We got our own chooks last week and bought 25kg of the best balanced chicken feed - a mix of grains, proteins, cracked corn, etc - as per the suppliers recommendation. I place it dry in a bowl for them. Problem is they're not eating it. Am I doing something wrong?

Cheers

I know my OH has been giving them the laying pellets mixed with a bit of feed a bit moist, ie spray it with some water and/or try giving it to them on the ground. Our chooks love nothing more than scratching for bugs and so prefer the grains on the ground. One tip though, don't give them a taste of freedom by letting them out around the garden, ours have now perfected the art of escaping and try to make a run for it at any opportunity. This is really because it took Himself a long while to make a decent run

When we used to have chickens years ago we would mix up a sort of mash which was grains, leftovers etc mixed with water.

at your sneaky chooks. Ours are funny as well and are working out devious means to get out. For example when I get to the gate the buggers all (5) crowd around. I open the gate and a couple do the submission pose to confuse matters. Then while I'm distracted trying to gently nudge the submissives out of the way the others jump for the gap.

That kind of worked yesterday when we mixed some rice and water with it. Isn't there a chicken feed that they just get on with and eat?

We don't give them anything but feed and laying pellets. Occasionally scraps. Our eggs are close to jumbo size now!

Have you taken the lid off the bowl?

I'm thinking of boiling some up some of their feed with a bit of maize meal or rice. They make a strange not very contented noise when I go near them and one tried to jump on my shoulder this afternoon. ...At least I think it was my shoulder it was aiming for

They'll eat if they are hungry. Perhaps they are having fun with the grubs and grass in the chook pen at the moment (you will never know if they are eating the feed or not, the mice will make it disappear eventually). We threw the grain on the ground and had a feeder with pellets (like this http://www.pethomesdirect.com.au/Bir...Dispenser.html) that was a constant supply although IIRC we did have a swanky one at one time where they had to stand on a lever to open the lid to get at the feed. I dont recall I ever saw them eating the pellets but suppose they must have.

We also threw the occasional kitchen waste at them and DH collected leaves from the neighbourhood and the chooks loved scratching around in that for the grubs. It also composted down quite effectively.

I hated having chooks - they are a tie - and I dont much like eggs but DH and the kids thought they were fabulous and the lady across the road was more than happy to chook sit for us when we went away for a few weeks or more.

I tried mixing a rice with their feed and it seems to have done the trick. The ate equal quantities of rice and feed mix and have all gone to bed with full bellies!

Never kept chickens before but they each have characters of their own. They have provided my family and I with lots of laughs and we're even named two of them so far - based on their appearance/nature. Not sure about the eggs yet. They seem different - they're smaller and the yolks are a pale yellow and the consistency of the eggs when broken open seem a little different to shop bought eggs. Not sure why

The eggs get bigger as the beasts mature. We had a whopper at 79g the other day but the average is 55g normally. There is NO WAY we are cooking anything, even rice, for the chooks. The feed is perfectly fine and if they don't like it, tough

Quite right!!!

You will get yellower yolks if you feed them lots of greens - pull up some grass or big weeds, they love that. You have got grit in there for them too, I guess

Be prepared for some of them to cark it - we have usually lost one or two of every lot that we have bought, especially when purchased from the Hall markets as little 'uns. What are they? Our last lot were (still are, but very aged now) Australorps but we have had a variety over the years.

One thing I know I will never do - call a chicken a chook

Ours are New Hampshire Red Hybrids, that's what the people at the shop in Fyshwick called them.

I also thought they should just eat the feed that we've bought for them but my confidence was dented somewhat by reading on the sack that it is cattle feed. But the contents don't seem to reflect what's written on the sack.

There's some words that I struggle with and others I just can't bring myself to say.

Struggle with includes words like chook

No can do includes words like gidday, dah-tuh, proh-ject.

Maybe in another year or two...