Help! My wife is mad at me for feeding the chickens pizza!

[MaeM]

So are the chickens okay? Did they shit their asses out?

 

[Karen A Whitaker]

We feed them almost anything we eat save raw meat and onions. We send a neighbor eggs and he drops all his scraps over the fence. I had to ask him not to send raw fish and crawfish shells.

Mine love crab shells from when we steam blue crabs (but a bitch when you step on them!)

 

[Pots]

Um so...I hope your chickens are ok tomorrow,

 

[Shanti Permaculture Farm]

My vet recommended not feeding my 100 chickens anything but Purina Chicken Chow. He said that they have been making chicken feed for a long time, and they tweak it every year to perfect it even more. He says that even kitchen vegetable and fruit scraps can be difficult to digest and decrease their egg laying, longevity and overall health. So I compost all vegetable and fruit matter now instead of giving it my chickens. Not as fun as feeding them treats, but just like dogs and cats, it may be more healthy to stick to the standard food. They love it and don't seem to mind the same thing every day. I give them oats or meal worms as an occasional treat.
In the case of pizza, since chickens don't normally eat dairy, I would remove the cheese and give it to my dogs and cats instead. It might upset the hens' stomach/crop since dairy is much more difficult to digest. The chickens can eat the crust and tomato sauce as their treat. Kind of like feeding ducks bread at a pond. Everything in moderation I agree.
My chickens are super healthy after following my vet's advice. They used to have yolks that broke easily in the frying pan. Good luck with your quest! Elizabeth, Shanti Permaculture Farm

 

[Hayden Goseek]

I've read the green tomatoes are toxic but red are ok, and avocado in ANY form will surely kill them, along with lemon and lime, and potatoes should have any green spots trimmed off, but I've never heard of iceberg being a problem.

I didn't know that about the avocados. I noticed ours wouldn't eat them so I just stopped sending them.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I didn't know that about the avocados. I noticed ours wouldn't eat them so I just stopped sending them.

Avocado & chocolate are deadly to all birds

 

[Linda Dee]

Can someone please help me convince her that it's okay for the girls to have fun table scraps?

Everything in moderation right?!

EDIT: Our girls usually get much smaller quantities of veggie scraps, but this was a couple of weeks ago on New Years Day and all the girls were fine

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A little doesn't hurt them as long as it isn't too salty and you don't feed it to them too often, besides pizza makes great tasting eggs. Everybody needs a little break every now and then.

 

[Hayden Goseek]

I’m confused by everyone saying that dairy, cheese, yogurt etc causes chickens to get diarrhea and they shouldn’t eat it. I just read on a list Backyard chickens acceptable food list that yogurt, cheese and milk were good for them. I’ve even read about yogurt being good for a healthy crop and digestive health overall in a chicken. Everything in moderation of course so I only give my hens one dairy product every 5 or so days (maybe more sometimes) and not much at once. They adore cheeses so I especially have to be careful with it or they will fight over it.

When we have milk start to sour I let it set a few days, pour off the whey and they fight over the curds.

 

[RussianChickens]

Can someone please help me convince her that it's okay for the girls to have fun table scraps?

Everything in moderation right?!

EDIT: Our girls usually get much smaller quantities of veggie scraps, but this was a couple of weeks ago on New Years Day and all the girls were fine

View attachment 2498991

Chickens can eat just about anything and be OK. Make sure they have plenty of water. I've fed my chickens pizza, and every other kind of table scrap for years and not had any issues. Used to keep over 100 chickens of all breeds. As long as they have access to regular chicken feed and water they are pretty well set to enjoy any table scraps.

I've had chickens accidentally ingest greasy paper towels and Styrofoam and be just fine and live long healthy lives ever after. The only thing my birds have ever gotten into that caused harm was aluminum tape. Replacing all aluminum tape on the coop insulation with gorilla tape solved the problem. For whatever reason they seemed to be attracted to the aluminum tape.

Obviously I would not put them on a straight diet of salty greasy table scraps, they need chicken feed for proper nutrition. But as a treat its fine. Feeding them varieties of scraps also makes the eggs taste much better imo.

Hope this helps!

 

[sindy1200]

Can someone please help me convince her that it's okay for the girls to have fun table scraps?

Everything in moderation right?!

EDIT: Our girls usually get much smaller quantities of veggie scraps, but this was a couple of weeks ago on New Years Day and all the girls were fine

View attachment 2498991

OMG, I give my chicken ALL my table scraps except chicken meat. Folks they are "supposed" to eat this stuff! That's their purpose, not Pets