Food Scraps?

[insanity]

I work in a kitchen and bring home about a 3 gal bucket to my girls daily. They get anything headed for the trash and love it. between 28 chickens no one gets alot but it gives them some variety when the snow is covering the garden.

 

[mamabigbird]

If this is for the 4H club, they may advise against scraps because they are teaching Agri skills to potential commercial farmers, where consistency in feeds is very important.
If, however it is a class about life cycles and caring for dependent creatures, I don't see a problem with scraps.
I believe there is a thread here that lists potentially harmful or poisonous foods and plants.
Chickens are like two legged pigs, they will eat just about anything they can fit down their throats.
So focus on what not to feed them. That list is shorter and more important than what they like.

 

[kfarrell]

I actually grow excess vegetables in my garden ( especially since I have the room) for my chickens.

Kale
Spinach
Corn
Pumpkins
Squash
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Sunflowers
Marigolds
Echinacea
And lots of weeds

 

[harveyhorses]

I think mine would boycott! I have almost learned not to take my lunch outside if I put it down or look away. They know the container their scraps come in, they love oatmeal and yogurt. They don't get a lot of meat scraps because there are not that many. I do wonder why vegetarian fed is such a. Selling point, it is not natural, mine are great hunters.
Mine got a special treat when I got some cat food that I could not feed to the cats 7 hens one can. Disappearing act!(it was tuna and my cats sleep on my pillow)

 

[KitaMick1]

I feed left over treats all the time. Plus, the hens bond with you when they know you're the hand that feeds them. Makes them also easier to round up if needed.

 

[kg5ie]

The only scraps I have found that mine won't eat are raw carrots. Everything else they love. Hamburger, pork, beef, lettuce, corn, peas, bread, pancakes etc. etc. etc.

 

[fused1013]

I've only fed mine leftover fruit and salad so far, but they are only 29 weeks old and just started laying. I want to make sure all their nutritional needs are met before I start feeding them scraps. They LOVE B.O.S.S. so they get a handful of them almost every day

 

[elorraine52]

My chooks get about anything from the vegetable scrap strainer in my kitchen, they LOVE it!! They seem to love noodles, crackers and bread alot, won't eat raw carrots, onions, etc. but love tomatoes and just about anything else I find. They will eat cooked veggies (that are left after making vegetable broth for soups) they see me coming with the strainer and come running!!

 

[robynandbatman]

I give them everything that we don't eat as long as it hasn't gone bad. I dump it onto the compost heap that's in the corner of the run. They pick and scratch through it, turning my compost for me and they only eat what they want/can. They don't touch citrus, onions, coffee grounds or carrots for some reason. I do feel a bit guilty if there is chicken in there, but they gobble it right up and they LOVE caribou scraps.

 

[blackscorpion]

I would feed mu chickens anything they would eat, scraps of fruits and veggies, nuts and table scraps. Mine are still healthy and egg producing.