SClaire
In the Brooder
- Jun 3, 2015
- 80
- 5
- 31
Cottage Cheese
For some reason my girls just seem to absolutely go nuts for the stuff!
I tend to give it them straight out of the little pots you can buy and occasionally I give them some diced up vegetables with it.
Cottage cheese is full of both calcium and protein. The calcium helps to keep your chickens’ bones strong and lots of protein is key if you want your chickens to continue laying eggs for you.
I make a rule not to give them cottage cheese too often though, because it’s a diary product and too much diary can cause harm to chickens…
Oatmeal
During the winter I’m pretty sure my girls would kill for warm oatmeal!
It’s definitely their favourite winter treat and its super cheap to make- I buy a 5kg sack for $3 and this lasts them around 20 feeds.
I normally boil it up in the pan just with water (no milk). Once the oats have cooked I just scrap the oatmeal out into their trough and let them peck away.
Tip: If you want to bulk this meal out you can add to it bananas ad maple syrup.
Scrambled Egg
I think quite a few people are nervous about feeding their chickens eggs. The main thing to remember is, NOT to feed them raw eggs. You don’t want your chickens getting a taste for raw eggs because they WILL start to eat their own eggs straight out of the nesting box …
This works out great for me during the summer months, especially when the girls are really laying lots of eggs.
I have 12 chickens so sometimes when they lay every day I can’t possibly eat all the eggs! So I make scrambled eggs and feed it to the chickens. It’s full of protein and helps keep your girls healthy and laying well.
Watermelon
Watermelon is a super cheap snack for chickens and it’s great to help keep them cool during the hot summer months.
The best way I’ve found to feed it to them, is to chop it up into small dice sized pieces. You can then either feed it to them right then or place these small pieces in a tub and freeze them for later.
If you do decide to freeze the pieces then I like to mix the frozen watermelon with Greek yogurt and dump it out into their pen for them to peck on.
Like the cottage cheese though, Greek yoghurt is a diary product so I make sure not to go overkill on the yoghurt.
Pumpkin
Again, in the right season, pumpkin can be a cheap snack for your girls and it will keep them entertained for hours!
I buy several when they are in season and dice them all up and freeze them in large plastic bags.
I’ve found that when I feed my girls pumpkin their yolk turns a vibrant orange colour which is amazing to look at. Also, it helps worm your chickens as pumpkins contain a deworming compound called cucurbitacin.
Ginger
This is less of a snack and more of a supplement but it’s still worth mentioning.
Around once a month I mix 10 grams of ginger into their layers pellets. There are lots of studies which claim that giving your chickens ginger will improve their egg sizes.
Personally, I haven’t noticed a massive difference but ginger is very good for chickens anyway.
Make sure not to feed your chickens too much ginger because it can be dangerous to them in large quantities.
Corn
The last healthy treat I’m going to mention is sweetcorn. I feed it to them either loose or straight from the ear.
If you want to keep chickens occupied, tie several corn ears from a tree and let them dangle down to your chickens’ head height. Your chickens will happily peck at the corn all day!
Also sweetcorn containers zeaxanthin which is a phytochemicals that keeps your chicken’s vision healthy.
I’d love to hear what healthy snacks your chickens love?
Claire
For some reason my girls just seem to absolutely go nuts for the stuff!
I tend to give it them straight out of the little pots you can buy and occasionally I give them some diced up vegetables with it.
Cottage cheese is full of both calcium and protein. The calcium helps to keep your chickens’ bones strong and lots of protein is key if you want your chickens to continue laying eggs for you.
I make a rule not to give them cottage cheese too often though, because it’s a diary product and too much diary can cause harm to chickens…
Oatmeal
During the winter I’m pretty sure my girls would kill for warm oatmeal!
It’s definitely their favourite winter treat and its super cheap to make- I buy a 5kg sack for $3 and this lasts them around 20 feeds.
I normally boil it up in the pan just with water (no milk). Once the oats have cooked I just scrap the oatmeal out into their trough and let them peck away.
Tip: If you want to bulk this meal out you can add to it bananas ad maple syrup.
Scrambled Egg
I think quite a few people are nervous about feeding their chickens eggs. The main thing to remember is, NOT to feed them raw eggs. You don’t want your chickens getting a taste for raw eggs because they WILL start to eat their own eggs straight out of the nesting box …
This works out great for me during the summer months, especially when the girls are really laying lots of eggs.
I have 12 chickens so sometimes when they lay every day I can’t possibly eat all the eggs! So I make scrambled eggs and feed it to the chickens. It’s full of protein and helps keep your girls healthy and laying well.
Watermelon
Watermelon is a super cheap snack for chickens and it’s great to help keep them cool during the hot summer months.
The best way I’ve found to feed it to them, is to chop it up into small dice sized pieces. You can then either feed it to them right then or place these small pieces in a tub and freeze them for later.
If you do decide to freeze the pieces then I like to mix the frozen watermelon with Greek yogurt and dump it out into their pen for them to peck on.
Like the cottage cheese though, Greek yoghurt is a diary product so I make sure not to go overkill on the yoghurt.
Pumpkin
Again, in the right season, pumpkin can be a cheap snack for your girls and it will keep them entertained for hours!
I buy several when they are in season and dice them all up and freeze them in large plastic bags.
I’ve found that when I feed my girls pumpkin their yolk turns a vibrant orange colour which is amazing to look at. Also, it helps worm your chickens as pumpkins contain a deworming compound called cucurbitacin.
Ginger
This is less of a snack and more of a supplement but it’s still worth mentioning.
Around once a month I mix 10 grams of ginger into their layers pellets. There are lots of studies which claim that giving your chickens ginger will improve their egg sizes.
Personally, I haven’t noticed a massive difference but ginger is very good for chickens anyway.
Make sure not to feed your chickens too much ginger because it can be dangerous to them in large quantities.
Corn
The last healthy treat I’m going to mention is sweetcorn. I feed it to them either loose or straight from the ear.
If you want to keep chickens occupied, tie several corn ears from a tree and let them dangle down to your chickens’ head height. Your chickens will happily peck at the corn all day!
Also sweetcorn containers zeaxanthin which is a phytochemicals that keeps your chicken’s vision healthy.
I’d love to hear what healthy snacks your chickens love?
Claire
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