Feeding Chickens Black Soldier fly Larvae a new feeder

Have been looking at ways to boost the nutrition of the chooks at late & have come up with a few ideas like the Black soldier larvae farms... As you can see from the clip below they are a hit with the girls..


Another way is by increasing their greens intake.. At the moment they are getting grass clippings, grass from the neighbours yard & leafy greens from the patch.. Think its time they grow their own
; )»
Living Green Chicken feeder..

Have been wanting to make one of these feeders up since a friend told me about them..
The concept is fairly basic, plant some chook fodder seeds under a chook proof cage so the greens can grow through for the chooks to feed on them without scratching them up..

So far I have made up the cage & installed it into the chook pen..
It is hinged so the mesh can be lifted easily & the soil worked or left to the chooks to scratch out between crops..


A hanging pot hook will be used to keep it from turning it into a chook trap : )»
I have some wheat grain soaking over night so it can be sown out in the morning... Just thought it might give the seed a bit of a head start germinating..
A clip will be made once we have a bit of growth & the chooks are feeding from it..


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Have a great one All...
: )»

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Cheap Chicken feeder 2 Living greens feeder for chickens

I have finely make up a "Living Green Feeder" for the girls pen.. A friend, tar Rosie, put me onto them a few years ago but I have kept putting it off.. This was a very easy build & only took me about an hour to make & install.. I think a basic one could be made from items such as upturned bread crates or wire baskets from an old fridge/freezer..




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Have a great one All...
: )»

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Soft shell egg from the chickens

One of the girls laid a soft shell egg the other day & it gave Koo a bit of a shock when she was collecting the eggs :D We have only ever had 3 or 4 of these over 16 years & 3 lots of chickens..



A soft shell egg can be a one off or in some cases caused by stress, a sign of nutrient deficiency or illness in the bird.. In our case I think it has to do with the age of our 2 older chooks, Greedy & Chicken Little.. If there is a continuing problem we will be off to the vet with the young lass in question..

I have come across a few great sites & forums that have been useful over the past few years.. Backyard Chickens is one forum that has some great posters & information like this page on Common Egg Quality problems..
The Chicken Vet from the UK has also got some great information on diseases on his site..
Cheers & hope the info helps some folks out there,
Rob :)

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