Overfeeding chickens how to stop

[Lemon-Drop]

It depends on what you consider treats. Rice is pretty much empty calories - it's not junk food but if they're eating it in addition to their regular diet then it's probably just making them fat, which is not healthy. But there's nothing wrong with feeding them meat. It's a great source of protein and vitamins. But again, if it's in addition to their regular feed then you're probably overfeeding.

What you could do is swap out a portion of their pellets with meat, mealworms, and/or kitchen scraps. But I would leave it to just the one meal a day, and not give them anything extra, or at least not more than say a tablespoon of additional "treats" per chicken per day. Not so much that they're treating it as a meal, though. I know some people are really adamant that the only way for chickens to have a healthy balanced diet is to feed them 100% formulated feed pellets, but there are plenty of healthy, happy backyard chickens who subsist in large part on kitchen scraps and leftovers supplemented with grains and some added vitamins. Chickens are natural omnivores and opportunistic feeders, much as humans are (or were, before the invention of agriculture). So it's perfectly natural for them to get food from a variety of sources: greens, meat, bugs, etc.

Anything other than pellets I consider treats. So mealworms, kitchen scraps, popcorn (no salt or butter) and other things like that. I don’t count the grass/bugs they eat when free ranging.

 

[Reginazavier]

Every morning I give my girls (3 hens) a mixed fruit/vegetable salad depending on what leftovers are available. They LOVE celery, carrots, pomegranate seeds, bits of egg shell (their own), a little corn, radish, sweet potato, berries, cantaloupe, whatever. Along with standard appropriate layer feed. They started laying at 6 months in November and have been laying one egg a day every single day. Except for Bandit, who went broody in February and took the month off. We let her out every day with the others to eat same food then into a big kennel carrier until she got over it. Back to one egg per hen per day. 2 months ago we got 4 chickies pale about 1 week old. They have their own coop adjacent to the other one and they can all see each other but not mingling yet. The littles have growth feed always available and a little salad every morning. BTW, all eggs are lovely pale tan/pinkish color and Delicious! My friends line up for them.

 

[Tilhana]

Anything other than pellets I consider treats. So mealworms, kitchen scraps, popcorn (no salt or butter) and other things like that. I don’t count the grass/bugs they eat when free ranging.

Then I don't think there's any harm unless you're giving them excessive food in general. Some chickens will overeat, particularly if they have access to lots of their favorite foods (which can be anything, although I've never heard of a chicken overeating on grass or other greens). But ounce for ounce, I don't think the "treats" are necessarily less healthy than the pellets, especially if there's a variety of foods included.

 

[HollyWoozle]

That's what I would suggest. Feed them at the same time with the same bowl but replace with the pellets. Another idea is to put hot water with the pellets to make a mash. My chickens think that is a wonderful treat (even though it is really the same pellets). Maybe yours will accept that as a wonderful lunch too but much healthier for them.

I was going to say just the same! Sometimes I go out and make a mash for them and they think it's great, even though it's just the same stuff, then I feel like I gave them a nice treat. I also do it with cold water sometimes so it take a long time to soak - one of our hens especially loves to get in the dish and scratch about in the watery pellet mixture.

 

[Chelie97]

My family and I overfeed and spoil our chickens a lot, and we decided it’s time to stop. We would feed them rice meat and vegetables everyday at around 2 and call it “lunch” .... and they have gotten used to that being their main food and their pellets being their side food. Neighbors have recently been complaining so They are not in their real run at the moment and are in a small Run temporarily before we get a fence built so they aren’t getting that much exercise To burn those calories. My chickens are healthy at the moment, perfect weight, lay nice eggs, but we want to stop before it gets out of hand and something happens. Do I slowly decrease their food daily or just completely stop at once? If we are late to giving them “lunch” they start complaining and making caw-caw noises so I’m thinking we slowly decrease their food day by day. In their current temporary run they don’t have access to grass and only dirt and stone/rocks. I don’t know how to get them to start adjusting to realize that the pellets should be their main food now that they adjusted to this “lunch” though

