Today’s post is by Colleen of Five Little Homesteaders. Her blog is a treasure-trove of homesteading info, so be sure to click over there when you are done reading this post! Colleen also generously allowed me to include this recipe in my Natural Homestead ebook as well.
Raising chickens is one of my favorite parts of homesteading.
I never could have imagined the different personalities that each of my “ladies” would have and how much I would enjoy them!
I try to take care of them as well as I can and that means keeping my chickens happy and healthy. Recently I’ve been trying to counteract a bit of a feather picking problem with two of my oldest hens. I’m upping their protein but I think part of the problem may be boredom.
I began researching this topic and learned that one great way to prevent boredom and cannibalism is to give them something fun and interesting to peck at – enter the flock block!
Basically a flock block is a big, hard brick of a chicken’s favorite treats. You can purchase different varieties (like this one), but I was having trouble locating them at my local feed stores and didn’t want to pay to have one shipped to me. So, what’s a chicken-loving girl to do? Well, a flock block substitute herself, of course!
DIY Flock Block® Substitute
- 2 cups scratch grains, or any mix of whole grains that you have hanging around
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 3/4 cup wheat germ
- 1/2 cup raisins or cranberries
- 1/2 cup crushed eggshells or oyster shell
- 4 eggs + shells, crushed
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, tallow, or lard
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl (including the crushed egg shells).
3. Mix the eggs, molasses and coconut oil in a separate bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour your mixture into a greased pan. You can be creative here. I chose to split mine between an 8×8 metal pan and a round 8″ cake pan. You can also use a loaf pan or something larger and deeper. It depends on what you have on hand and how many chickens you are expecting to share the block.
6. Bake for 30 minutes (longer if you are using a deeper pan). The block is ready when the edges have become dark and the middle is firm.
7. Allow to cool completely and then serve to your chickens.
Interested in more recipes for DIY chicken treats, homemade chicken feed, non-toxic coop cleaners, herbal supplements, and lots of tips for raising a natural flock? Grab my brand new digital book, Natural Homestead: 40+ Recipes for Natural Critters & Crops
Colleen is a special education teacher turned stay-at-home mom to three little ones – ages 4, 3, and 1. Her days are filled with laughing and tears, joys and frustrations, toddlers and babies. The basics of gardening were gifted to her by her mother and father starting at a very young age. Through their homesteading adventures, she hopes to lead her family down the path of leading a more sustainable, intentional, and full life. Visit her at her blog, Five Little Homesteaders.
More Chicken Articles:
- Raising Meat Chickens
- Beginner’s Guide to Chicken Coops
- How to Build a Chicken Run
- How to Butcher a Chicken
- Homemade Chicken Feed Recipe
Is it cannibalism for the chicken to eat a food made with eggs?
See my comment below : ) Ground flaxseed and water at a ratio of 3 Tbsp water to 1 Tbsp ground flax seed equals 1 egg. Buy whole flax seed and grind in a coffee bean grinder immediately before use to keep your flax fresh. Ground flax goes rancid quickly.
If you have critters, you should consider cricket farming too. Yummy yummy ground up bugs
A lot of folks feed cooked eggs to their folk as an added source of protein. 🙂
Nope not at all.I feed scrambled eggs to our chickens all the time. Just think, the last thing a chick does before busting out of the shell it hatches out of is absorbs the yolk. They are born cannibals!
Lisa
Fresh Eggs Daily
http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com
Good point Lisa!
Ok, I have done something wrong. This stuck to my cake pan even though I greased it, and it is so soft and falling apart. I followed the recipe.
I love this idea. I am in a neighborhood and have a small chicken tractor. I think my hens will need one of these. But, I am not crazy about feeding them their own eggs : / What about using flaxseed and water to bind it? That way the eggs they produce have a higher omega 3 content too.
I think flaxseed would be a great choice–some folks even mix it into their chickens feed. Just make sure it’s freshly ground, and not rancid like you mentioned above. 🙂
Chia is also a good substitute for egg
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 🙂 Pinned!
Hi,
I don’t use Paypal. Do you have any way to purchase other wise.. Paypal is a HORRIBLE company and I will NEVER do business with them. Do you have another option to pay for your book? I refuse to do business with Paypal.
You can pay with a regular credit card and you don’t have to have a PayPal account. Just add the book to your cart and press the “pay with paypal” button. BUT, on the page where you would sign in, look for the small blue link that says “Don’t have a PayPal account?”– you can pay there without signing up for PayPal. Hope that helps!
There is usually an option on the PayPal when sent. Pay with credit card
Love this, Jill!! What a great thing to learn to make yourself. 🙂
Haha! This is great. I should make it for my neighbor’s chickens. Who knew that chickens could get bored?
