What's Your Favorite Breed of Chicken?

I think I might be expecting too much from them, to be my best friends from the get go.. They are bloody lovely though!

They are on dodson and horrels pellets from pets at home as main feed, have got to get flubenvet pellets soon as they need worming (previous owner said next few weeks)

They're poo seems fine atm.. I found a lovely link to a photographic poo chart http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

I was reading about the scraps and nothing to be prepared in the kitchen to go into the coop, it was basically 3 tablespoons of the porridge and I cleaned the mess up straight away when they scarpered so really, they haven't had any of it.

As for the run, I did see another one for 149.99 but I can't find it now, should of bookmarked it!

 

Have a nosey around local farm shops. You're paying a good price, (the mixed corn is a bit pricey though) but, we discovered a local farm shop which sells layers pellets at a far better rate per kilo. Wouldn't have thought it before we discovered one when we were ambling around on a road trek.

They will most definitely become your "best friends" - without a doubt! Cupboard love is a powerful pull

Baby steps, my lovely: baby steps

 

What is DEFRA and why no kitchen scraps? I have a "chicken bucket" on the kitchen counter and vegetable peelings and scraps go into the bucket. But the dogs get the meat and gravy scraps, LOL. My girls positively adore scraps!

 

Baymule, Defra is "The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/is-it-safe-to-feed-my-chickens-table-scraps/

http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/can-you-feed-human-food-and-kitchen-scraps-to-chickens.html

I think if you use common sense though you can feed them "scraps"

 

Those are two very informative links. Most of the foods listed I wouldn't feed to my chickens anyway and some of the foods listed, they don't even like. I feed a non GMO, non soy feed that is twice the price of regular laying pellets. I got mice in the feed room last winter and they only ate the chicken feed! The mice passed on the horse feed. I put the chicken feed in a new metal trash can and set out rat poison. That and a couple of rat snakes that moved in, took care of the mouse problem.

But I will still keep a chicken bucket on the counter. Today I made soup, so they got carrot peelings and celery trimmings. If they don't eat it, they peck it and scratch it, poop on it, and in no time, it is compost! I also deep litter the coop with leaves in the fall, pine shavings the rest of the year. I dig it out a few times a year and get garden gold. But they free range all over the yard, about an acre, so they are happy chickens.

I am still looking for my favorite breed of chicken!

 

Do you mind the snakes have moved in?! I'd be so worried!
Yeah, if I ate more veg I'd have a chicken bucket like yours too, don't think your rules are as strict as ours mind!
And if I had a bigger place I'd probably have some sort of farm on the go too so envious of you!