This happened yesterday to me at Tractor Supply Store and I was asked why do I go thru all the trouble to make my ? number of chickens,2 turkeys, and 1 duck poultry blocks or cookies for them to snack on during the winter???..Now I raised my one eyebrow up and look at the lady who was decked to the nines..and asked her..why do you dress your noisemakers you have in fancy dog clothes sitting in the shopping cart !!!??( dang yippy yorkies and some mixed yorkie-poos she has after she told me what they were) .. She was listening to me telling the cashier- a friend of mine about making chicken treats..She had the galled to tell me that those chickens are weird nasty birds...I asked the lady where were you raised..in the city or the country..She said..in the city.. I thought that she needed an education that chickens are NOT weird nasty birds..so I brought her over to the books and magazine rack and showed her books on chickens..she was all along thinking about those caged hens she seen on TV where they are layered on top of each other laying eggs..I told her...It isn't that way with some of us who really care deeply for our chickens...Well after all that education she received from me and looking at books and stuff..and spending 1 hour with her( she made her hubby come get the dogs while she can listen to what I had to say)..she changed her tune..LOL..
So I asked her this..Am I nuts or what??? she says NO HON!!..lol..cuz she does the same with her dogs..She does not have any children so the dogs are her kids ..now she wants fresh eggs...LOLOLOL... I am standing there dumbfounded..mouth open..after she said that!..so that made my day..Just had to share my chuckle of the day...
Am I nuts or what?
Great chuckle Moodene: Most of all you took the time with her, and you not only changed her mind but sounds like you also made a convert...Way to go gurl...Hay
Right On Nadine!!!!!!
Way to go Moodene
Great story but yep, your nuts.
Kenboy, it's always a pleasure to hear from you, I could really use some manly support on here with all these hens...LOL. Hope all is well with you and that you had a great Thanksgiving...Hay
Kenboy, wanna join me being nuts?... lol...How are the cochins doing??? Been promised some hatching eggs of Lemon Blue cochins in the spring..lol
Nadine,
Mr. Peepers gets everything from grits and cheese with a hardboiled egg cut up in it in the mornin for breakfast, to fried, bake, and boiled chicken with spaghetti noodles and a little butter with some spices on it and he loves it ( but not too spicy) he will eat the mild type peppers as those are his favorite. He loves a good salad but does not like carrots in it at all, ranch over blue cheese ;) most all veggies he will eat but he likes them blanched better than raw, I do give him grains and such but they are grown local only not all that processed mess from the store like most feeds are he has almost doubled in his size in the year I have had him now.
Nope I do not think you are nuts at all !
PS. Mr. Peepers is a Bantam Blue Splash Cochin .
Sarge
- And not spoiled at all.
naw not at all
Sarge
Sarge, he is a cutie!!!..I think I will make my birds some hot oatmeal for breakfast in the morning with red pepper and olive oil..little bit of some scratch in it..lol..
Peeps does not like oils to much however he eats olives of any type i think it is the tangy flavor they have i do do try to avoid the odd or spicy things as they tend to work on his stomach and run through him rather quickly . just like humans , the higher the protein he consumes the better it is for him as he does get play time in the yard and it keeps him warm too.
i do add egg shell as a free choice to him that have been wash out well and crush .
here is a list of his treats so far that he likes : LOL
Apples - Raw and applesauce
Asparagus - Raw or cooked
Bananas -Without the peel High in potassium, a good treat.
Beans - Well-cooked
Green beans
Beets - Greens also.
Berries - All kinds - A treat, especially strawberries
Breads - All kinds - good use for stale bread or rolls Feed starches in moderation
Broccoli & Cauliflower -Tuck into a suet cage and they will pick at it all day.
Cabbage & Brussels Sprouts Whole head – Hang a whole cabbage from their coop ceiling in winter so they have something to play with and greens to eat.
Cereal - Cheerios and such Avoid highly sugared cereal such as Coco-puffs, etc.
Cheese -including cottage cheese feed in moderation, fatty but a good source of protein and calcium
Cooked Chicken - Loves Fried , boiled, baked, Any kind
Corn - On cob and canned, raw and cooked
Crickets (alive) - Can be bought at bait or pet-supply stores. Great treat – provides protein and its fun to watch the chickens catch them.
