We grow our own food in a suburban village in the North East of England. Follow us as we keep up the battle to be self-sufficient.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Feeding mash to the hens
Our hens like boiled cabbage mixed in with oats or oatmeal. The UK government bans the use of kitchen waste as a food for chickens so we use leaves from the allotment instead. It's a good way of using up the larger, tougher cabbage and sprout leaves the chickens turn their beaks up at if given raw. They do however like fresh smaller green leaves, especially cauliflower and kale.
Holy cow! You can't feed kitchen waste from your own kitchen to feed your own hens? My poor chickens would have a fit if their feed didn't contain the occasional bit of left over veggies or such!
I suspect that people keeping hens in their own garden or allotment don't always follow the requirements. I personally think the regulation was introduced with the best of intentions but is an over-reaction to recent animal health problems. Look back at the war years and most hens kept in gardens were fed mainly on kitchen waste. This regulation adds to our waste mountain.
3 comments:
Holy cow! You can't feed kitchen waste from your own kitchen to feed your own hens? My poor chickens would have a fit if their feed didn't contain the occasional bit of left over veggies or such!
I suspect that people keeping hens in their own garden or allotment don't always follow the requirements. I personally think the regulation was introduced with the best of intentions but is an over-reaction to recent animal health problems. Look back at the war years and most hens kept in gardens were fed mainly on kitchen waste. This regulation adds to our waste mountain.
Lovely video. Alas I can't keep chickens because of foxes and mink in great numbers in our area.
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