I really liked New Country Organics. In the winter I added a bit of corn or switched to their formula that included it. Fermenting made it last at least 1/3 longer so that cut the cost significantly. As an emergency back-up I used Scratch N Peck but that was twice the price on Amazon.
They do make pellets, too.
That is cute! I have a rooster in my house that gets my morning breakfast leftovers (bread crust in cereal milk).
What is it about bread that makes it Poultry Crack? 
A friend’s son has a mixed flock of 100+ birds & the way they mob him for bread is a bit terrifying.
He gets leftover loaves from a grocery, and the second they see him coming with the bags… :eek:
I’m fairly certain my hens would revolt if their Speshul Breakfast did not appear.
They all start that muttering - I call it Chicken Smacktalk - when they see the bowl & there is a Race From the Roost to see who gets to it first.
Chickens: Undoubtedly the Earth’s Most Food-motivated creatures 
Interesting, thanks!
Curious about the soy comment, though. Soy IS a legume…
Speaking of food, how do you get the chickens back into their run or coop when they free range? Do they simply follow you? Do they respond to being called? Or is food involved? I can just see getting the Thelwell pony version of chickens that do as they please… So I was just curious how you round them up and put them back?
You can round them up and sort of herd them towards the coop, but the easiest way is to have a treat for them. Mine come running and flapping behind me if I go out and even pretend like I’ve got something for them. I like to use a slice of bread, and toss out little bits as I walk towards the coop, and they attack each little crumb as they go along. Really, they’re pretty interested in checking out any type of treat I toss out there for them, even if they ultimately reject it, like the squeezed lemon rinds that were in the kitchen scrap bucket last time.
Mine just come back to the coop to go to bed. I don’t free range all the time, but will let them out in the afternoons if I’m also outside. When the sun starts to get low, they all congregate and are roosting in the coop by dusk.
When I freeranged hens, I let them decide.
I found as soon as sun starts to set, they put themselves back in the coop.
If I wanted them in before dusk, rattling the Tupperware of BOSS would bring them running.
Not much is funnier than a hen “flying” all of 3" off the ground :lol:
Even now, confined to their fenced yard, if I get home after dark, they are not only inside the coop, but roosting.
And they let me know how unhappy it makes them when I have to turn a light on so I can see to shut the coop door! :mad:
This is one of my chicken’s birthday treat. Her name was Waffles so she got waffles with yogurt icing, blueberries and parsley. It was not such a polite gathering when her friends got involved later.
:lol: Waffles’ B-Day!
She got a seat at the table? :eek:
Your hens may be more spoiled than mine :winkgrin:
And yes, I can picture the carnage if that had not been Table for One :rolleyes:
Sometimes it is not hard at all to imagine they are descended from velociraptors…
I love Waffles Birthday party! :lol:
I’m thinking its not going to be a good idea to tell my husband that chickens can eat some human food… that will create a monster (again) as our 2 dogs think human dinner is their dinner, and there have been a number of casualties over the years - several of my nice dinner plates, a few bowls, a meatloaf or two, one turkey…
When our goats Thelma and Louise were still babies, he brought them into the house because “they were lonely” (they hadn’t be fully acclimated to the horses yet and lived in our round pen). I can just see my kitchen full of chickens for a “snack”. LOL
That was my kids’ playhouse but they all thought it would be cool to come inside. Waffles occasionally did and jumped right up on the furniture to watch TV and share whatever food you were eating.
I can’t remember all the details but had a nearly full grown goat SLEEPING IN MY BED when I was around 14. It ended the night she peed on my mattress and she was not happy to live outside after that. :lol:
Smart goat! LOL But sorry she peed in your bed!
Waffles, o
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/XbpQ1H8.jpg)
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xrNuFdR.jpg)
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/AQWOAvr.jpg)
They were SHOCKINGLY well behaved for their baths in the sink, and just hung out on that 4x4 I gave them in front of the fire, until ready to go back outside. A little surreal. :lol:
Bunch of eggs went into the incubator today! Wahoo!
@Simkie that kitty cat is precious and your roosters are gorgeous!
Is bathing your chickens/roosters a regular activity? I mean, are baths a part of regular care or just as needed? Just water of do you use a little dish soap or what?
Haha, thanks! He was SO ENAMORED with the birds. He’s still a kitten–about 7 months old–so everything is a friend and a toy. It was hilarious!
Washing chickens shouldn’t be a regular thing. Unless you show, I guess. But these two had bled a lot from their combs or wattles and were pretty sticky and wet, on a really cold night…so in they came. I just used warm water and followed up with some peroxide on the more stubborn dried blood. Then toweled them off and let them dry by the fire. You could probably use a gentle shampoo. But no…I don’t expect this to be a regular deal :lol: (Nice to have the option, though. You never know when you’ll need to bring in a bird for a bath!)
They did really like the fire!
Okay - so not a regular thing. Just to clarify - I was thinking like once a year (not really frequently, which I assume would not be good for feathers).
So, I’m reading my Chicken book that came earlier this week, and had a question about the ramps I see on coops. When the birds aren’t full grown, how the heck do they get up those ramps with the raised pieces so far apart? And how do you keep the ramp clean (or do they not poop on it)? There is a ramp made of mesh cloth which looks interesting (instead of plywood with raised slats).
Re: bathing, if they don’t need it for some reason…like blood, or a gooey butt, or something…it’s probably a “never” sort of deal. Nice to have them handleable enough to tolerate it if necessary, though. I was really surprised the boys just stood quietly in the sink :lol: Maybe the warm water on a very cold day helped? It was far easier than I expected!
My birds fly up to the roosts and come down the ramp. They rarely/never go up the ramp, even when they were teeny. Yeah, they poop on the ramp. I scrape off when I clean the roosting shelf, and I pull out the ramp (and roosting bars) a few times a year to pressure wash. I did find the ramp too steep the way I built it, so brought in piece of 4x6 and put that under the end, to raise it 6" and make the ramp less steep.
A hardware cloth ramp could work, I guess! Although it might get a bit pokey on their feet, if/when the “fabric” comes apart? It’s welded wire, and not really designed for constant traffic. I bet those welds will pop at some point.
Yes, exactly. Which is why I don’t find it useful that they make soy-free feeds with different legumes. I don’t hate soy, but I don’t want it to make up any more of the feed than necessary. In too high quantities, it can affect fertility and hatching. So I go with the meatbird/broiler still.
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