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[stanhol]

This is probably a really stupid question, but! I have read on a few sites that leftovers, peelings etc should be cooked first. Can someone tell me why that is? I have a veg patch and was thinking once my brassics have produced that i would give the remanders to the girls when they arrive, should i prepare these in anyway or throw it in fresh?

Many thanks,
Sandra

[Twinkle]

I think the cooking only applies to peelings, especially potatoes...
I certainly never cook brassicas - just hang them up in the run for them to play with.

[MaureenHall]

I agree with Twinkle, give them the greens as they are - complete with slugs and caterpillars. Potatoes should be cooked (mine won't touch them if they aren't anyway). Chop up apples etc and don't give them lettuce - it gives them the trots and apparently is poisonous to them

[Twinkle]

is it ??
blimey !! Didn't know that.....

I knew that avocado is a definite no-no, but didn't realise lettuce was too

[Twinkle]

oops - sorry, double post

[Hashette]

Blimey, just when I think I've read everything I can get my hands on. Wondering what else I don't know!

*scans back of postage stamp on which all my hen knowledge is written*

[Snadger]

Mine won't eat cauliflower, don't like crinkly cabbage either. (Fussy so and so's!)

I think out of all the greens I've tried them with there two favourites are swede tops and dandelions!

I sse layers pellets as their main food just now with a couple of handfuls of mixed corn to lure them away from the gate and give them something to scratch for.

Once it starts getting a bit colder I have an arsenal of 'warm me ups' ready including warm mash with added cooked veg, poultry spice and possibly upping there corn ration!

[MaureenHall]

Mine would kill for any cabbage, cauliflower leaves, chard etc, but they always leave the midribs. Also spaghetti, pasta tubes, fruit, the list goes on. Think they're just greedy little madams now but soooooooooooooooo loving I never give any treats till 2 or 3 hours before bedtime, make sure they eat plenty of their layers pellets first so that they get all the nutrients they need. Bit like kids really innit

[JackieAt]

I agree with Twinkle, give them the greens as they are - complete with slugs and caterpillars. Potatoes should be cooked (mine won't touch them if they aren't anyway). Chop up apples etc and don't give them lettuce - it gives them the trots and apparently is poisonous to them

Please can someone confirm about lettuce, my chooks love it and it doesnt seem to have done them any harm, but my daughter has now forbidden me to give it to them

[Jardiniere]

yeah please ...i give mine all the bolted lettuce and the chicory that ive grown that is too bitter for us.....

[MaureenHall]

My chooks love it too, but I got a severe telling off (well sort of) on one of the threads on here when I said that they had lettuce every day. Yes, they do get a bit of a runny bum, so I do limit it. They have the occasional bolted lettuce and sometimes a few of the outer leaves, but I've cut down on the frequency I give it, just in case. I was also told that it can kill rabbits and guinea pigs, but a friend's dad bought a huge fresh lettuce every day for his rabbit and it lived for years and years. Perhaps someone can tell us what the chemical is in the lettuce that's so poisonous

[Twinkle]

I know that spinach is a bad thing for chooks, as is rhubarb leaves (had to fence off my rhubarb) due to the something in it, but TBH mine get the odd bit of bolted lettuce and are fine...
Like humans - varied is the key...I guess...

[MaureenHall]

Didn't know about the spinach either, mine had loads when the plants all bolted! Rhubarb leaves is a definite no-no for anything (except plant food) because it contains oxalic acid - poison!

[di]

OOoh dear!~I never knew about the spinach either!Ours tend to get a little of whatever & as yet no harm has come to them!Do you know why they shouldn't have ti?

[Flummery]

I've always had a suspicion lettuce was poisonous. I really don't like it myself!