Make it Yourself Organic Feed Block for Your Flock

A healthy, homemade treat your flock will go crazy for! Keep them happy and pecking during their winter lockdown with this organic feed block.

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These cold months have the chickens spending most of their days cooped up in their run. To keep them from going stir crazy during their winter lockdown, I wanted to give them something to peck at and keep them entertained.

I wasn’t impressed with any of the options at the store and while also being an avid DIYer, I set out to make something myself.

Behold – the organic block for the flock!

If feeding your chickens organic food isn’t a concern for you, no problem! You can totally use this recipe with non-certified organic ingredients.

Here’s what you need:

• 2 cups organic chicken feed
• 2 cups organic scratch grains
• 1/2 cup of oyster shells or crushed eggshells
• 1/2 cup whole flax seeds
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil, lard or bacon grease
• 4 eggs (save the shells!)
• (You can clean out the pantry and add any extra things that are stale to this mix.)
• 2 – 8″ round cake pans
• Parchment paper (optional)

Here’s what you do:

Start by cracking the eggs into a small bowl and putting their shells on one of the cake pans you’ll be using to bake the block. Pop them into the oven to dry for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You can do this while the oven is preheating to 350°F.

(You’ll be adding the eggshells to the mixture. Drying them first will make them much easier to crush.)

Beat the eggs and mix in the melted coconut oil and molasses. Set the mixture aside.

Gather all the dry ingredients and combine them into a large mixing bowl. Take this opportunity to add any stale ingredients from the pantry to the mix. I added some stale cereal to one of the batches!

Remove the eggshells from the oven and crush into small pieces. Use a rolling pin, food processor, or any another method that works for you. Just be sure to make the shells small and unrecognizable to your chickens.

Next, mix the crushed eggshells into the rest of the dry ingredients.

Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix everything together really well.

Coat the bottom and side of two 8″ cake pans with coconut oil to prevent the block from sticking. (I skipped this step with the first batch I made, and it stuck to the inside of the pan. Don’t skip this step!)

Pop both pans into the oven for about 30 minutes.

Be sure to let it cool completely before feeding it to your chickens.

Did you make this recipe? What did you think?

Let me know in the comments below or share it with me on Instagram.

Mention @thehomesteadmother or hashtag it #onceuponahomestead

Until next time-