Tag: chicken care

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Crumble vs Poultry Mix: What Should You Really Be Feeding Your Chickens?

When it comes to feeding chickens, one of the most common questions is whether to use a poultry mix or a complete feed like crumble or pellets. At first glance, poultry mix feels like the more natural option. It looks like real food. You can see the grains, the seeds, the variety. But what looks good to us isn’t always what works best for the flock.

A Simple Way to Think About It

Poultry mix is a bit like a bowl of snacks. If you gave someone a mix of chips, nuts, and vegetables, they’d probably eat the chips first, pick through the rest, and leave what they don’t enjoy. Chickens do the same thing. They’ll go straight for the tastiest, high-energy ingredients and leave behind the parts their body actually needs most.

Chickens eating corn Mix

What Happens When Chickens Pick Their Feed

Chickens are natural foragers, and when given a mixed feed, they don’t eat it evenly. Instead, they select what they prefer first. Most flocks will go straight for the grains and seeds, picking out the higher energy ingredients while leaving behind the components that are less appealing but nutritionally important.

Over time, this creates an imbalance. On paper, poultry mix may be designed to be a complete feed, but in practice, what your chickens actually consume is often very different. They tend to take in more energy than they need, while missing out on enough protein and essential nutrients. It’s these small gaps that start to show up in the flock. Feather condition can decline, younger birds may not grow as steadily, and egg production can become inconsistent. It doesn’t usually happen overnight, but gradually, the effects of an unbalanced diet begin to appear.

Why Crumble and Pellets Work Differently

Complete feeds like crumble or pellets remove that choice entirely. Each bite contains a consistent balance of protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals, so your chickens receive what they need every time they eat. Instead of relying on them to balance their own diet through selective feeding, the feed does it for them. It’s a simple, consistent, and reliable approach, especially for growing birds and laying hens where steady nutrition makes a noticeable difference.

Poultry mix looks balanced in the bag.
Crumble makes sure it’s balanced in the bird.

Does That Mean Poultry Mix Is Bad?

Not at all. Poultry mix still has its place, but it works best when it’s treated as a supplement rather than a main diet. Used occasionally, it can encourage natural foraging behaviour, add variety, and keep the flock engaged. The key is balance, using it alongside a complete feed rather than relying on it as the foundation.

Where People Often Go Wrong

A common mistake is feeding poultry mix as the main or only feed. This is where selective eating becomes a problem, and nutrition starts to slip without it being obvious straight away. Another one is assuming that because chickens look happy eating it, they must be getting what they need. Chickens will always choose what tastes best, not what’s most balanced.

What to Look for in a Good Feed

Whether you choose crumble or pellets, a good feed should be appropriate for the bird’s age, whether that’s a grower or a layer, and contain adequate protein to support development and production. It should be nutritionally complete rather than made up of simple grains, and avoid unnecessary fillers that don’t add real value to the diet. If you’re feeding laying hens, calcium should be available to support shell quality, but it’s important not to overdo it for younger birds that don’t yet require those higher levels.

A Practical Feeding Approach

A simple way to structure feeding is:

  • Main diet: A quality crumble or pellet
  • Extras: Occasional scraps or poultry mix
  • Free choice: Shell grit or calcium source

This keeps things balanced while still allowing for variety.

Feeding chickens doesn’t need to be complicated. The goal is consistency. When their main diet is balanced, everything else becomes an addition rather than a risk. Poultry mix has its place, but complete feeds like crumble make it much easier to ensure your chickens are getting what they actually need, not just what they prefer to eat.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why Choose Our Pullets for Your Backyard Flock


From farmers across regional WA to backyard keepers in Perth, chickens have always had a place in the day to day. For some, it is about production. Eggs, reliability, and getting the most out of a flock. For others, it is something closer to home. A few chickens in the yard, fresh eggs, and animals that become part of everyday life. Most people start with a simple goal.

Then it grows into something more. The birds become part of the space around you. Something you see every morning, something you check on in the afternoon, something that naturally fits into your routine. That experience starts long before they arrive at your place.

What Shapes Our Pullets From the Start

By the time a pullet is ready for sale, a lot has already been set in place. Those early weeks determine how evenly a bird develops, how well it transitions through growth stages, and how easily it adjusts once it moves to a new home. Feed is a big part of that.

From day old, birds are raised on Milne Chick Starter to support early gut health, bone structure, and steady growth. At this stage, chicks require a higher protein diet to support rapid development. This helps build the foundation for strong frame, feathering, and overall condition.

As they develop, they are transitioned onto Milne Chick Grower, which supports continued growth at a more controlled rate. The protein level is reduced at this stage, allowing birds to develop more evenly without being pushed too quickly. This supports more balanced internal development rather than just fast outward growth.

That transition is done gradually so birds continue eating confidently without disruption. Alongside feed, birds are kept in balanced groups and separated by age so they develop evenly rather than competing. Conditions are kept stable, and changes are kept to a minimum so growth remains steady.

