What are favorite scraps? And what not to feed...

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Thanks everyone for all your responses!! I am happy to hear that there are so many options for what I can feed my girls, and that the list of "no no's" is so small (and was basically what I already knew not to feed them, so that was good) One of the biggest things I was surprised about was the person who said they fed chicken bones. Do you crush or grind them up in some way?

Another question I have is where everyone stands on apples? I have heard lots of people say they fed them to their chickens with no problems. When reading things of what not to feed to dogs, many people say that there is enough cyanide in the seeds of an apple to harm a dog. If that were true, then I think it would be more than enough to harm a chicken. I am more inclined to believe that apple seeds wouldn't hurt a chicken or a dog but I don't know. Anyone have any thoughts on this topic?
 
Also, I have tried a few scraps over the last week or so, not much some left over salad and stuff like that. But the most surprising thing was I threw a few of my girls some leftover cooked spaghetti, and went away to feed a few of my other chickens in a separate coop, I went back like 3 minutes later and all the spaghetti was gone with no trace! I couldn't believe it, they devoured it! I didn't even think they would like it very much! Such surprising chickens!
 
Except for the no no's I feed my chickens almost all our table scraps. They love meat! hamburger, salami, chili, spaghetti, ham, pork. I am somewhat relieved to say they don't eat chicken. That would be so rude. I mix all the scraps with a cup of scratch and let them pick at it.
The next day I throw what's left in the compost heap and re-fill the bowl with new stuff. The funny thing is that the stuff they turned up their beaks at in the bowl become treasure finds in the compost heap. So they end up eating everything.
 
newchickenista said:
Thanks everyone for all your responses!! I am happy to hear that there are so many options for what I can feed my girls, and that the list of "no no's" is so small (and was basically what I already knew not to feed them, so that was good) One of the biggest things I was surprised about was the person who said they fed chicken bones. Do you crush or grind them up in some way?

Another question I have is where everyone stands on apples? I have heard lots of people say they fed them to their chickens with no problems. When reading things of what not to feed to dogs, many people say that there is enough cyanide in the seeds of an apple to harm a dog. If that were true, then I think it would be more than enough to harm a chicken. I am more inclined to believe that apple seeds wouldn't hurt a chicken or a dog but I don't know. Anyone have any thoughts on this topic?
Click to expand...
It actually takes a LOT of apple seeds to kill anything. There are only a few seeds per apple, and the poison is not concentrated enough to do much damage in it's natural state (in the seed). I've been told that animals (horses in particular, but other animals too) will get colic from eating too many apples before they ingest enough seeds to get cyanide poisoning. That being said, you shouldn't particularly save apples seeds for them to eat by the handful, but it probably won't hurt if they eat a couple along with the fruit! Please do take this with a grain of salt, as I'm not a veterinarian.
 
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