These are random other notes on chickens that I could think of.
Supplemental Items
There are a few supplemental things to have on hand for chickens...oyster shell and grit. These two are things that are necessary for chickens and you should have for them. You can change out the oyster shell for crushed & baked egg shells (their own). The grit is for helping to digest their food. If you don't see a lot of tiny rocks available for them in their run, I would add grit. You can put grit and oyster shell in a feeder for them to pick at their own leisure.
Real quick, so what's scratch? It is a treat of mainly cracked corn. I use it lightly with my flock, but can be good for training (sounds great in a metal bucket).
Scraps
Scraps can be fed to chickens, BUT not all scraps. This is one of the benefits to chickens is for reducing waste, but that doesn't mean you just dump everything to them. Whatever you feed them is nutrients for the egg, which you consume. Here's some no's:
Moldy, Rotten Food
Undercooked Beans
Uncooked Rice
Tomato and Eggplant Leaves
Green Tomatoes
Avocado
Rhubarb (the whole thing is toxic)
Pits and Seeds - Apple, Peach, Cherry, etc. (Berries are fine)
Coffee Grounds
Raw Potatoes & Peels
Raw Meat
Processed Foods
Alliums/Onion Fam-Bam (I've read garlic can be given, but I haven't personally used it with my flock)
Here's a great list of what they can and cannot eat here. Quite a few of the things on the no list could instead go to the composter.
Chickens Take Dust Baths
Chickens look limp while burrowing into the ground, but this is normal as they are bathing! It will freak you out the first time you see it, but try not to fret. Below is a photo of the chickens dust bathing in some dirt that was dug up for posts (they went crazy).
If your hens don't have access to dirt, I recommend making a "spa" for your chicken. You can use a tub or box and use dust bath powder. You can make your own dust bathing powder as well...use fine dirt or top soil (under 2 bucks at Lowe's) and diatomaceous earth. I think making your own is cheaper.
Diatomaceous Earth
Speaking of DE, as I try to call it but tend to forget, is a great thing to have on hand for your chickens. I use this with a little duster that sprays it around the coop and ground. It helps with pest control to aid in keeping your chickens mite free. Be sure to get food grade.
Chicken & Herbs...No, Not Talking Dinner
You can use Pampered Chicken Mama's herb blend for mite control in the nesting boxes. It is pricey, so I use this sparingly. It's not necessary, but anything to keep my hens from having pest problems I will use it.
I also tend to crumble herbs for them to eat to help with internal health - oregano and mint for instance. They act uninterested, but it is always gone the next day. I also crumbled lavender from the garden to help with the scent of the coop during the rainy season.
Chickens Love Fermented Grains
Something I discovered online is that chickens love eating fermented grains. It's super easy to do and it helps with their digestion. This will also fill them up more saving you money on feed. That said, this is not a replacement. It's a treat.
Take whole oats and dump in a food grade bucket, put water in till it covers the oats completely. Stir and let sit for about 3 days till the grains are plump. Refill water as needed. Then serve! You can also do smaller portions using mason jars. Definitely research more online as there are other grain options (could even be their crumble feed).
Free Ranging
Free ranging is awesome for chickens and I highly recommend it if you can.
Yays
Pest Control
Less Bullying in the Flock
Weed Control
Fertilizer
Won't Fly Away - Chickens can fly (unless you cut their wings), but I can say it's not much air time. So, they are not going to fly away or migrate, haha.
Nays
Predators - Especially birds like hawks and eagles. There's really not much you can do about this, so you can risk it or not. We have a beautiful Red Tailed Hawk that perches in an oak yards away from the chicken coop, so I've decided to not free range. You can select chickens that are better suited for confinement (obviously still need space) and there are some breeds more alert to predators.
Poop Everywhere
Adios Plants - You will either need to cover or fence off areas that you don't want eaten as chickens will eat your garden. Some plants they won't touch, but others like a veggie or herb plants would be heaven for them.
Lost - Sometimes they do get a little confused and can't figure out how to return. It's important to train them in the beginning to come in when called with treats like scratch.
No Free Range? Do Sprouts.
So you can supplement sprouts for your chickens if you're not able to free range them. You can get sprouting materials from True Leaf Market and do them in sprout growers.
OR make a grazing box for the coop! Make a wood frame and then attach chicken wire. Place the seeds under the box and water daily. Here's the blog I stumbled on with more instruction.
Boredom Busters
You can buy toys and doodads of all sorts for chickens. I will say my chickens hate these things and don't utilize them. The only thing I use is a net to hang lettuce heads in their coop. Some of the best things to do is make sure they have enough perching spots and give them healthy, interactive treats. Some of their favorite treats is green leaf heads, kale, pomegranates, pumpkins/squash, and blueberries. I will sometimes put treats inside each other to make it more interesting for them. Or I will make a yogurt parfait with berries and soaked whole oats as they love yogurt...good for them as well.
Chicken Feed Can be Made Yourself
For Hens you will get Layer Crumbles (or one of the types like that), which is great. But you can make your own feed that will cost a little more up front, but will provide a year of food for the hens. Check out this blog here on how to do this.
My mix contains - corn, peas, black oil sunflower seeds, wheat, oats, fish meal, and kelp powder. I bought a good amount of this from farm supply stores and then the rest, like kelp powder, online. Just be sure to store your food well to avoid bugs and mold, otherwise you will loose out on the benefit of making the food.
I have been doing this for almost a year and I started them on the homemade feed while I still had crumble. I don't know if it's necessary, but I wanted to ease them in with a blend and phase out the crumble. They are fully on the homemade feed and look healthy. No problems since the switch.
Quick Reference of What I Did (From the Blog)
30% Corn (Cracked) - 6 lbs
30% Wheat - 6 lbs
20% Peas - 4 lbs
10% Oats - 2 lbs
10% Fish Meal - 2 lbs
2% Kelp Powder
Chicken Auto Doors
One thing we added to our coop is an automatic chicken door. It can be programmed to close at the last of light, or a time, and reopen when the sunrises. This makes it so you are not rushing home from things to make sure they got in the coop safely. The door is great in the morning as well as I'm not rushing out to let them out. I've not had any issues with chickens getting stuck, just chickens getting left out accidentally, so we still check on them at night to make sure they made it.
I will say the one issue I've noticed, at least with mine, is that rain can cause it to "jam". Once it is dry, it will go back to normal.
Maticoopx is what I have, but looks unavailable. So maybe check out the Chicken Guard (seen used a lot) as it can be sold with just the sensor to be attached to the door you already have, or buy a door with track to go with it.
Chicken Saddles
These have 2 purposes...first, if you have a rooster, they do rooster things. Sometimes the hens need extra protection on their backs and chicken saddles help with just that. The second reason to have chicken saddles is if you have a chicken that has been bullied and is missing feathers on their back. My Emma is a perfect example as her back was bare...to the skin, which is very weird to see. So, I got one of these Down Under Outdoors Saddles and it's awesome. It even has a shoulder cover. Emma has been wearing hers for 5 months and finally has new feathers growing in, which I'm overjoyed about!
Chickens Poo = Gold
One of the biggest benefits of chickens is their poop. Major gardeners know that chickens deliver the best fertilizer. So, even when chickens lay less eggs, they still have a purpose and produce the best poo for a thriving garden. I love this point as chickens and gardening really have a recycling relationship more than anything I've seen before.
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