I was a little enthusiastic buying lettuces, and ended up getting more when I still had some in the fridge. Oops. No worries, the chickens need some greens too. I chopped up the spinach and romain to make it easier for the chickens to eat. Sometimes I will make a hanging bundle so they are able to tear off small chunks themselves, but spinach is easier to just chop. I layered the ingredients, starting with an apple that had a large worm hole. I cut out the decayed part for the compost bin, but chopped the rest. Then in went the spinach, then the romain.

The chickens saw me coming with the bowl and made excited clucks.When I flipped over the bowl in the chicken run, the apples were on top, which I think was a nice turn out. The hens appreciated it.

By the next day it was almost all gone, just the largest pieces of romaine remained.

We recently went on a three-day trip, and set the chickens up so they could be on their own while we were gone. Well, I noticed the day before we left that they had not been accessing their food in their feeder. Not sure if the cold metal was too much for their feet, or if there was something else going on with the feeder, I set up a supplement hanging feeder for while we were gone. I layered grubblies (since they usually get some daily when I go out), scratch (since it was going to be cold), and their usual organic chicken feed.

The hens had nearly emptied the hanging feeder after three days.

You may notice in the picture above that not only are the detested seeds from the scratch on the ground (see yesterday’s post), but so is a significant amount of pelleted food. Hm. I think my hens have been surviving on dried grubs and cracked corn, enough so that they prefer not to access their regular feed. Busted.

I give my hens scratch grains in the winter to help them maintain body heat, since the whole grains are harder to digest. The chickens love the mix, except for one kind. I’m not sure if the offending seed is oats or barley (or both since they look similar), but they certainly don’t care for them. Maybe they will sprout in the spring?

We’ve been having some rain. We need the moisture, but because it is November, it is a cold rain. Rather than scattering the scratch out in the muddy runs, the hens get their treats under the overhang.

I sliced a pumpkin in half and filled it with strawberry tops, but they were more interested in the scratch and dried fly grubs. They’ll get to the veggies later. Much like children.

I hope y’all enjoy your Thanksgiving as much as my hens like tucking into a scattering of grain.