Margaid
Well-known member
I'd like to be able to provide the birds with warm mash if it turns really cold again. As I don't want to use soya I'll have to grind the wheat and cut maize. Anyone got any recommendations for a small feed mill?
Any recommendations for a small feed mill?
- Thread starter Margaid
- Start date
Why not just pour hot water on to layers pellets? Maybe add a handful of corn or a few sunflower seeds. Mine go mad for it in the afternoons. Whatever you use there's no need to grind the grain, the birds' gizzards are designed to do that.
Margaid
Well-known member
Layers pellets are soya based Marigold, so are all the layers mash and I don't want to use soya. According to Lewis Wright it is beneficial to give the warm mash in the morning so that they get quickly digestible food when their crops are empty. It is also usually coldest just before dawn - the temperature in the caravan can drop 2 degrees between 5.30 and 7.30.
I experimented with pressure cooking the grain mix but it came out a bit glutinous because of the peas and rolled barley in it. I had to rinse it off then added some wheat bran to dry it out a bit. They do eat it but not with great enthusiasm, but then they are only really enthusiastic about mealworms. I might try again when I collect some more feed but I'll just cook the maize and wheat and then add the oats and peas. I need to get a new safety plug for the cooker first as I blew it in Christmas Eve!
I'm still having to throw feed on the ground for them, they don't seem to be eating from the feeder. I throw the food outside and inside the field shelter which is where the feeder now is, and I saw them in the shelter at one point when it rained this afternoon, but it still looks like the same amount of feed in the feeder. Any suggestions as to whether I should stop doing that and hope they find the food in the feeder or what?
I experimented with pressure cooking the grain mix but it came out a bit glutinous because of the peas and rolled barley in it. I had to rinse it off then added some wheat bran to dry it out a bit. They do eat it but not with great enthusiasm, but then they are only really enthusiastic about mealworms. I might try again when I collect some more feed but I'll just cook the maize and wheat and then add the oats and peas. I need to get a new safety plug for the cooker first as I blew it in Christmas Eve!
I'm still having to throw feed on the ground for them, they don't seem to be eating from the feeder. I throw the food outside and inside the field shelter which is where the feeder now is, and I saw them in the shelter at one point when it rained this afternoon, but it still looks like the same amount of feed in the feeder. Any suggestions as to whether I should stop doing that and hope they find the food in the feeder or what?
The problem is that, whether or not they find the scattered food, the rats will, and you don't want that. Also if the birds get in the habit of eating off the ground they are in more danger of eating worm eggs from their droppings with the pellets. Unless you have an enclosed run with very small rat-excluding mesh, it's probably best to hang the feeder off the ground. If they are hungry, they will eat it
Personally I feel you can't do better than stuck to a good- quality brand of layers pellets, however you serve it, to be sure of giving the birds the right balance of nutrients and vitamins. Unless you are very confident in your nutritional knowledge, it just doesn't seem worth it to me, to spend time, money and effort on mixing and cooking feeds which may or may not hit the button with the birds. I appreciate that some people object to soya as an ingredient, but is there really a problem, in moderation? If you want to use an all-grain diet, as many people do, it doesn't need cooking, just mixing.
Personally I feel you can't do better than stuck to a good- quality brand of layers pellets, however you serve it, to be sure of giving the birds the right balance of nutrients and vitamins. Unless you are very confident in your nutritional knowledge, it just doesn't seem worth it to me, to spend time, money and effort on mixing and cooking feeds which may or may not hit the button with the birds. I appreciate that some people object to soya as an ingredient, but is there really a problem, in moderation? If you want to use an all-grain diet, as many people do, it doesn't need cooking, just mixing.
foxy
Active member
Have you tried a mash with micronised peas and split maize? That is what I use when it is really cold, with a glug of cod liver oil mixed in.
foxy
Active member
Just noticed your comment about the feeders Margaid, I find that mine being large birds actually prefer to feed from troughs rather then from feeders, especially the cockerels, maybe something to do with their headgear I am not sure.
Margaid
Well-known member
That's why I took the rain hat off and put the feeder in the field shelter Foxy. Is your mash just micronised peas and split maize (apart form the codliver oil) and do you just mix it with hot water? I don't want to feed it all the time, just when it's really cold.
The grain diet isn't usually cooked Marigold, and the mix was recommended by a breeder I know. All the other hens do well on it. At the moment they are eating everything I throw down for them. I did have the feeder hung up as that was apparently what they were used to; now I have it on it's legs. Obviously if I keep throwing food down they will peck at that because it's easier. Their crops seem to be full when I shut them up so they appear to be finding enough food, it's just that the level in the feeder doesn't change. I have a lot of objections to consuming soya, with which I won't bore you, and I have been unable to find any poultry food that does not contain it as a major ingredient and organic pellets are very expensive. I actually enjoy mixing up the feed for the birds - it's just a shame that buckwheat is so difficult to find, and expensive when you do.
