Are there any treats that are BAD for chicks/chickens?

[4H kids and mom]

I mean other than obvious stuff like chocolate, or too much bread. We get these little black and red beetles (similar to Floridas 'LoveBugs') in our yard in the summer. Nothin we can do to get rid of them. I am wondering if anyone knows of any bugs or treats that would be bad, or toxic to chicks/chickens? Or, where can I find a complete listing of things that are OK or even really good for them? I know the basics...mealworms, ACV in their water, etc.

 

[Foghorn]

How much is too much bread? Now I'm worried. Just gave some to my chicks. 20 chicks, about a half a slice.

 

[bayouchica]

Morning yall, I'm not too sure about bugs that sre bad for chickens exexpt mabe a wood beetle they have the big pichers that can hurt a chicken if eaten.My MIL had some young chics once that ate a June bug & it went up under its skin by the crop don't know how but she was able to cut it out & the chic made it. :|
Here's a link about toxic plants & their effects from Poulrty Helphttp://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html

Foghorn, bread can cause an impacted crop.I'm not sure how much is too much but there's not much nutriutional (sp?) value in bread.Maybe boil some eggs for 'em

Oh yeah might wanna make sure they have grit.

Yall have a good one.. Miriam

 

[SpottedCrow]

The big ones are:
Chocolate
Caffeine
Alcohol
Some plants and flowers that we have in the yard can be also, but I've noticed that my girls stay away from them.
Not too much salt either because the only have the one kidney and you don't want to overload it.
Okay things:
Seeds, especially pumpkin which are a natural wormer, are good.
Fruits and berries. Someone asked about citrus the other day, but I don't remember hearing anything one way or the other.
They can eat all sorts of leftovers as long as they haven't gone bad.
I had Obelisk in my bowl of EasyMac this afternoon.

Mealworms and crickets from the petshop are okay also, lots of protein.

 

[4H kids and mom]

SpottedCow....you mentioned seeds and this perks my interest greatly, as I am always into finding ways to recycle and reuse. I have a few parrots, who pick through their food eating their favorite things first of course and often leaving the rest. They are fed an Organic seed and pellet mix. Whats usually left over when they've picked it through is: cracked corn, sunflower seeds, saflower seeds, soy nuts, niger seeds, and a mix of other small seeds. Are any of these OK to give them? I'd love to see the rest of my birds good food going to a good use!

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:

I don't see why they can't eat parrot seed as a treat! Some people feed their chickens wild bird seed for treats and others have said they will feed millet spray.

 

[pipermark]

too many teats, so they dont eat enough feed or bugs and stuff if they are free rangers could be bad too.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Mark, please tell me that you meant "Treats"....

Obeliks LOVES millet sprays...and she has learned to peck the wildbird seed bags open...Slifer taught her that.

 

[4H kids and mom]

Awesome.

Of course I will use treats in moderation and make sure they have plenty of grit available when I do. I'm happy I can recycle the mounds of "unwanted" seed my picky parrots leave. I always felt so bad just throwing it away. Last spring, the kids and I even planted some of it to see what would sprout, and I fed the sprouts to the birds who loved them. I think I'll do that again this spring too. I bet the chickies would love some fresh greens too! I'm REALLY glad to hear about the millet spray. I got a ton of it given to me by a friend of mine with smaller birds. Unfortunately, big birds like my macaw dont touch the stuff, so I was stuck with a surplus that I froze to keep fresh. I'm glad it will be able to go to good use now. I think I'll thaw some out today for the chickies.....

Thanks guys! I LOVE this forum!

 

[chuckersdelious]

its the same for any living thing we all need treats to make us feel good ,everybody should do that as a treat but it shouldnt become the the norm or it ceases to be a treat and then we look for more treats ,then you end up with hens that constantly want goodies instead of the correct feed