Hi everyone ... we just accumulated a foot of snow + more to come tonight. My birds come out in the snow-covered pen and try to scratch ... but I guess it's getting harder for them to get to the grit they need for proper food digestion.
A friend suggested I look for tiny gravel to mix to the feed. Anyone in the frozen tundra has advise for me?
thanks a million! Curzio
PS I'm a garlic, onion, potato, tomato specialist ... if anyone needs help :O)
birds in the snow
Oystershell or sand might work...mixing it into their feed, as you said. I believe they keep grit in their craws for a while though.
On the garlic and potatoes, yes!!
I have a container of sand in my coop, in like an old bird bath - they can scratch through it, whatever - also I give them oyster shells mixed in their food....
curzio,
I agree with what these ladies say, another option is to save their egg shells, dry them, grind them up and put them in their food. We've been doing this for awhile and they seem to like it. :-)
I do the eggshells too--very ground up. My container dust bath was not a success--they prefer the dirt in the yard--which they have uncovered by consuming and digging up every bit of Bermuda there is. Yes! I have finally found something that can defeat Bermuda grass!
Yup, I put grit in the food. Not much though. And they have oyster shell as well.
They manage to dig down to the ground after I dig out the snow.
I shovel out the run when it gets too deep. It takes awhile but they like it.
If I do it everyday, it dosnt take as long.
Good Luck.
The laying mash I get locally has oyster shell in it and as long as they are eating crumbles or mash, they don't really need grit. Sand isn't enough to grind up food in a crop and just goes right through with the food. Eggshell is good for calcium, but does not act as grit either. They may enjoy picking through a hand full of gravel now and then though, anything for entertainment. I have watched them pick up bits of stone, roll it around in their mouth a bit and spit it out if it doesn't suit them. They love colored aquairium gravel and I figure if the dye doesn't hurt fish, it won't hurt a chicken.
The feed store I go to also sells bait and they gave me all the left over worms the other day. It was like a party in the hen house. They also save the dead minnows for me for the wildlife when I need it, when I don't need them, I toss the frozen block in the run and the chickens have a ball picking them out.
I toss them all kinds of stuff in the winter like whole heads of cabbage or blocks of hay. It keeps them busy and the squabbling to a minimum
Great ideas Jyl!
Are you the chicken whisperer? JK
Thank you all ... especially to Lazy_Ladies for the thread to Tamara's
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/888425/
Have you Ladies had the opportunity to read Michael Pollan's 'In Defense of Food' ??
the best part for me was the explaination on how Omega3 and Omega6 come into the food chain and compete in our organism. A must read book if you care to better understand the importance of nutrition for your health maintenance.
I keep chickens because eggs are my prime source of animal protein. I don't feed any animal protein to my birds (except for what they find while they free-range) because I believe that an all vegeterian diet reduces the cholesterol levels in the eggs. Also I feed them Flex Seed as a treat to increase Omega3.
But Flex Seed seems to be the only seed that provides Omega3 ... and all other seeds provide Omega6. As Michael Pollan clearly explains, animals don't produce Omega fats ... they only store Omega fats they ingest eating plants. The greatest source of Omega3 is fish that eats lots of algae (green water plant material).
So, back to you Ladies (and any other guy who reads our posts):
In the frozen tundra (Northern half of the Nation where we have to deal with 3 - 4 months of free ranging in the snow) ... how can we become more sustainable in providing for green-leaf food for our birds?
today I made soup with some leeks I have in my root cellar ... and fed the damaged greens to the chickens. It is advised to cut off the top of leeks for better storage (I keep them in a box filled with sand) ... next year I need to remember to keep the tops a little longer, so I have more to share with my birds.
ciao, Curzio
sewingcircle,
no, I mostly shout at my chickens. You know, "GET OUT OF THE GARDEN! STOP DIGGING HOLES! and the ever present LAY EGGS OR YOU"RE SOUP!"
ROFLOL! I can do that! I'm in.
curzio,
I had a grain guy tell me that chickens will not get the Omega 3 from the flax seed (thats what you meant, right?) unless it is freshly ground and fed to them within 30 minutes.
I was feeding them whole flax, but he explained that chickens are so big and the seed is so small, they swallow it whole, then pass it right through - never getting anything from it.
Anyway, just food for thought. I thought I was making higher omega 3 by feeding it to them whole, but now I mash it and put it in treats.
Kristin
This message was edited Dec 21, 2008 7:51 PM
There you go Kristin! thanks for the advise. We should start a new thread with Chicken Treats Recipes!
Imagine, I spent almost $100 for a 50# bag of organic flex seed ... luckily I still have most of it. So, you suggest to grind it and mix it to what to make treats?
I sprinkle it over anything I'm giving them. Its not that something in particular is best, its just that I don't imagine they would like it much if I just handed them a bowl of powder.
I put it on rice, cottage cheese, fruits (they loved it on melon in the summer!), really anything that you think they'll like, that it'll stick to, and you are already feeding them.