I have not had much time with the girls this week owing to working late and night shifts, so I decided to spend a majority of the afternoon with them.

Today I thought I’d try the chickens on some probiotic yoghurt mixed with their usual afternoon treat of bokashi bran and Bill Oddies mealworm crumble.

Stuffing their faces
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It’s that time again 3.30pm and I am not looking forward venturing outside since I have just got out of bed. No I didn’t over sleep I just happen to be on a night shift.

For a change I prepared the girls some tinned sweet corn, one large tablespoon mixed with their usual treats bokashi bran, Bill Oddies mealworm crumble, poultry spice and garlic.

As soon as I opened the patio door I could hear their excitement, although it was probably the thought of treats and not necessarily seeing me. I placed the treats on the steps leading from the raised decking and went to open the chicken run.
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I was off work today and was able to spend a little extra time with them.

Recently I've been reading a bit more on the www.omlet.co.uk forum about various aspects of chicken keeping including boosting their calcium intake by feeding them baked egg shells.

To be fair, when I first read that I thought it was almost cannabilistic and wasn't too impressed but researching further I found two things:

1: Apparent evidence it works
2: Another school of thought saying it doesn't, can't and is a bad thing to do.
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It's late. I should really be in bed but I'm not so hey.

Anyway, with the recent cold snap we are obviously concerned with the health of the girls but fear not!

The Eglu is tested down to -10C so we know the girls will be warm enough. They do have a big quilt on anyway (feathers) so are quite hardy.

We've also been loading their diet recently with Poultry Spice in their treats which is really meant to help them over the moult but in cold weather can also help them cope.
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Today I replaced the raw brussel sprouts on a stem, since they has demolished the last one. It was on offer at asda for a pound Demolished Brussel Sprouts

I also let them out of the chicken run and tried Posh and Pecks on some of Bill Oddies Mealworm Crumble mmmmmm the girls loved it....

Whilst they tucked into their afternoon treat, I removed the chicken poo from the run. I must admit the aubiose is excellent stuff, it helps absorb the poo making it easier to remove.
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Since I hadn't spent much quality time with the girls, I decided to let them out of the chicken run for some supervised sit ups and push ups, both were eager to stretch their legs.

After their 30 minute workout they were both treated to some tinned sweetcorn, which had been bought for tonights tuna and paste bake.

Posh and Pecks appeared to have enjoyed their little workout, although I spent most of the time scraping up their little thank you parcels...yes it was poo

Posh and Pecks finally discovered the raw brussel sprouts on a stem that had been placed in the chicken run the afternoon they arrived.

With the odd peck here and there, they realised the could pull and flick the brussel sprout leaves around the run.

Brussel Sprouts

After about 10 minutes Posh decided to start eating the pieces she had flicked around followed by Pecks, mmmm

And for dinner I made them a slightly warm porridge of:

Boiled Potato Peel (until mushy)
A handful of Bokashi Bran
A small handful of chicken grit
A teaspoon of garlic powder
A teaspoon of Poultry Spice
A large handful of mealworms.

All mixed up and mushed together. And they picked out the mealworms and left the rest...oh well, I'll try again tomorrow.

Afternoon dinner

Both Posh and Pecks were very eager to get some grub down their necks after their journey. Their first breakfast consisted of a bowl of layers pellets followed by meal worms which they took from my hand

First Mealworms