My family and I overfeed and spoil our chickens a lot, and we decided it’s time to stop. We would feed them rice meat and vegetables everyday at around 2 and call it “lunch” .... and they have gotten used to that being their main food and their pellets being their side food. Neighbors have recently been complaining so They are not in their real run at the moment and are in a small Run temporarily before we get a fence built so they aren’t getting that much exercise To burn those calories. My chickens are healthy at the moment, perfect weight, lay nice eggs, but we want to stop before it gets out of hand and something happens. Do I slowly decrease their food daily or just completely stop at once? If we are late to giving them “lunch” they start complaining and making caw-caw noises so I’m thinking we slowly decrease their food day by day. In their current temporary run they don’t have access to grass and only dirt and stone/rocks. I don’t know how to get them to start adjusting to realize that the pellets should be their main food now that they adjusted to this “lunch” though

I am a treat feeder too but I do healthy treats for lunch time my treats vary I will give yogurt some days others will be frozen watermelon sometimes I hang cabbage or cauliflower things like that and I don’t give lots of it just one head of cauliflower for the whole flock of 14. I also will five a handful of meal worms when they go in the coop at night. So maybe you need to just change the treat type

 

[Kriscam]

My family and I overfeed and spoil our chickens a lot, and we decided it’s time to stop. We would feed them rice meat and vegetables everyday at around 2 and call it “lunch” .... and they have gotten used to that being their main food and their pellets being their side food. Neighbors have recently been complaining so They are not in their real run at the moment and are in a small Run temporarily before we get a fence built so they aren’t getting that much exercise To burn those calories. My chickens are healthy at the moment, perfect weight, lay nice eggs, but we want to stop before it gets out of hand and something happens. Do I slowly decrease their food daily or just completely stop at once? If we are late to giving them “lunch” they start complaining and making caw-caw noises so I’m thinking we slowly decrease their food day by day. In their current temporary run they don’t have access to grass and only dirt and stone/rocks. I don’t know how to get them to start adjusting to realize that the pellets should be their main food now that they adjusted to this “lunch” though

I have the same problem. I give my girls way too many treats and they come let me know when it's treat time. They love spinach, watermelon, tomatoes, so many other things. I've noticed that they will eat their regular food from my hands like it's a treat. Maybe they just want to interact with us. I need to cut way back too. Good luck!

 

[HighlandRogue]

Oh... so is it hurting them that I give them treats? I’ve been slowing down on the treats recently, at most usually a few mealworms a day... and occasionally a handful of popcorn (no butter or salt, of course!)

So should I stop even that? Mostly why I’ve slowed down the treats is that mealworms are expensive, but I use them to call the girls in from free ranging.

Are mealworms a treat or protein? Maybe both? I happened to be at a local pet store that I knew had nice worms (have a beardy) so I grabbed some live mealworms and threw them in the pen. (5 week old Brown Leghorns) Was that a mistake?
Side note: I am floored at how fast they are growing!

 

[Craigboy53]

That's what I would suggest. Feed them at the same time with the same bowl but replace with the pellets. Another idea is to put hot water with the pellets to make a mash. My chickens think that is a wonderful treat (even though it is really the same pellets). Maybe yours will accept that as a wonderful lunch too but much healthier for them.

The girls get a bowl of fermented mash, two out of three days, first thing in the morning. In cold weather, I’ll warm it up. They devour it, and gives them a good start on the day, with some good nutrients, and some water. I’ll throw a handful of scratch in maybe once a week, when the shavings need turning. . They have constant access to pellets, but we can’t free range at the moment because of an unfortunate incident with the neighbours dog, which killed our five leghorns two weeks ago.
Once we come up with a solution, they will be free ranging again. (No, I won’t shoot the dog….he’s the neighbour girls pet, has previously been well behaved, and well…..I just couldn’t shoot a dog.). I think electronet will be the answer.