Raising Backyard Chickens – Flock Blocks and Leaves

Today was Black Fatty’s lucky day.  The hens were out of feed and I had some extra time on my hands. So while I was at Wilco picking up crumbles and layer pellets for the birds, I also took a look a few minutes to browse the aisles of the feed store.

I ended up coughing up an extra $9.99 on a Flock Block for the chickens.  I typically buy them one or two a year when I see them on sale.  The last one I gave them lasted over 3 weeks.

If you don’t know what a Flock Block is, it’s basically filled with cracked corn, sunflower seeds, oyster shells, and barley.  You know, all the good stuff.

But the thing is, Black Fatty always gets first dibs.  The other birds don’t even dare approach the Flock Block until she has had her fill and walks away.  It’s quite a sight to see then hunker down and wait their turn.  The baby chicks are the last ones to get a taste of course.

We also gave the chickens 3 bags of leaves to play with.

Putting sacks full of fallen leaves in the chicken run is the easiest way to get free compost in the spring.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be placing as many leaves as I can in the run for the hens to “play with.”  After all, having the chickens turn all the leaves instead of us having to do it really helps with their personal trainer fees this time of year.  Yep, I no longer have to take them to the gym.  They can scratch leaves around the backyard all winter instead.

Life is good!

~Mavis

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