chicken feed

[lyn]

hello can someone help me please i have got some chickens that are seven weeks old [my first chickens] and people have told me to make a mash with veg peelings do i boil and mash them or do i boil and dry them and give them whole or what any help is most appreciated

[TPeers]

I haven't done this so I'm not entirely certain but...

Chuck all the veg peelings, cooked veg, bread crusts or what have you in a pan and cook with some water - if there are potato peelings you must make sure they are fully cooked - the purpose as far as I can make out is to sterilise the mix, so the standard cookery rule of 10 mins rolling boil should work.

This mess is then laced with the daily ration of layers pellet or growers pellet or what have you to make (to my mind) a most unappatising mess which you pour - still warm if you wish - into a trough for the hens to feed from.

Apparently they will love this!

It stinks!

Terry

[shirlthegirl43]

We used to keep bread and plate scraps in a bucket in the kitchen. The veg peelings were put in a pan kept specially for the purpose (cos they smell odd) and boiled till soft in lots of water. The peelings were then put in the bucket and the correct measure of layers mash mixed in to make a hot mash, adding a little more boiling water if needed. This was winter feed and although as Terry says it has an odd smell to it, it is still one of my favourite childhood smells - makes me think of frosty winter mornings feeding the chooks.

In the summer they got layers pellets as there was not the same level of peelings to make the hot feed.

[TPeers]

One point to note!

If you intend to sell your eggs you can't make this mix - it contravens health and saftey rules!