Yesterday, Sunday, there were 2 newborn mice in the boiler room in the garage. I don't know how they got there, but I suspect a nest in the wall because I periodically catch adult mice there. So for fun I took the 2 little cute varmints down to the chickens. Quicker that I could imagine, Curious and Dolly each grabbed a mouse-ette and ran off. Interestingly, Curious smacked the little mouse agains a wood board several times...to kill it?? And then ate the little guy whole! Dolly ran away to the backside of the coop, so I didn't see how she disposed of it, but she did return without it so I am assuming she ate it too.
Later, I went to the garage to feed Stella the cat and there was a baby rattlesnake near where I found the 2 mice!
I called to Steve who came out and killed it and he said there were several 'lumps' in it's stomach so we think the snake had also found the new mice and had dinner.
The dilemma: we don't want mice in the house and we like that we have snakes to eat the mice, BUT we sure don't want rattlesnakes. Sorry snakes....
Chickens also love other meats: mealworms that I raise, earthworms from the compost pile, and any cooked meat. I don't give them a lot of meat as a general rule, but I do give them plenty of worms. They will practically knock me over for worms, so I have to portion them out assuring that each lady gets her fair share otherwise Curious would eat them all!
Meal worms are a great experiment to watch the metamorphosis cycle: worm larvae-pupa-beetle-egg-worm. I would say if you have kids looking for a science experiment, try the meal worm thing: it takes about 4 months to get a supply of worms. I'd be happy to share with anyone how I did it. If you have worm eating pets, its a cheap way to get their food!
My girls also love broccoli and cauliflower stems and leaves, red cabbage, grapes, rice [they love rice!!], oatmeal cooked and raw, scrambled eggs, sprouted grains, corn is a big favorite as is watermelon. They also love plain yogurt. Once a week in order to add calcium to their diet for thicker shells, I pulverize dry egg shells and mix them with the yogurt...it works great and I don't have to buy oyster shell meal.
I was picking through the old produce at one of the markets one day with another lady who said her chickens love lettuce. HA! I can't get mine to eat any lettuce or swiss chard either. I guess we all have our picky eaters, human or other...And yes, I have to admit that I frequent the dumpsters of 2 stores that will let you take any of the old vegetables in the bins. It's great for free stuff for the chickens and I have to say, the "veg" is not in too bad of condition either!!
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