Scrap

[Crazychickengirl2]

What are some scraps that chikens like and are healthy at the same time? I read somewhere that scraps are bad. Is that true?

 

[3KillerBs]

As a general rule of thumb, you don't want treat foods to exceed 10% of a chicken's diet.

I don't give my chickens things that are salty or excessively fatty, but I do give them all the vegetable and fruit trimmings from preparing meals and/or canning/freezing (in reasonable quantities in accordance with the size of the flock, garden waste, those last servings of leftovers that family members have lost interest in, the picked-over bones of things simmered for soup, etc.

 

[Weeg]

This is a controversial topic.
I used to feed kitchen scraps. Bread, veggies, grains, basically anything we didn't eat. Those scraps are bad because they dilute the nutrients in the diet, and grains and bread can cause impacted crop.
Veggie scraps on the other hand can be beneficail. Veggies, berries, fruits (that are safe for chickens) all contain antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and have other beneficial properties depending on the plant. I feed my chickens veggie scraps these days.
That consists of veggie tops, odd cuts, things that fall on the ground etc. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with feeding veggie scraps, as long as they are still eating they're regualr feed.

 

[SchusterChickens]

I am also a new chicken keeper. The 10% rule is confusing. Volume? Weight? If each chicken eats a 1/2 cup of feed/day, my flock should only have about 1 cup of treats a day. But does that include all kitchen scraps? We eat a lot of watermelon & cantaloupe & give the rinds to the chickens. It doesn't take much rind to make 1 cup and I thought watermelon was good to give chickens on hot days. (We also have lots of tomatoes.) Sometimes I wonder if the feed companies are discouraging giving chickens other things, to sell more of their "balanced" feed. What did chickens do before feed companies?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What did chickens do before feed companies?

It's not the feed companies, they are just giving people what they want. Different chicken owners want different things.

Before they were domesticated, chickens survived and thrived by foraging. They were in the wild, not dependent on people at all. Eventually chickens were domesticated and selectively bred. For the most part farmers kept flocks that were close to feral. The chickens foraged for practically all of their food but may have picked up some additional nutrition from farming activities. Over time people learned to selectively breed them, maybe for egg production, maybe for meat and they learned that feeding them certain things or in certain ways enhanced certain production. Many still foraged for practically all of their food, not all chickens specialized in either eggs or meat. And some were kept and specialized to be decorative, think Polish and Silkies for example. They learned tricks on how to feed them to help them look pretty.

Fast forward to today. The commercial operations have developed hybrid chickens that specialize in egg or meat production through selective breeding. Most of the research is not in genetics but how to manage and feed them for maximum efficiency. Some people show chickens, those need a specialized diet. We get a lot of our nutritional information from these commercial operations or breeders of show birds. Some of that applies to our birds, some doesn't really, at least not that much.

Some of us still let their chickens forage for a fair amount of their food, some even all of their food, at least in the good weather months. Most of us can't rely on forage as a sole food source, the quality of the forage just isn't that good and we can't let them free range to maximize what is there. So most of us have to either supplement what they forage or provide every bite they eat. If yours forage for much of their food you've lost the ability to micromanage every bite they eat.

For those that basically provide every bite their chickens eat a decent chicken feed provides all of the nutrients they need for a healthy productive life. Those nutrients are balanced, in amounts that gives them enough of all they need without fiving them too much. To keep them healthy they don't need any treats or supplements of any kind, but for our own reasons many of us want to feed them some type of treat. I do myself.

If you want to you can get a doctorate in chicken nutrition and determine how much of what you can feed them and keep their diet healthy. Most of us aren't going to do that. And what treats we feed them are all over the board, some are healthier or more balanced than others. So we develop rules of thumb to help us know how to safely feed them over all these widely varying conditions. That's where the 10% comes from. For many people it is overkill, much more cautious than they need to be. But for some it is pushing it, depends on what you feed.

How do you know what 10% is? You don't unless maybe you get that doctorate in chicken nutrition. So we develop another rule of thumb. If the chickens can clean it up in 15 to 20 minutes you aren't going to exceed the 10%. Not precise, not real accurate, but people need something to go by so they have a clue.

Does any of this mean that if you feed them 11% or 20 % "treats" that they are going to fall over dead or get sick. Not in my opinion, dependent somewhat on what those treats are. People want what's best. Best is an obsession on this forum. Somehow 10% has arbitrarily been chosen as "best". I'm not aware of any scientific basis for that. I'd expect your chickens to do pretty well even if they got more treats. They should still lay eggs, probably a lot of eggs, but those eggs might not be quite as big. Their carcass would probably not be as big. The feathers might or might not be as shiny or full. They would not be "best". But they would still be chickens. Think about it. When they were feral they did not always get a perfect proportion of the various nutrients. They had to make do with what they found. They did not go extinct.

