Wasting as Little As Possible

Wasting food is an affront to me. Oh, we're not perfect, not by a long shot, but we do try.

Fortunately, chickens will eat just about anything. In fact, they're like goats with wings. Although, they fly only slightly better than goats.

Just because they will eat just about anything, doesn't mean they should. The mainstay of my flock's diet is organic layer feed. However, I give them breakfast every morning. It is a mix of oatmeal, vegetables (usually corn or peas), salad greens, and a banana ... they LOVE the banana part. The peel is given over to our pet pig Ruby. She loves bananas too, but too many treats for an indoor pig makes an overweight pig (yes, that's a thing). The peel is good for her. It acts as a banana flavored toothbrush. We haven't thrown out a banana peel in years.

When herself and I have left overs, the flock gets the choicest bits. Anything that is not overly sweet or overly salty. They'll happily peck at steak bones with bits of meat, gristle, and fat on them and the extra protein is good for them. Leftover vegetables are given over entirely and offers them more variety than they usually get. Leftover Chinese food is okay ... they get the larger portion of the leftover white rice and carefully measured portions of the rest (the rest is too salty to give them in one go). Junk food is right OUT. So, the healthier WE eat, the healthier THEY eat, and the healthier the eggs are that they lay. Leftover spicy food is actually GOOD for them, especially in late fall/early winter. It helps metabolize them to the cold weather, but too much too often can affect the taste of the eggs!

What's been missing this past week is forage. Herself and I have been doing a 'decade' clean out and have had a dumpster here for the week. The flock would be too curious and I can't have them pecking around the junk in the dumpster!

In order of health:
Their regular layer feed
Forage (too lacking so far this season!)
Well chosen treats
Well chosen leftovers

Dumpsters, potato chips, jolly ranchers, and the like are RIGHT OUT!

Coq Au, like a good rooster, will coo and call the girls over to treats, but if I throw down a little fed into the yard along with it, he will try to attract their attention to the feed over the other treats. HE knows what good food is and he wants the girls to know too. As much of a douche bag as he is to me, he's damn good at his job.

Well ... so they eat well and less food than ever goes into the trash.

Update on the cats: we're a week into our new resident Tulip being here. So far there is armed peace. Some hissing, but almost no heated political discussions.
Pictured are Tulip (left) and Osha (right) peacefully enjoying a "live kitty TV" program called "What will the birds do next and how good would they taste?"