WHAT KIND OF "PEOPLE" FOOD CAN CHICKENS EAT?

[xoeab]

My neighbors have chickens and they feed them watermelon rinds and raw eggs. What other foods can they eat? Is there a link to a list of foods they can eat?

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

I'm forever amazed at how much I'm doing wrong yet despite my ignorant mistakes the chickens seem to thrive.

I feed my chickens very little feed / scratch - but the little they get is all organic non-GMO. They spend their entire day free ranging in pasture, vineyard, and orchard - and mostly working the compost bins. And in those bins goes any kind of vegetable material imaginable, with little or no thought to whats on the "don't" list.

I see all kinds of things on that list that apparently are no good for the birds - avocado skins, potatoes, onions, citrus peel, apples (with seeds), ... Hell, you name it, it's in there. No meats, eggs, or processed foods ... but any and all vegetable scrap from the garden or the kitchen goes in the compost and thereby into the chickens diet.

Curiously enough, they stay healthy and happy. Lucky for me, they can't read those lists.

 

[NYREDS]

Curiously enough, they stay healthy and happy. Lucky for me, they can't read those lists.

I love it!
Unfortunately there are people who read lists & apparently are of the belief that everything on a list must be true. For the brief half century in which I've raised thousands of chickens I've routinely thrown them all our leftovers & scraps. Never had one die as a result & I don't remember the last time I had a sick chicken. My birds grow well, lay well & look good enough to win pretty regularly in shows. Somehow I think my 50+ years of experience with thousands of birds trumps an internet list.
Apple seeds do contain a compound tha breaks down into cyanide which is a poison but I don't know anyone who feeds buckets full of apple seeds. if a chicken was to pick all the seeds out of an apple it wouldn't be nearly enough cyanide to be a problem. I've read that Avocado seeds are poisonous but don't know how a chicken would eat one? I know there's been Avocado in my "chicken bowl" on many occasions& it hasn't harmed the birds that I'm aware of. In another thread here someone from california posted that they have an Avocado tree in their yard & their chickens routinely eat the fallen fruit with no ill effect. Potatoes? If potatoes are so harmful how do people survive? We eat a lot of them.
Sure there are items on that list that wouldn't do as a sole, steady diet for chickens, or people for that matter, but I don't think anyone plans to raise their birds on chocolate.
For my money you can feed your chickens whatever you want & follow any list you choose but experience & common sense continue to work for me.

 

[obeloinkment]

You know... 87% of statistics are just made up on the spot! My girls get whatever scraps are around. Who the heck has spare chocolate just laying around? Silliness!

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Sorry to rain on your parade Michael, but that very link seems to suggest that avocados aren't necessarily so toxic to chickens versus other animals: "while chickens and turkeys appear more resistant." And did you see the amounts necessary to be toxic to sheep?

Lets get real - scraps of any of these foods are simply not a toxicity concern.

But rumor has it that reading too many internet lists causes a severe loss of common sense in 67.4% of subjects tested.

 

[obeloinkment]

Let's all calm down and discuss this over a chocolate cake!

 

[MayoShawna]

hmmmm .... now there's an interesting idea.

Ok... i'm a jerk... If we were to feed our girls nothing but chocolate, think we could get them to produce Cadbury Eggs?!

 

[gritsar]

Here's a link to the treats chart:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

One warning: If your chickens get the taste of raw eggs, they may decide to help themselves by cracking open a few of their own. Always cook eggs before giving them to your chickens; either hard boiled or scrambled.

 

[Michael Apple]

They can eat anything you can eat

That's certainly not true. There are a number of foods, humans eat daily, that are toxic to chickens.

 

[Michael Apple]

Avocados, onions, chocolate, onions, citrus fruits, white potatoes (contains solanine which lowers red blood cell levels. Even boiling them reduces very little of this chemical), and apple seeds. I see references of bread, pasta, and rice mentioned as being commonly given to birds. Where that may not be toxic to birds, it certainly is of little nutritional value, and too much can certainly block the crop because it isn't easily digested. Where chickens may be omnivores, they are not garbage disposals for what one chooses to throw out. Unless someone prefers to nurse or cull sick birds.

I see this same behavior with people who have overweight dogs. They buy numerous treats and feed them to the dog in addition to giving too much food. They think it is fun, cute, or making up for some guilt, until they see their vet bills.