The rat problem is interesting; when we had one of our field hedges replanted the hedger didn't clear the grass and weeds away from around the young plants. He said that was mouse habitat, and if it was cleared the mice would go and the rats move in. At the time we did have a problem in mum-in-law's cottage and he said that was because the big bank the other side of the stream had been grazed bare. It isn't grazed now and I've seen no sign of rats - but lots of wood mice, bank voles and short tailed voles. We also have 7 cats which will hopefully keep the rats away.
What would be ideal would be to get the other 3 hens home as they are used to this type of feeder but the other henhouse still needs work and OH is away a lot and busy when he's here, and I daren't risk messing up his power tools!
The grain diet isn't usually cooked Marigold, and the mix was recommended by a breeder I know. All the other hens do well on it. At the moment they are eating everything I throw down for them. I did have the feeder hung up as that was apparently what they were used to; now I have it on it's legs. Obviously if I keep throwing food down they will peck at that because it's easier. Their crops seem to be full when I shut them up so they appear to be finding enough food, it's just that the level in the feeder doesn't change. I have a lot of objections to consuming soya, with which I won't bore you, and I have been unable to find any poultry food that does not contain it as a major ingredient and organic pellets are very expensive. I actually enjoy mixing up the feed for the birds - it's just a shame that buckwheat is so difficult to find, and expensive when you do.
The rat problem is interesting; when we had one of our field hedges replanted the hedger didn't clear the grass and weeds away from around the young plants. He said that was mouse habitat, and if it was cleared the mice would go and the rats move in. At the time we did have a problem in mum-in-law's cottage and he said that was because the big bank the other side of the stream had been grazed bare. It isn't grazed now and I've seen no sign of rats - but lots of wood mice, bank voles and short tailed voles. We also have 7 cats which will hopefully keep the rats away.
What would be ideal would be to get the other 3 hens home as they are used to this type of feeder but the other henhouse still needs work and OH is away a lot and busy when he's here, and I daren't risk messing up his power tools!
An adult bird will eat about 125+ grams of feed per day, so your two birds will eat about 2 kilos per week, somewhat less if free ranging. It sounds as if you have one of those Solway feeders with the optional rain hat, and if this is the medium size it will hold 2.5 kilos. If the birds were in a closed dry run with no access to other feed you would therefore need to refill the feeder once a week. In a suitably positioned feeder,whatever the type, the food will stay clean and dry, but leftover bits on the ground may go mouldy and then get picked up and eaten later on. A feeder won't appear to go down very fast if you feed them other stuff from the ground.
As these birds have just arrived with you it's likely that whatever you are feeding is new to them, and also they are still settling down together in a new environment, in difficult weather conditions, and thus are under a certain amount of unavoidable stress. Perhaps it would be best to try getting them into a routine of feeding from a feeder, on whatever you intend to maintain them on, possibly with a warm mash of some sort at the same time of day, every day through the winter, not just when it's a bit colder, so they come to know what to expect and benefit from the routine. That's why personally I prefer a quick and easy way of making this, as some days I wouldn't have the time to cook for them. As with livestock of any species, a certain amount of training into a new regime is needed and its good to try to avoid them getting into fussy feeding habits.
As these birds have just arrived with you it's likely that whatever you are feeding is new to them, and also they are still settling down together in a new environment, in difficult weather conditions, and thus are under a certain amount of unavoidable stress. Perhaps it would be best to try getting them into a routine of feeding from a feeder, on whatever you intend to maintain them on, possibly with a warm mash of some sort at the same time of day, every day through the winter, not just when it's a bit colder, so they come to know what to expect and benefit from the routine. That's why personally I prefer a quick and easy way of making this, as some days I wouldn't have the time to cook for them. As with livestock of any species, a certain amount of training into a new regime is needed and its good to try to avoid them getting into fussy feeding habits.
Margaid
Well-known member
It's pouring with rain against this morning so they have had the warm mash in a shallow dish in the field shelter. Cocky found it after a few minutes and was then happily eating it, so this could be a combination of more room for his comb and getting used to his new environment. I only scattered a little food inside the shelter which they both picked at before Coccky found the mash. I think he may have also pecked at the feeder. I couldn't see past him very easily but I think Henny may have been at the feeder some of the time. We should have made the shelter twice the size but I needed something quickly so used what materials we had available. Because she, in particular, is still very wary of me (it's why I didn't want to use the net!) I don't try and get too close yet. Hopefully now they will know where the food is and I won't throw any on the ground outside the hen house.