Our focus is on bird health first, not cutting corners to move birds through faster. That means taking the time to raise each batch properly rather than rushing them through the process. There is no complicated system behind it. Just a consistent approach applied properly from the beginning.

The First Few Weeks After They Arrive

Before our pullets ever leave, the goal is simple. To make them as suitable as possible for a real backyard environment. That starts with the basics. Birds are used to finding their feed and water easily, so when they arrive, they are not trying to figure it out from scratch. They have already been through a steady routine, so they move with confidence rather than hesitation.

But it goes beyond just feeding. They are raised around regular daily activity so they become comfortable with movement and presence. That helps create birds that are calm to be around, not constantly on edge. Over time, that familiarity turns into something more. Rather than keeping their distance, they begin to associate people with normal day to day activity. They will often come toward you instead of away, settling into that backyard rhythm where they feel like part of the space.

That is what we aim for. Not just birds that cope in a backyard, but birds that fit into it. Because when chickens are raised with that in mind from the beginning, the transition into a new home becomes far more natural.

Choosing the Right Starting Point

When looking at chickens for sale, one of the biggest differences is age. Some people prefer younger birds that they can grow out themselves. Others want pullets that are getting closer to laying age, while some simply want birds already laying so they can start collecting eggs straight away.

Because we raise our birds from the beginning, we are able to offer pullets across different stages of growth. That means you are not limited to whatever happens to be available at the time. Instead, you can choose what suits your setup best.

Younger pullets give you the opportunity to grow them out in your own environment and become familiar with them early. Older pullets reduce the wait time and are closer to laying, which suits those wanting a quicker start. The key is that regardless of age, the same approach has been applied from the start. That consistency carries through, whether you are taking on younger birds or bringing in pullets closer to point of lay.

Our focus is on bird health first, not cutting corners to maximise profits.

Where This Leaves You

Every flock will always have some variation.

Not every chicken available for sale is raised with the same level of focus on bird health, feeding, and development that we hold ourselves to. Some birds are simply moved through rather than properly grown out, and that often shows once they are home.

For backyard chicken keepers looking for chickens in Perth and surrounding areas, that is often what separates an average flock from one that simply works from the start. At The Little Chicken Farm, our focus is on doing things properly. From the way birds are fed, to how they are managed and handled, everything is aimed at producing consistent, well-developed pullets that suit real backyard environments.

We are working towards becoming a trusted household name for premium quality chickens, and that comes from getting the fundamentals right with every batch. Not just chickens that lay. But chickens that become a part of the family.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why Avocado Is Bad for Chickens

Why Avocado Is Bad for Chickens

It’s One of the Few Foods to Avoid Completely. Most kitchen scraps are fine for chickens in moderation.

Vegetables, fruit, leftovers, even things you wouldn’t expect, chickens are generally very good at picking through what they need and leaving the rest. Avocado is one of the few exceptions. It’s not something they should have access to at all, not because it’s messy or hard to eat, but because it contains a compound that can be harmful to birds.

What Makes It a Problem?

Avocado contains a natural toxin called persin.

In small amounts, it doesn’t tend to affect humans, but birds are far more sensitive to it. For chickens, it can interfere with how their body functions, particularly affecting breathing and internal organs. The important thing to understand is that it’s not just one part of the fruit. Persin is present throughout the avocado, though some parts contain more than others.

The Parts to Avoid

The highest concentration sits in the skin and the pit, which is where most of the risk comes from. These parts should never be fed. The flesh itself is lower in persin, but it’s still not considered safe to offer, especially when there are plenty of better options available. As a general rule, it’s best treated as a complete avoid, rather than something to portion or manage.

What Happens If They Eat It?

In most cases, chickens won’t actively seek it out in large amounts, but if they do consume it, the effects can show up fairly quickly. The first signs are usually subtle. Birds may seem quieter than usual, less active, or slightly off their normal behaviour. As it progresses, you may notice breathing becoming more laboured, or a general drop in condition.

Severe cases are rare in backyard flocks, but the risk is there, particularly if larger amounts are consumed or if birds are exposed repeatedly.

Why It’s Easy to Miss

Avocado doesn’t stand out as a risky food. It’s soft, fresh, and seems similar to other scraps that are normally fine. Because chickens will peck at it out of curiosity, it can easily be offered without a second thought. That’s usually where the problem starts, not from overfeeding, but from assuming it’s just another harmless scrap.

What to Do Instead

There’s no shortage of better options. Leafy greens, vegetable offcuts, and fruit that’s safe for poultry all give the same benefits without the risk. Chickens will still show the same interest and behaviour, just without the downside. Keeping scraps simple and familiar tends to avoid most issues.

Final Thought

Most foods are fine in moderation. Avocado isn’t one of them. It’s one of the few scraps that’s best left out completely, not because it’s likely to cause immediate problems every time, but because there’s no real benefit to taking the risk.

We’ll be covering more common foods like this in upcoming posts, what’s safe, what’s not, and what’s worth thinking twice about before it ends up in the coop.