Can you use some kind of oil instead of lard and tallow?
And…great idea, wll get the children at my school to make this for our chickens. Thankyou
You can use coconut oil if you like– or any type of fat/oil that is solid at room temp. 🙂
you can use honey, corn syrup or other juices to wet it too. Not milk hens cannot digest lactose and it goes mouldy in the crop. Not too much sunflower seed in the mix as it heats their blood and adds fat around the heart.
Wheat bran is a good filler and they like it. Pumpkin seeds too.
enjoy your hens enjoying their block.
I’m making this RIGHT NOW! 🙂
Wahoo!!
My chicken-lover daughter and I just put two of these boredom buster bricks in the oven. We have a lot of snow on the ground in Indiana, and we thought this would be a great thing for them to do while they are all cooped up! Thanks for the recipe!
How long does one of these last? I’ve got 13 hens and am going to make some for when we go on vacation since they will be cooped up then. How many should I make to have on hand for the chicken babysitter?
It just depends–mine usually go through them pretty quickly. But it’s still kind of a novelty for them.
I make something similiar for our chooks and rescue birds. Roughly the same ingredients (whatever is healthy and on hand). I use bird pellets cos our birds won’t eat them any other way, any left over grated veg from juicing (I freeze some for that purpose). I make mine in muffin tins. Freeze the muffins and share out one or two each day. They all love it. Can also add bird vitamins if needed.
Good idea on the muffin tins!
How long will it last before it spoiled outside
i like the muffin tin idea!
I am so doing this for our chickens Jill! Thanks! When you have a fair sized flock of chickens it’s difficult to know who the culprit is. Hopefully, this will curb the feather picking habit 🙂
Would this brick be okay for other fowl like guineas?
years ago i worked at a wilderness camping and cross country skiing place that had some chickens. one of my jobs was to go to the barn in the mornings and find the eggs. the owners did not want the eggs for themselves or for any human to eat. no, they wanted me to break the eggs and let the chickens eat them. chickens love eggs, esp the yolks. i now have my own chickens and eat every egg i get. occasionally i’ll drop 1 or 1 will be so dirty or if it’s a first egg and is tiny and round i drop it on the a rock and the girls will run to eat it. i also save every shell in an old yogurt container by the stove. i let them dry for a while then when container gets full i use a bud vase and crunch the shells and toss them out for the girls. i don’t have to buy oyster shells or any other form of calcium.
Great idea…thanks! I’m going to starting doing that today:o)
Whenever I have fruit or veggies that are getting questionable, I put them in the freezer and put enough water to cover. I keep doing that till the container is full. Then on a warm day I flip it out onto a tray in the chicken’s run. They love it! It keeps them cool and occupied at the same time.
Can you do something like thaty for birds, like doves that mostluy eat of the gground ??
You can definitely make DIY suet blocks for wild birds too!
This is a wonderful idea and I already have most of the ingredients. I have wheat bran on hand. Could I use that instead of wheat germ? Thank you
Yes– you can probably substitute that just fine. 🙂
Thank you for the fantastic information! The organic Feed that I have been purchasing is quite pricey. I am a born “do it yourselfer”, so that will be my next project!
Is there a substitute I could use for the wheat germ? I have all the ingredients accept that one..
You can just omit it, if you like!
Can you do this without baking? Don’t you think the cooking process depletes some of the nutrition of the ingredients?
I love this! I never heard of it and it’s a great idea.?I think my hens will be very happy. Thanks for sharing?
Hi, I want to make this for my birds so they’ll be busy while I’m gone- how long will this stay good without refrigeration?
Hi Lisa
I really like reading your blogs. Thank you!!
This chicken treat you make is the same one I have used for several years. I also minus one cup of the scratch and add their pellet food, than I add 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup chia seeds and one cup mealworms.
I press it down in three loaf pans and cut a divider down the middle before I bake it. After there baked each of the 6 halves fits into those green suet holders. I hang the holders with a wire in their coop and it gives them something to so.
Happy Farming!!!!!
Sharon
I made it, and they LOVE it! Wish I could share a Pic. ?
I am really excited to try this. This is my first winter raising chickens and have been looking for ways to keep my girls from pecking on each other when it drops below 0 here in Northern Wisconsin and they can’t leave the coop. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Ummmm I don’t see a temperature for the oven anywhere. Am I just blind?
According to the recipe, Preheat oven to 400 degrees, bake in a 8×8 metal pan or 8” round cake pan for 30 minutes (longer if you have a deeper pan).
How long will it last before it spoiled outside