With a neighbour we are now keeping hens on a piece of land we have been lent for many years by another neighbour.

We are trying to keep them, as we have our potager for all these years, bio.
We have kept hens before but are finding it quite hard to source the feed I want to give them. So far, the only bio food we can find is a sort of all-purpose mix. What I want are layers pellets - just can't seem to find them, or possibly the French word for them?

I also can't seem to find oyster shell grit - though apparently this is not considered bio.

Any way anything in the way of help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Poule pondourse are what you need. Most brico type places sell them in the pet section but I haven't managed to find any organic ones.

And they adore sunflower seeds - easy enough to grow a few in your own garden!

Brian

I know nothing about keeping hens, but GB should look for feed for "poules pondeuses".

Whoops! Sorry for the typo and thanks for the correction. It should, indeed, be pondeuse.

grannybunz, I did keep hens in France for a number of years.

Could I recommend joining the Omlet website, they have a fantastic forum, with every aspect of healthcare, food and housing discussed...and there are a lot of members in France. I really is an invaluable source of information.

Best of luck

Thank you MillieF

Have looked up the forum and it does indeed look helpful.

I managed to find some oyster grit and think I may have found an appropriate food on line, but they are only sold in huge quantities, and as we only have 7 hens............

I only had three hens Grannybunz! They were delightful, and very affectionate companions.

Gamm Vert did used to have quite small bags of chicken requirements, as did LeClerc. The funny thing is once you start keeping a few chickens, you realise exactly how many of your neighbours do, and that you've probably walked past small bags of chicken needs in small supermarkets for years, and just never registered the fact.

The first day our son found a warm egg fresh from our chicken, will remain etched on our memories for life...a truly magic moment! Very best of luck.

Hi there, look for a local GammVert and they will sell bags of feed marked 'poules pondeuses' or 'poules fermiers' (which has more grain). Oyster shell is called 'coquilles d'huitre' and also available. You will find most supermarkets in the country will have chicken feed in the area of pet food - our local Casino, Intermarche and Auchan certainly do. The oyster shell will probably have to come from a GammVert/Terres Du Sud although if your chickens are free-ranging they may find all the grit they need. Good luck, chickens are addictive and huge fun - they very quickly become tame and follow you around the garden. Need an area weeded? Then bend down with your weeding fork and scratch the earth .... suddenly you are surrounded by chickens who decide that you might have found something interesting and they will just carry on scratching for you.

Thanks for everyone's help. We do have a Gamm Vert but they don't do organic feed. Our local agri co-op does but I am unhappy about the quality of the feed which is not specifically for laying hens, indeed even for just hens. I found oyster shells in a co-op down the road.

Our local Leclerc only does pet food ie cats dogs and small furry and feathery things.

There are three others in our hameau who keep hens and one, our farmer neighbour, has sold us, at a reasonable price a big sack of oat straw - so bedding solved. However they are amasingly casual about the care and feeding of their hens, unfortunately, as they are with most animals. They seem to feed them mostly on scraps.

I have been in touch with our carpenters, also friends, who are willing to let us have wood chippings for the housing - to now we have used cat litter.

They are laying much better since we started them on extra corn and treats.

They are not free-range but they do have a very big run for their number. It used to house 20! Trouble is we have some loose dogs around and, more importantly, many birds of prey andfoxes so they are probably better in there.

Grannybunz, don't go mad with the wood chippings as they can have a lot of dust and you may get wheezy hens. If possible straw is best ... hay is also dusty. My chooks have their pens lined with newspaper and they sleep on the perches above, and for nesting/laying their hidey holes are lined with newspaper and a handful of straw. I've also got an old cat carrier which is lined with straw so they can go in that to lay if the nesting box is occupied. Layers pellets seem to do the job fine, supplement with mais in the evening as hens need full crops before bedtime. Treats like grapes, melon skins, soft fruits, leaves ... anything OK except avocado, absolutely not that since it is poisonous to chickens. Plus a bit of cat food now and again if they look off colour or are moulting. Mine have demolished the strawberry plants, are eating the plum windfalls and are looking longingly at the ripening figs on the branches and wondering how to get up there ...

Update to say thank you really.

The girls are doing very well and, not counting the silkie, they are laying about 2 doz eggs a week, though the Mistral and the too frequent storms we have had this summer upset them (and me!)

We have overcome the soft shell eggs we had at first They are very tame and currently their favourite treat is fresh corn cobs - we have a glut at the moment. They love pasta and rice too so at last I don't have to worry about over-estimating the amount I cook.

Please post pictures !

Here you go:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62387678@N02/14396238702/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62387678@N02/14332525108/

We keep hens and they are fed on wheat and all kitchen leftovers. they thrive on cooked rice (even with curry) love pasta, stale cake lettuce....you name it they eat it and are very healthy. We get on average 3-4 eggs a day from five chickens.

We jointly own and look after our chooks with our neighbours who are strictly organic/veggie so we have to be a bit careful about what we give them and we are still finding it difficult to source bio layers pellets so have just ordered some on-line.

Yes ours love pasta and rice too (we always use bio pasta- honest !!!!). I am delighted now never to waste bread. Both neighbours and us grow our own vegetables and some fruit so any waste goes either to compost or the ladies. Melon and pumpkin skins are especially appreciated.