Anything off limits?

[Alabama ee]

One of my favorite things to give mine is lasagna noodles. I always have a couple extras when I make lasagna. It is too fun watching them grab one and take off running.

 

[sparkly_diamond]

I have always found this subject to be interesting but have never taken part in the topics for fear of upsetting ppl?

It is my understanding that anything which can be composted, chickens can/will eat. So every fruit and veg apart from any citrus. I also feed them a few of their egg shells crushed finely back in with their grit so as to give them easy to digest calcium. I was also lead to believe (from various websites and books) that acorns and avocado pear is poison to a chicken.

The other thing (and this is where I am worried about upsetting ppl) is that there is a moral debate about feeding animal products to chickens. That is to say that to feed a chicken beefs, milk, yogurt, chicken etc is against the natural order of nature. I have no issue with ppl doing such, and I understand many believe it to be beneficial to chickens. It is something I have decided not to do myself, but I am interested to see how others do things differently.

I do occasionally feed mine grasshoppers which the kids and I have great fun catching in the field down the road, we also feed them meal worms (dried and from the pet store) as a treat once in a while which the go made for.

I also think that too many snails/slugs are not good for them, but I think this as I have a very greedy chook who scoffed a few down and by the next day was not well with very green poos! She is fine now, and still just as greedy!! lol

I love listening to all the ideas and advice and have learnt so much from this site.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Quote:
I agree 100% with this post.

I feed organic chicken feed which is soy-free and GMO-free, so the main vegetable protein is field peas. They are dried and whole for the most part. Right after the GMO-free corn in the feed, they go after the dried peas. This mix also includes dried brown rice.

I also fed my chicks plenty of raw potato including the peels and they are very healthy 9-week-olds right now. As long as the skin or flesh of the potato has not been exposed to light/sun enough that it turns green, it is okay to feed to chickens. I don't eat any part of a potato if it is green, either. Most root veggies are excellent forage for chickens, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots and mangles.

People make assumptions that a food that is not tolerated by a human, or a dog or cat, or a wild bird or an ape will be toxic to all. That is simply not true. There have been many studies over the years by experts in the field of chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese as to what is toxic to them specifically. These are the 'lists' that I trust and go by. Even considering that these are all domesticated birds, they still have specific nutritional needs that can vary as to species.

 

[Ohhhdear]

Quote:
Not quite sure what kind of debate it is about feeding animal products to backyard chickens. Chickens certainly are consummate omnivores. In the wild they will eat ANYTHING they deem edible, including roadkill, snakes, slugs, other birds, worms, grasshoppers, mice, dead wild pig, etc., as well as any greenstuffs they think is yummy. Barnyard chickens actively seek out, destroy and eat rats, snakes, mice, and anything squirming in their runs.

In other words, the "what to feed your chickens "moral debate is a human issue, not a chicken health issue. There are researchers who claim to have evidence that if you feed your chickens no-animal-protein feeds, or no animal products (like beef, dairy, pork, etc) then the eggs will have less harmful cholesterol.

 

[ErinG]

Nothing moldy, no alcohol (including fermenting fruit), no citrus.


My girls have had blue/green poop from red cabbage too! It was quite alarming until I realized what had caused it. It was an unnatural looking color!

 

[JoePa]

Someone mentioned that acorns are poison to chickens - that suprises me since wild turkeys eat acorns - so do a lot of animals and birds - in fact native people made flour out of white oak acorns - it you let your chickens free roam and there are oak trees around are you going to poison your chickens? - I question this about acorns -

 

[Christie Rhae]

I put turkey or chicken carcass' in the pressure cooker after we are done with it and pressure cook it for a half hour. Then dump that into the chicken coop. They devour everything! Bones are so soft they just eat them all up getting all that good marrow. We also love to make chicken cakes. It is actually any old left overs from fridge, old cornmeal etc that may have gotten stale in the cupboard, BOSS, eggs, tuna, yogurt, etc. and bake. My 3 year old daughter loves that I let her get her hands into it and "help" me. The chickens love it. Here is a pic of our recent cakes..

We used to have at least 3 large cans of garbage every week. We started recycling, composting (potato peels, banana peels, avocado, egg shells and coffee grounds) everything else goes to chickens. We never have left overs get old in the back of the fridge anymore. Now we have maybe two trash cans every two weeks. So proud of ourselves that we have stopped producing so much "trash" as a family.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Quote:
I've seen chickens eat screws, so, no, they do not know what is good for them. That is what you are for.
And uncooked beans of any kind are toxic to chickens, as are raw potatoes avocados & chocolate.
The trypsin in all beans is toxic to the lining of the birds' intestines. It can scar their intestines, making them less able to absorb their food. Any beans fed to chickens need to be at 180 degrees for 15 minutes to destroy the trypsin . Keeping the soybeans at or above 180 degress F for 15 minutes destroys the trypsin. The best way to do this is by boiling.
Link:
http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html
Common Foods and Plants Toxic to Chickens
raw potatoes and peels
avocado
citrus fruits
rhubarb leaves
chocolate/caffeine
apple seeds
onions
garlic
mushrooms
alcohol
potato, eggplant, and tomato plants/leaves
salt
mistletoe or holly berries
raw beans
nutmeg
sweet pea plant
tobacco
stone fruit pits
asparagus
Read more: http://www.grit.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=4294967388&tag=Chickens#ixzz1KaHbNV3Z

 

[newchknmama]

Ok I have seen this around and around.. what the heck is
BOSS
besides me.. hahaha.. well I was boss, til i got chickens

 

[Christie Rhae]

I wondered the same thing for ages. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds= protein. I get them from the feed store