New to keeping chickens

[lee's mum]

We are in the midst of building a chicken run and I have been reading RULE THE ROOST with great interest. I have a couple of questions I wonder if you could answer for me.
what is hot mash I have heard about it but what does it consist of and how do you make it.
also I have seen Apple cider vinegar then the post said the horse kind and not the kitchen type, what difference is there between the two and how often would you give it and how much
We will be getting our new additions sometime next week so I want to be prepared. Thank you everyone.

[MartinRSharpe]

Someone will probably be on to correct me but I believe

Hot mash is chicken feed crumbs (rather than pellets, but may work with them too) mixed with warm/hot water

For the ACV I don't think there is any major difference (human consumption may have been additionally pasteurised or otherwise preserved). I suspect the main difference is the cost. A 1L from a supermarket probably costs similar to a 5L bottle.

[Feral007]

The apple cider vinegar has to be the one with the 'mother' in it. ie it has to still have the live culture part of it. I buy mine at the rural shop, but there's a place near where I work that stocks all chicken stuff and they have it too. I don't know about dosage, I just put a good splash in the small bucket when I'm going to fill their container.

[kathyd]

Hi Lee's mum. I buy pellets for my birds, and I put out the dry ones but also mix some with hot water so they go soggy - not quite a 'mash', but a halfway house. I understand mash is quite wasteful, presumably because it goes manky if left out for too long? Whereas pellets are dry and stay good for longer. So I just mix a bit up and they can choose .

Re ACV - I was told to buy the unpasteurised kind - presumably what feral describes as having the 'mother' in. I can buy this over here in the supermarket, but obviously if you have a lot of birds it's cheaper to buy in quantity as for horses.

[scorpius]

Mine get layers ad lib & a scratch of wheat in the afternoon. I use corn in the winter. Feral is correct re the ACV needing the mother. I use 10ml in a litre of water upping it to 20/25ml per litre if they have the sniffles or something. I also give my crushed garlic in the water.

[Gadget]

I never feed mine a hot mash, just layers pellets morning and corn in the afternoon

Plus the Cider vinegar in the water, one of ours is 8 this year so seem to be ok