What are some scraps that chikens like and are healthy at the same time? I read somewhere that scraps are bad. Is that true?

This sort of reminds me of the time I was chewed out on the forum for saying I put free rocks in my chick waterers to keep the chicks from drowning. If I loved my chicks enough I'd go buy some pretty marbles to use instead of making them look at those ugly free rocks. For some people, whatever their reasoning, scraps may be bad. Their chickens probably won't feel that way but they might. If you can eat it the chickens should be able to eat it. Just don't overdo any of one thing. Moderation is the key.

Now the disclaimer. Views expressed are mine alone and do not in any way reflex those of forum management.

 

[3KillerBs]

I have a few personal rules that others may or may not agree with.

First, I don't feed people food to animals. For example, they don't get strawberries, they get the trimmings from our strawberries. They don't get watermelon, they get the rind after we're done with it OR they get the mushy, grainy, overripe one no human actually want to eat. If they get a head of cabbage it's one that's gotten wilted or tastes bitter or some such thing. More often they get the outer leaves and the core.

Second, I limit fats, carbs, and salt. A few slices of stale bread for my flock of 20-40 birds of mixed ages. The picked-over mess from making chicken stock. A pan of assorted leftovers that the family didn't eat so that the chickens might as well have before they're actually spoiled.

But nothing fatty or salty and not daily.

Third, I don't limit fruit and vegetable trimmings because I figure that it's about the same as what they get from foraging in their run.

But most of the time -- say 5 days out of 7 most weeks -- they eat their feed and forage in their run without getting more than a handful of squash ends and celery leaves in the way of scraps.

I don't know if this constitutes 10% or not. The key thing is that I'm not unbalancing their diet with a lot of scratch, mealworms, sunflower seeds, etc.

 

[Alagirl]

I think the 10% rule is applied universally toward pets.
it is easier followed when you deal with a horse, I am sure, and easiest dismissed when you are looking at a dog.

I think chickens are not high on the risk scale to be 'overtreated' in most cases.
Although it is tempting to fill up a feeder with mealworms and watch them go to town.

The feed composition is probably on the higher end of practical research, as chickens are the lifeblood of human nutrition! Billions of people rely on the steady source of affordable protein supplied by mass produced chickens.
It went hand in hand with genetic modifications to create super producers and confinement. The latter is convenient and controlled, but limits foraging, safe for the odd bug or mouse wandering into the chicken house.
You lose the complete control as soon as you move the chickens to a run.

I don't overthink it. few scraps make it to the chicken yard. The dogs get first dips.
On the other hand, the chickens also don't seem to overeat - unless we are talking bugs. I tossed the rind of half a watermelon in the run, they pecked a good bit, the next day they were done with it. They peck their food which is accessible pretty much 24/7
They expect something good when I do a check in the early evening. I want them to associate the time with goodies being given, should one get loose, they know to come back before night. I hope.

Now, I am wondering about cherries.
I had bought a sack of cherries and a couple were mushed up.
I know they can eat the flesh, but wonder if they would eat the pits.
Which is probably not good.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Now, I am wondering about cherries.
I had bought a sack of cherries and a couple were mushed up.
I know they can eat the flesh, but wonder if they would eat the pits.
Which is probably not good.

Like everything else, OK in moderation. Mine wander in the orchard and eat some of any fruit that falls, including seeds or pits. That's apples. pears, plums, and peaches. These pits contain substances that people will tell you they can't eat. It will kill them. But mine don't die, don't get sick either. That's because of dosage. There is not enough "poison" in the number of seeds they eat to cause any problems. I've found a plum pit in the gizzard of a chicken I butchered. There is no doubt in my mind that they eat seeds when they are cleaning up fruit.

 

[Alagirl]

Like everything else, OK in moderation. Mine wander in the orchard and eat some of any fruit that falls, including seeds or pits. That's apples. pears, plums, and peaches. These pits contain substances that people will tell you they can't eat. It will kill them. But mine don't die, don't get sick either. That's because of dosage. There is not enough "poison" in the number of seeds they eat to cause any problems. I've found a plum pit in the gizzard of a chicken I butchered. There is no doubt in my mind that they eat seeds when they are cleaning up fruit.

thanks. I was not too worried about the small amounts of cyanide but about the size of the pit. Cherries are not abundant here, so a handful would be the most they could score.
My dad and uncle once had a horse that would rush to the fruit trees to eat the various plums that had fallen since the last turnout.
Of course, she would crunch the pits up! LOL