Winter Polenta For Chickens
Boil 4 cups of water
Whisk in 1 cup of yellow cornmeal
Stir over heat until it thickens and comes away from the side of the pan. Note: This stuff really bubbles and explodes so lower heat or lift off heat source ever so often and keep stirring!.
Add a handful of each and stir: frozen peas, fresh corn kernels, and cooked small elbow macaroni*
* large pieces of spaghetti noodles need to be chopped up small to prevent the chickens from choking.
Listening to my chickens gobble up their food is heart warming.
Cabbage and Bread A transition into Spring
The days are hanging at 36-50 degrees and nights are staying well above 25 so it is time to turn off the infrared lamps and turn off the water heaters. By now I have had it with sticky warm stuff so I mix up one of the best dishes for my little hens, chopped fresh cabbage and torn up pieces of bread. I scoop the cabbage into a big red bowl and tear up the bread and mix with my hands. It is so nice and dry and very easy to feed. Just toss it around and they have a ball with it for quite some time. Love to listen to them chitter-chatter "Oh there's a lot today.. " Look Betsy, over here!" My little hens are so sing songy and appreciative.
Chicken Zucchini Summers Harvest
In the summer when my garden is producing a lot of zucchini I cut it lengthwise and lay the giant halves right on the floor of their clean coop extension. The hens love the slippery seeds and eat all the creamy flesh inside. If you are so inclined they love their vegges grated also. Broccoli, lettuce, corn and home grown tomatoes are their favorites. When my trees were full of apples my hens would eat at the apples that fell to the ground.
Juicy Sliced Watermelon For My Chickens
Watermelon is a hit on those searing hot days of summer. Here in Cedar, the Green River Watermelons are highly sought after. They disappear fast at the Farmer's Market at the lady Bug Nursery. I do grow my own but they are small and do not ripen all the way. In the coop, the juicy red flesh is eaten all the way down to the rind leaving a paper thin green shell behind. Cut it open and watch it disappear while they chatter to each other, "Oh isn't this delicious?" "Yes, lovely !" "Hey, that's is my piece!" "Move over, Betsy!" cackle cackle* purrr
Autumn Scrambled, Too Many Eggs
I have 10 chickens and they are all hens. I collect about 6-9 eggs a day. The eggs add up quick and I share them with my neighbors. There is nothing like loading up my basket with eggs and delivering them over the back fence. Sometimes the number of eggs overwhelm my fridge and counters and it is time to crack the extra ones into a bowl and scramble cook them in olive oil.
Some of this bears repeating, My girls get laying mash 16% protein and chicken scratch. I add hand collected granite grits and oyster shell to their diet. I allow them to roam free in a large fenced yard to hunt for bugs and eat grass. The chickens do catch a mouse once in awhile and small birds that fly into the coop. I just have to look the other way.
Related Articles
Click here for complete and well done page on What do chickens eat?
From http://www.fantasticfarms.au/
I have the galvanized fountain for their water. In winter we use a galvanized heater underneathe to keep the water from freezing.
In summer I think I will try this plastic feeder. The girls really love their water dish like this one only for 10 hens I have a little bit bigger. For chicks I would use the chick size fountain. Little chicks can drown in a big dish of water. I change the water in the morning and afternoon. They run to the fresh vessel of water and slurp it up. I provide both the fountains and the dish all year long.
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| My Chickens Venus, Jupiter, & Mama Chicken |
Feeding My Chickens
On cold winter mornings I whip up a batch of warm steamy polenta, corn, and prepared elbow macaroni. My chickens love it. I serve this on a large cutting board and bright red plastic plates around the coop so they all get some. Be careful when your setting it down. Sometimes those chickens get wild and jump on the plate before it is served. Get a firm grip on the pan handle and serve and get out of the way, fast!. Please keep in mind I do feed my hens 16% laying mash and scratch and these little recipes are for extra treats. I make them fresh with NO sal,t onion, fish and I stay away from meat because it makes them very aggressive. Chickens are good mousers and it will disgust you to no end when you see it happen. Winter Polenta For Chickens
Boil 4 cups of water
Whisk in 1 cup of yellow cornmeal
Stir over heat until it thickens and comes away from the side of the pan. Note: This stuff really bubbles and explodes so lower heat or lift off heat source ever so often and keep stirring!.
Add a handful of each and stir: frozen peas, fresh corn kernels, and cooked small elbow macaroni*
* large pieces of spaghetti noodles need to be chopped up small to prevent the chickens from choking.
Listening to my chickens gobble up their food is heart warming.
Cabbage and Bread A transition into Spring
The days are hanging at 36-50 degrees and nights are staying well above 25 so it is time to turn off the infrared lamps and turn off the water heaters. By now I have had it with sticky warm stuff so I mix up one of the best dishes for my little hens, chopped fresh cabbage and torn up pieces of bread. I scoop the cabbage into a big red bowl and tear up the bread and mix with my hands. It is so nice and dry and very easy to feed. Just toss it around and they have a ball with it for quite some time. Love to listen to them chitter-chatter "Oh there's a lot today.. " Look Betsy, over here!" My little hens are so sing songy and appreciative.
Chicken Zucchini Summers Harvest
In the summer when my garden is producing a lot of zucchini I cut it lengthwise and lay the giant halves right on the floor of their clean coop extension. The hens love the slippery seeds and eat all the creamy flesh inside. If you are so inclined they love their vegges grated also. Broccoli, lettuce, corn and home grown tomatoes are their favorites. When my trees were full of apples my hens would eat at the apples that fell to the ground.
Juicy Sliced Watermelon For My Chickens
Watermelon is a hit on those searing hot days of summer. Here in Cedar, the Green River Watermelons are highly sought after. They disappear fast at the Farmer's Market at the lady Bug Nursery. I do grow my own but they are small and do not ripen all the way. In the coop, the juicy red flesh is eaten all the way down to the rind leaving a paper thin green shell behind. Cut it open and watch it disappear while they chatter to each other, "Oh isn't this delicious?" "Yes, lovely !" "Hey, that's is my piece!" "Move over, Betsy!" cackle cackle* purrr
Autumn Scrambled, Too Many Eggs
I have 10 chickens and they are all hens. I collect about 6-9 eggs a day. The eggs add up quick and I share them with my neighbors. There is nothing like loading up my basket with eggs and delivering them over the back fence. Sometimes the number of eggs overwhelm my fridge and counters and it is time to crack the extra ones into a bowl and scramble cook them in olive oil.
Some of this bears repeating, My girls get laying mash 16% protein and chicken scratch. I add hand collected granite grits and oyster shell to their diet. I allow them to roam free in a large fenced yard to hunt for bugs and eat grass. The chickens do catch a mouse once in awhile and small birds that fly into the coop. I just have to look the other way.
Related Articles
Click here for complete and well done page on What do chickens eat?
From http://www.fantasticfarms.au/
I have the galvanized fountain for their water. In winter we use a galvanized heater underneathe to keep the water from freezing.
In summer I think I will try this plastic feeder. 
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