Are there any human leftovers that you wouldn't feed your chickens? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumstick diva 

Whew the title "are there any HUMAN leftovers that you wouldn't feed your chickens," really threw me.  I was afraid this was about Hannibal Lecter cleaning leftovers from his fridge.

Are you kidding I know mine would eat people meat (they eat chicken meat with readily)....

From my personal experience, there are bad and good leftovers human foods that we shouldn't/ should feed them.  To echo several others, I wouldn't want to give them anything salty, sweet, greasy.  Most of the time, I try to think of their health as my first priority. 

Let's see - in the past couple of weeks my chooks have gotten:

choc. donut holes covered in sprinkles - didn't like the holes - went NUTS for the sprinkles

stroganauff (sp?)

beef stew

bread slices

can cat food (not a human leftover)

horse sweet feed and oats (also not a human leftover)

left over bits from fruit salad (apples, blueberries, strawberries, oranges)

dry cat food (not a human leftover either)

salsa and chips

bologna torn in to strips ('lony-worms!)

cold, soggy french fries

and I'm sure there was some other stuff that I've forgotten - they LOVE scraps of every kind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumstick diva 

Whew the title "are there any HUMAN leftovers that you wouldn't feed your chickens," really threw me.  I was afraid this was about Hannibal Lecter cleaning leftovers from his fridge.

  lol

I remember reading that garlic, onion, and fish should not be given because it can cause off flavors in the eggs.  Also they dont digest raw potatoes but cooked is fine.  Dairy items should be given in small amounts, but i dont remember why.  I am gonna have to get out my Storeys chicken book again.

From experience, i know they love any surplus or scraps from the garden.  Sometimes when those tomato worms get in there and eat wholes through some tomatoes, somehow that is enough to gross me out as to where I pick the half eaten tomatoes and give them to my chickens.  They dont mind that they are getting to eat after them worms, oh, and if I DO happen to find that tomato worm himself or any other pests from the garden, they are given as tasty treats to my chickens.  Even slugs, they say yum. 

And a favorite treat that is cost efficient is a handful of catfood to a few chickens.  I believe I was informed of this through Storeys book again.  As a bonus, the higher vitamin A in the catfood prevents blood spots in the eggs.  It is true because I dont get eggs with blood spots.

Anything I feed my family is darn well good enough for a chicken to eat.

I throw everything out there. Even moldy, rotten, "when on earth did I cook THAT?" goes to them. They pile in to it and have never had a problem. I figure their digestive system can't be much different than a crow's, and those buggers eat everything rotten on the side of the road.

They don't seem to care for citrus peels, onion peels or tater peels. That's okay, they scratch them into the floor of the run. Avocado pits and peels, they also don't mess with. I don't cook with too much salt, so not worried about that. Ditto for eating sugar.

If your leftovers aren't "healthy" enough for chickens, maybe you need to rething what you're feeding your family 

We pretty much give ours anything we would eat.  I don't eat whole onions, so I don't give our flock a huge bunch of onions, but they eat many leftovers that have onion &/or garlic in them.  All things in moderation.  Nothing moldy.  No scraps for young chicks in the brooder until they start getting some feathering, to avoid digestive upset.

Joyce

Quote:

Originally Posted by brownfoxfarm 

We pretty much give ours anything we would eat.  I don't eat whole onions, so I don't give our flock a huge bunch of onions, but they eat many leftovers that have onion &/or garlic in them.  All things in moderation.  Nothing moldy.  No scraps for young chicks in the brooder until they start getting some feathering, to avoid digestive upset.

 

Joyce

 You don't like onions cooked on the pit or onion rings. I love onions. I grow a lot of onions & hang them in my barn to dry. Sometimes they fall down & the chooks will eat alittle but they seem to know how much too eat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kays chicks 

 foods not to feed your chickens

 

Raw green potato peels	Toxic substance called Solanine.
Anything real salty	Can cause salt poisoning in small bodies such as chickens.
Citrus	.
Dried or undercooked Beans	Raw, or dry beans, contain a poison called hemaglutin which is toxic to birds.
Avocado Skin and Pit	Skin and pit have low levels of toxicity.
Raw eggs	You don’t want to introduce your chickens to the tastiness of eggs which may be waiting to be collected in the nestboxes.
Candy, Chocolate, Sugar	Their teeth will rot… No, it’s just bad for their systems, and chocolate can be poisonous to most pets.

 

my chickens love and go mad for cooked egg , tomatoes , cooked left over veg but mealworms they love the most . they still have the grower pellets and corn with the mealworms for a balanced diet oh and a scratch around the garden

I would like to know the reason for not giving them citrus. My wife gave our chickens some orange peels and we never noticed any ill effects of changes in the flavor of the eggs.