Healthy Chickens are Happy Chickens!

Hello again!

I thought I would talk about my favorite non-people in the whole world today: my 5 beautiful hens!

They are so super cute and fun and I just love them to pieces!

Therefore it is extremely important for me to keep them happy and healthy!

Most everyone knows the ins and outs of chicken care: feed them, water them, (check for pasty butt every now and then) and give them a safe and comfortable space to lay!
Technically chickens could survive on their own in the wild, and could certainly sustain themselves on bugs and grass. But, they are our pets, and we want solid eggs, so there are things you can do to help en up fruit, and HUGE bags of bread loaf after bread loaf. It makes for great feed for the chickens, and now they have come to expect some variety in their diet!

(A hastily taken shot of some of the bread I found on my last outing.)

Other things can be found as well! I was able to get my hands on a few HUGE packs of corn tortillas, so I ran them through my food processor, and Voila! I had a few nice bags of corn feed for my ladies.

 

Now, we want them to lay nice, thick, protected eggs, so it is important that they get enough calcium as well. There are lots of very expensive, nutrient-fortified foods out there, but we can't afford that!

 

So...I got a great big bottle of Calcium pills from Costco for about $10.

I put them in my food processor and turned them into powder.

Then I made a paper funnel and poured the powder back into the calcium bottle.

It got a little messy, but it wasn't too bad!

Next, I put a tablespoon of the calcium into the feed bag I had made.

Then I shook it all up to disperse the calcium powder evenly.

Now I have a few months' worth of calcium powder to use in whatever feed I make for the chickens, and it only cost me 10 bucks, and like 10 minutes worth of time!

Give it a try!

Til' next time....

 

• The Wheatcrafter