Can chickens eat coffee grounds?

[Lil Chickens]

I saw a load of coffee grounds in the sink one morning and we don't have a compost pile. I felt bad for it to go to waste, so I am wondering if it is good to feed chickens coffee grounds? I was unsure about the caffeine so that is why I am skeptical about giving it to them. But I have read in some articles that it is good, but in others it says that it is bad. Please let me know.

 

[jacksun]

My chicks don't care for them, but they mix well with the litter. If dry you can put it in the coop for odor control

 

[Lil Chickens]

Thank you!

 

[Duck Drover]

You can raise red wigglers on coffee grounds and feed them to your chickens. We raise them for worm tea and to add them to our planters but the chickens get the escapees that are reproducing in the yard.

 

[GC-Raptor]

My chicks don't care for them, but they mix well with the litter. If dry you can put it in the coop for odor control

Oh yeah, you made my day. I'm a coffeeholic. I would love my coop to smell like a fresh pot of coffee. I can imagine building a large coop with a built in coffee bar. GC

 

[billpack326]

Should they be dried before going in the litter?

 

[GC-Raptor]

Should they be dried before going in the litter?

I haven't used coffee grounds in the litter yet, but I would let it dry before sprinkling on top of litter. GC

 

[balloonflower]

My coop does smell like coffee--I use coffee bean husks for their litter. Inevitably, there are some grounds mixed in and a few stray beans, but it doesn't seem to bother them. Composts really well when I dump the droppings tray compared to wood chips. I get them free from a local roaster along with burlap bags.

I will say that I have a small coop that makes them easy to use, and since free I can change the droppings tray when I want. In the lower run, I usually just add when needed. They are very lightweight and blow/track easily, so wouldn't be for everyone. They also don't work well in the nest boxes--stick to the eggs, so I use pads in those. My gals love it when I top off the run--jump in and fluff all around.