Backyard Poultry Forum

I have a bit of fun trying out new combinations on my ladies in their mash, love watching them gobble it down so readily, and it is also a great way to get some important 'supplementary feeds' into them.

So i just thought i would start a thread for us all to share our mash recipes, trade our chooks 'connoisseurship' and our mini culinary miracles

Not a spectacular one but was gobbled down with abandon:

(all ingredients oragnic)

equal parts maize meal, oat meal and rice bran
some fenugreek sprouts
unhomgenised milk (warmed coz it was a cold night )
some seaweed meal
and some grated apple

When it's cold in the mornings I give mine a mix of pollard, bran , their high protein layer crumble, livamol, cod liver oil and throw in whatever house scraps I may have. Then I heat up some fresh straight from the cows' milk and pour over the lot. Stir it around until its a nice consistency and I swear there is this look they get when they know what it is.

I just use bran and pollard with some molasses, they love it. does anyone think that this is sufficient for growing birds (with added grain in afternoon), or would grower pellets be more benefical?

I started off mixing a blend of ingredients, but was warned by looloo about the risk of insufficient protein causing problems long term. So now I buy biodynamic layer crumbles and use these as a basis for their breakfast mash. That way I know they have a properly balanced blend of nutrients and I can be creative as well . They get a tablespoon each of crumbles, then I add grated carrot or turnip or beetroot (whatever is in the garden) sometimes fresh sprouts (broccoli, alfalfa, mung beans etc)., about once a week finely chopped garlic and onion instead, plus whatever supplement is due (cod liver oil, brewers yeast, dcp, molasses) and then mix it up with bd milk or water. They are always very happy to see their breakfast, but sometimes only have a little and then gobble it up an hour or so later after I let them out and put the dish out too. Like little kids they seem to think if the dish is moved it must be a new treat Judy

where do you get your BD crumble from judy?

My girls get two cups of organic pellets, grated carrot or zuchinni, whatever is available, and their supplements that are due, cod liver oil, organic black strap molasses, brewers yeast, Greenpet Bird & Poultry Supplement (this contains flaxseed meal, dolomite, rosehip, rice bran, green barley, spirulina, kelp, nettle and garlic), once or twice a week they get some garlic and if I have any greens growing in the garden I throw some of them in as well. The pellets are softened with some hot water and then I add some fresh cows milk. They love it and jump and hop about when they see me coming

It's a bit of a production to get the bd crumbles - and the organic suppliers in Qld don't seem to sell in Vic. The bd crumbles come from BD Marketing in Powelltown, but they don't sell direct. So when I order bd meat from Belmore Butchers in Thornbury, I add my chook food order and Belmore get it and deliver it with the meat It works as long as I order in advance, and as long as they have stock when I need it. I haven't found any other way of getting it but, as I order the bd meat every couple of months, it's not too tricky really. Belmore deliver to me in Indented Head, and they deliver all over Melb. The bd grains I get come from Greenline Organic, who also deliver here. Judy

Pardon my ignorance but what is mash...?

I give my girls (& richard) some pellets & scraps in the morning, i usually soak the pellets in warm water.. should i be giving them mash as well...? Or is that mash..?

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Welsummers, Rhode Island Reds, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Pekins and Silkies.... lets not forget Misha my Golden Retreiver...

That is mash just be careful to throw away any that they don't eat as it will go off.

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The Wife
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My mash recipe depends on what the girls have not had for a while but always starts with a base of rice, then porridge mixed through to thicken, to that l add peas, corn, bran pollard.

Options / combinations l add are:

Fresh maggots, whiskas or pal, honey, sunflower seeds, carrot, roo mince(very small amount)

I do keep the base of the mix in the fridge but for no more than 4 - 5 days.

I inadvertently discovered the chook addiction to mash, rather than dry pellets, when I gave the pen a bit of a shower in stinking hot weather, and they went mad for the pellets that got dampened.

Is it good for them to have more mash than dry pellets, or should they have them dry every now and again for "crunch" factor? (Like cats who prefer wet food, but need dry to clean their teeth etc).

Mind you, I would have though the grasshoppers, beetles, ants, and other assorted "if it moves, eat it" beasties they chase around the pen would provide good "crunch".

Someone please correct me if i am wrong,

but i don't think it matters giving them mash/soggy pellets, as opposed to dry ones.
The biggest problem with wetting them, mash in general, is if the chooks don't finish it, it must be thrown out, so there can be more waste involved - that said, i found i soon learnt that less is more, you can always give them a bit more if they polish it off real fast..

I don't always give mash, i did at first with huge enthusiasm every morning , now i save it as more of a special treat brekky once or twice a week, or if i need to get something in particular into their bellies.
It took me a while to get them eating dry pellets, a few hunger strikes on their part , but in the end, if the chooks hungry, the chook will eat. And though they don't jump out of their skins for their pellets as they do for a mash, they still eat them happy enough.
That said, i do still love getting rather creative about the mash when i do make it

As for the crunch factor, the pellets are swallowed whole, they might peck it to break it smaller if they want, but once they're in, they're in - they'll soon sogg up as they digest, so really it shouldn't matter, it'll be mash soon enough! (or at least thats what makes sense to me). The crunch factor in your chooks diet should be the grit.

i didn't realise i was meant to give my girls (and father duck) a mash?

i give kitchen scraps at least once a week, they free range all day (their fave spot atm is under the grape vine) and then they get mixed grain with layer pellets.

should i also be giving a mash of some description?

No spanky, they will be fine as long as the diet is balanced (ie their main diet is layer pellets or a grain based layers mix)! A mash is just another way of presenting their food that they seem to enjoy. Mine eat mainly pellets and some scraps and I give a mash a couple of times a week, but they would be fine witihout it!

NellyG

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NellyG ........................