The cockerel was previously in with two others, not sure about the hen. He's treading her frequently - I just hope he doesn't drown her in a puddle! The field has the appearance of ridge and furrow and although I checked it carefully before setting out the enclosure, during the last week two of the "furrows" are acting as drainage channels. Fortunately the "ridges" stay relatively dry but we're on over 30 feet of solid clay which is saturated. Not as badly affected as lots of other poultry keepers though. The birds have come from a fairly bleak environment and Welsummers are reputedly hardy birds.
Once the repairs and alterations to the little wooden house are finished I will put up the other 50 metres of poultry netting making two enclosures next to each other, and bring the other three back. The only problem is that neither house is big enough for all 5 birds so I need to get a bigger house sorted PDQ.
The diet is that used by Dave of Castle Farm Eggs Chuck. In winter the basic diet is 4 parts wheat, 2 parts cut maize and 1 part rolled barley with cod liver oil. I've added one part micronised peas which he also recommends. I've looked at Lewis Wright but I've found it difficult to source some of the things he mentions, certainly at a reasobnable price! The mash is the feed as above cooked to soften the wheat and maize, but I had to rinse it as it went glutinous as the barley and peas cooked more quickly. In the next few days I will collect the food unmixed so that I can soften the wheat and maize and then just mix the barley and peas in to it. At the moment we are still mixing the feed at my friend's and I just bring back a container of it.
Wright's idea is that the morning feed should be relatively soft to speed up digestion. The grains are still fairly solid but squashable with the fingers. I know it seems a lot of work to some people but with only a small number of birds it isn't really a chore and the way my life is at the moment I'm glad of the distraction.
The cockerel was previously in with two others, not sure about the hen. He's treading her frequently - I just hope he doesn't drown her in a puddle! The field has the appearance of ridge and furrow and although I checked it carefully before setting out the enclosure, during the last week two of the "furrows" are acting as drainage channels. Fortunately the "ridges" stay relatively dry but we're on over 30 feet of solid clay which is saturated. Not as badly affected as lots of other poultry keepers though. The birds have come from a fairly bleak environment and Welsummers are reputedly hardy birds.
Once the repairs and alterations to the little wooden house are finished I will put up the other 50 metres of poultry netting making two enclosures next to each other, and bring the other three back. The only problem is that neither house is big enough for all 5 birds so I need to get a bigger house sorted PDQ.
The diet is that used by Dave of Castle Farm Eggs Chuck. In winter the basic diet is 4 parts wheat, 2 parts cut maize and 1 part rolled barley with cod liver oil. I've added one part micronised peas which he also recommends. I've looked at Lewis Wright but I've found it difficult to source some of the things he mentions, certainly at a reasobnable price! The mash is the feed as above cooked to soften the wheat and maize, but I had to rinse it as it went glutinous as the barley and peas cooked more quickly. In the next few days I will collect the food unmixed so that I can soften the wheat and maize and then just mix the barley and peas in to it. At the moment we are still mixing the feed at my friend's and I just bring back a container of it.
Wright's idea is that the morning feed should be relatively soft to speed up digestion. The grains are still fairly solid but squashable with the fingers. I know it seems a lot of work to some people but with only a small number of birds it isn't really a chore and the way my life is at the moment I'm glad of the distraction.
foxy
Active member
Hi Margaid, it varies slightly, but in answer to your question it would be a little mixed corn, (no barley) wheat, flaked maize, micronised peas, a dash of codliver oil (about 2 tablespoons) with hot water just enough to dampen the mixture. I sometimes add a handful of pigeon conditioner mix that my local mill makes up 
I have a friend who used to feed her birds her own mix, I will ask her about her recipe.
I have a friend who used to feed her birds her own mix, I will ask her about her recipe.
Margaid. I've just been putting out ex-batt crumb for my 3 ex-batts (plus a separate feeder of pellets for my araucana). I was expecting them to get through around 450g of crumb per day (150g each) but for the first week it was much less than this. I'd not been giving them corn ("If you don't eat your ration, you can't have treats..." ) but they're now getting through around 400g crumb between 3 of them, plus the pellets that they filch from Millie's feeder. As a result they're now also getting a few mealworms or some corn in the afternoon if I'm around.
It seems that if you persevere, they will eat what they're supposed to, & eat a sensible amount, as they settle in. Consistency & not switching around seems to be the key- unlike us they seem to prefer the same thing day after day.
It seems that if you persevere, they will eat what they're supposed to, & eat a sensible amount, as they settle in. Consistency & not switching around seems to be the key- unlike us they seem to prefer the same thing day after day.
