What your chickens can and can't eat!

[NatJ]

Yes, some of them (most of the links I posted) do say yes to uncooked rice but I am finding links that also say "no" to uncooked rice!

We all know that SOME sources say not to give uncooked rice to chickens. The issue is, are those sources right or wrong?

The internet has plenty of wrong information. Repeating the wrong information does not make it right. If you want your list to be correct, you need to figure out what is actually true, and put that in the list.

For any food you can name, I can cite a source that says not to feed it to your chickens. (It's easy: some sources say to never feed anything but commercially-produced chicken feed, which would mean "no" to every item on your list and on every similar list. And some other sources say to never use commercially-produced chicken feed. At that point, there is nothing left.)

 

[skeeeter]

Y'all, I never have enough money to feed my chickens grocery store food. They just get grains, chicken feed or bugs n such which they get for themselves(seek and go find) SOMETIMES they get something from the garden IF my herbivores(read: cows, goats, sheep, donkey, rabbits, geese) don't want it.

 

[Stephine]

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/can-chickens-eat-rice/

https://chickenpets.com/diet/uncooked-rice

https://ranchr.ag/blog/can-chickens-eat-rice/

https://www.farmanimalreport.com/2022/01/02/can-chickens-eat-uncooked-rice/


Those are just a few of the links I found saying that it is unhealthy and sometimes fatal.

Have you read these articles? They look like they are cobbled together by AI or a distracted middle schooler. Not the way to get reliable information.

 

[Stephine]

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/can-chickens-eat-rice/

https://chickenpets.com/diet/uncooked-rice

https://ranchr.ag/blog/can-chickens-eat-rice/

https://www.farmanimalreport.com/2022/01/02/can-chickens-eat-uncooked-rice/


Those are just a few of the links I found saying that it is unhealthy andhttps:/

Also, think about it - this argument that raw rice will expand in the digestive tract… Other grains do too. Add water and they will get bigger (because they are all dried before feeding). Birds can handle that just fine.

 

[Stephine]

Here, I think this is what @PMD PerformanceHorses might be trying to say. I don't have any Walmart meats (one of these might be as I'm not sure where it came from), but I took pictures of a few labels on meats from another chain store.

View attachment 3739061
View attachment 3739062
View attachment 3739063
View attachment 3739064

Some of these DO have added ingredients, and those people probably wouldn't be feeding their chickens them anyways. For preservatives, they would say something that would have to do with preservation as previous people have said.

On a lot of stores, the meat is only out there until a certain date, then they are thrown in a freezer and sold in the freezer section. (Sometimes labels/packaging is changed to fix a freezer date instead of fresh date.) That's the preservation on meats with no added ingredients, unless, of course, they went through some preservation process (which might still be on the label somewhere, and is probably only done on meats like sausage, bacon, etc.).

As far as the meats I'm giving my chickens, they're usually from a friend or relative, and if it's deer, it was either given to us or a fresh roadkill (that was safe for human consumption). For meats like hamburg and such, my family will eat freeze it until we're ready to eat it. If it's getting thrown out, it's no longer fit to eat, so my birds never get any of it.

I hope this post clears up some confusion for everyone concerning store bought meats. All in all, check for an ingredient list on your meats before feeding it to your chickens, along with the expiration date. If the meat looks or smells off, despite it not reaching its expiration date, don't feed it to your chickens because it could have spoiled.

I’m confused - none of these list preservatives - ? A couple really only have plain meat (with nutritional value of said meat listed), another is sausage, which of course will have some salt, spices, herbs, etc… am I blind?

 

[NatJ]

Have you read these articles? They look like they are cobbled together by AI or a distracted middle schooler. Not the way to get reliable information.

In addition to that, two of the four say that raw rice is fine for chickens.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Also, think about it - this argument that raw rice will expand in the digestive tract… Other grains do too. Add water and they will get bigger (because they are all dried before feeding). Birds can handle that just fine.

Whew! I have read and read this volatile thread and am finally caught up. Now here's my thoughts about rice. First let me say I don't feed my chickens rice. But why? Because it never occurred to me to do so. But what I'm about to say may help those of you who are scratching your heads over this. First, how much rice would you feed your chickens? Two cups per chicken? Not likely. More like a teaspoon or a tablespoon. Now go soak that in water till tender and see how much it swells up. Is that going to cause your poor chicken to explode? Probably not. So go ahead, toss a little (preferably brown) rice out for your chickens and don't worry about it. And think about this. ANY dry grain you're tossing out there is also going to swell when wet, whether corn, wheat, oat, amaranth or any other. So if you're really worried about it, soak or cook your chickens' grains BEFORE you toss them out on the ground and don't worry about it. Good grief, talk about a tempest in a teacup!

 

[CaptainArrow81]

I appreciate the list, but I think that we are way overthinking so much of what we do with our flocks. I think this is evidenced by the number of folks who have commented and shared that their chickens eat from the naughty list and thrive. Sure, there are things that chickens shouldn’t have because they contain toxins, but they usually figure those things out and stay away from them. Also, toxicity is typically based on consuming extreme amount of substances.

I have learned a lot of what I know about chickens from reading very old poultry keeping books…before all the commercial hatcheries, egg farms, and multi-billion dollar food companies took over farming. A lot to be learned from those old books in how to raise normal, happy, healthy chickens instead of what Purina or some other food conglomerate want you to believe.

Also, buckwheat is a layer superfood and should always be included in your feed if you can find it! Like hemp, it is a complete protein. It’s in the legume family, not a grain, and does wonders during molting and provides enough protein to allow your hens to lay and grow as much as their own bodies will permit without adding a bunch of other stuff.

 

[NatJ]

Also, buckwheat is a layer superfood and should always be included in your feed if you can find it! Like hemp, it is a complete protein. It’s in the legume family, not a grain, and does wonders during molting and provides enough protein to allow your hens to lay and grow as much as their own bodies will permit without adding a bunch of other stuff.

The rest of that may be true (I don't know enough to say either way), but Buckwheat is not a legume.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat
"Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae"

 

[Karen9]

I'll add that to it for future reference!

Tractor supply sells little bags of meal worms as treats for chickens