baths.  Another option to keep your manicured lawn and allow then some roaming lawn space is to section off or create a lower quality area of lawn.

Setting up  
Hen houses
Ex-bat v Chicks  
Feeding
Health/Welfare
Eggs
FAQ
Links
Ex-bat Hen Diary
  Our Set-up
  Collection Day
  Month One
  Month Two 
  Month Three 
  Winter Year One


Lewis Williams