Not eating their greens!

[Pony Girl]

Hello all. Only discovered this forum yesterday and am new to keeping bantams, so got lots of questions I'm begging to ask! I've read a few books but found not all of them that helpful.

OK, first question:

1. How do you get bantams to eat their greens? My three are on a diet of layer's pellets, and I also give them corn as a treat, which they absolutely love. We got them in August and they got very excited about anything I used to give them, including dandelion leaves and grapes. However, now they have the run of the garden (it's a very small one with a tiny lawn, but very secure) they don't seem to be a bit interested in any greens I try and give them. Unfortunately there's not all that much grass, so though I've seen them picking bits of grass and shrubs, I don't think it's because they're finding lots of supplements themselves.

Yesterday I read that a supplement mash is good for incorporating vegetables into their diet, so cooked up some potatoes with sprouts, a bit of garlic, and some porridge oats, as advised, to put out for them but they weren't really that interested. Mabel and Phantom had a bit, but Flo seemed more scared of the bowl! I've tried hand feeding them lettuce, but they'd rather have corn. How can I get them to eat their greens?

:?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Pony Girl,
mine all love raw cabbage,I put some large cabbage leaves hung up for them with string from rose bushes etc in my garden.I never feed lettuce as it's c**p,got more water than nutrition in it.Mine also love peas.
When I first got my chooks,it took them a while to get used to the sight of veggies,root veggies like carrots and potatoe peelings I do boil up for them,but they much prefer cherry toms,grapes and raw cabbage.
I wouldn't worry too much that your girls are not eating a lot of greens at the moment,hens tend to eat what they need and at the moment they are probably filling up on carbohydrates and starches to insulate themselves against the cold.

 

[Tim]

I wouldn't worry too much that your girls are not eating a lot of greens at the moment,hens tend to eat what they need and at the moment they are probably filling up on carbohydrates and starches to insulate themselves against the cold.

Yep. Would agree - they will take what they need (and what they are used to). They will be fussy if they can free range.

I don't feed Lettuce - I did a test with 6 others on the Pekin Bantams Forum (Back in the day..) and egg numbers dropped when we fed a couple of lettuces a week to our chooks. The best we came up with is there is a chemical that sounds like 'Labornum' (sorry can't remember the spelling) that makes them lethargic... could be a load of tripe but I don't feed lettuce after these results. I give trimings to the ducks though.

 

[Anonymous]

LOL,I'm just anti-lettuce,I don't eat it so don't feed it to my rabbits,chooks,son.........etc.It really does have very little nutrition in it,and seems to give most beasties diahorreah.

 

[Anonymous]

If I have something that I want my hens to eat I put it in there food bowl. They pick through it but when they get hungry enough they eat it up. I mostly give them wheat and corn. My local farmer has bags of it.

 

[Anonymous]

LOL,mine are not so choosy,I just chuck it on the ground and they scoff it.I only put their layers pellets or warm mash in food containers.My girls do try everything though,just are not very impressed with boiled peelings.
If I'm eating anything they mob me for it,toast,curry,biscuits,they've landed in a bowl of hot soup before now lol.

 

[Anonymous]

My hens have been quite good at eating their greens until the last week or so. They normally get plenty of veg cooked up in mash/stew with cat treats, porridge, sweetcorn or whatever is available. They didn't eat it at first. I think because they'd only had pellets and grain before I got them and it took a little while to realise it was food.

Strange thing is my lot seem to have gone off their greens and started eating straw. I'm a bit concerned as I read somewhere that this can lead to an impacted crop. They all seem quite happy and healthy at the minute, I'd just like them to stay that way.

They get the best of food and then they eat the stuff I put down so they didn't have to walk on the snow.

Chicken logic just baffles me :?

Osric

 

[Anonymous]

They get the best of food and then they eat the stuff I put down so they didn't have to walk on the snow.

Chicken logic just baffles me :?

Osric

Maybe cos you're not a chicken......... :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe cos you're not a chicken......... :mrgreen:

Good point!