Cucumbers - Let mature for yummy seeds and flesh.
Eggs -Hard cooked and scrambled are a good source of protein, and a favorite treat. Feed cooked eggs only because you do not want your chickens to start eating their own raw eggs. (loves Crushed shells I wash and clean mine )
Eggplant
Fish / Seafood - Cooked only
Flowers - Make sure they have not been treated with pesticides, such as florist flowers might be. Marigolds, nasturtiums, and pansies, Fruit
Pears, peaches, cherries, apples
Grains - Bulgar, flax, Niger, and wheat berries
Grapes - Seedless only
"Leftovers"- Only feed your chickens that which is still considered edible by humans, do not feed anything spoiled, moldy, oily, salty or unidentifiable.
Lettuce / Kale any leafy greens, spinach collards, chickweed included.
Meal worms
Meat scraps of any kind -Not too fatty. In moderation, a good source of protein
Melon – Cantaloupe, Watermelon both seeds and flesh are good chicken treats. Served cold, it can keep chickens cool and hydrated during hot summers. Seeds and flesh are both okay to feed.
Oatmeal - Raw or cooked, Cooked is nutritionally better.
Pasta / Macaroni - Cooked spaghetti, etc. A favorite treat, fun to watch them eat it, but not much nutrition.
Peas - Peas and pea tendrils and flowers
Potato’s / Sweet Potato’s / Yams - Cooked only - avoid green parts of peels! Starchy, not much nutrition
Pumpkins / Winter Squash - Raw or cooked both seeds and flesh are a nutritious treat.
Summer Squash - Yellow squash and zucchini Yellow squash not a huge favorite, but okay to feed.
Raisins
Rice - Cooked only Pilaf mixes are okay too, plain white rice has little nutrition.
Scratch - Scratch is cracked corn with grains (such as wheat, oats and rye) mixed in. Scratch is a treat for cold weather, not a complete feed. Toss it on the ground and let them scratch for it for something to do. Never feed scratch during hot weather because it raises the chickens’ body temperature.
Sprouts - Wheat and oat sprouts are great! Good for greens in mid-winter.
Sunflower Seeds - Sunflower seeds with the shell still on is fine to feed, as well as with the shell off. A good treat, helps hens lay eggs and grow healthy feathers.
Tomatoes - Raw and cooked.
Yogurt - Plain or flavored A big favorite and good for their digestive systems. Plain is better.
I was told by my grandma to take the egg shells(dont wash them) and broil in the oven until they brown alittle bit to kill off all of the bad germs..Then after they cool down..crush it up into smaller pieces. I have a seasoning container that has large holes and store in ice box..all I do is sprinkle the stuff on the concrete and poof..it is all gone..lol...
Great ideas here.. I don't clean the egg shells, but I do have a container where they dry out.. then I crush them and put them in a bag by the coops... just a sprinkle once in a while keeps the eggs nice..
That is a beautiful cochin Sarge!
Nadine, I think it's great that you took the time to talk to that lady, rather than just be offended and walk away thinking about it for days... No one better say chickens are nasty birds around me, or I think they'd get a quick education too!
Great story and no, not for one minute do I think your nutz.. okay, well, yes, I do, but in a good way! LOL
LOL..I don't mind giving anybody information about chickens. I been making chicken saddles and diapers as well..Now that is another story to tell when I go to the fabric store!!!....and the ladies who cut my fabrics just ask..chickens or humans???..lol..
See below..I make the chicken saddles from tiny size for Seramas to the standard wide long for the Jersey Giants which is not pictured.. I did however make some for turkey hens..
those are very cool
Nadine , You are the Chicken Lovers Advocate of the World!! You have created another soon to be chicken -aholic!!! Good goin!
Sarge.. just love that little fella,he is one fine looking Cochin!
Nadine, I will give you $5. for that mat your saddles are on. Maggi went to Hancock fabric yesterday and they did not have one. I'm behind on my quilting.
Thank you ZZ & Eufaula for the complements on Peeps.
Sarge
Kenboy, I will see what I can do..down here..Then will Dmail you an answer..