Can Pullets have kitchen scraps?

[Tacswa3]

Just got some 12 week old pullets, Rhode Island reds and Black Australorps. Can they eat anything other than pullet crumbles? Any kitchen scraps, treats such as dried meal worms? etc

 

[Pyxis]

Oh yes, they can and will eat kitchen scraps, and they love it too! Mine love potatoes, lettuce, apples (we have apple trees and every year they have a feast when the apples fall), bananas, bread, eggs, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes - they even cleaned up the leftover stuffing from my Thanksgiving this year and picked the turkey carcass clean. See here for a big list of all the things that are safe for them and they like to eat.

I also wanted to add that dried mealworms are a good treat, but they like live ones even better. I have a breeding colony of mealworms and feed the extras off to my chickens often and they go bonkers for it. They also love crickets and dubia roaches, and any insect at all really.

 

[Tacswa3]

Ok thanks! But just so I'm clear......Mine are 12 weeks old right now and they can have this stuff? I know adults can.

 

[donrae]

Yes. Even baby chicks can eat worms and scraps, sometimes momma just breaks it up for them. Your birds have good strong beaks at this point and will easily be able to tear things into smaller pieces.

offer them some grit, so they are better able to digest the things that are non-commercial feed. I just toss it in the run and let them scratch around for it--gives them something to do all day.

 

[Tacswa3]

Yes. Even baby chicks can eat worms and scraps, sometimes momma just breaks it up for them. Your birds have good strong beaks at this point and will easily be able to tear things into smaller pieces.

offer them some grit, so they are better able to digest the things that are non-commercial feed. I just toss it in the run and let them scratch around for it--gives them something to do all day.

Cool, I did give them grit today, thrown into the run. I'm looking forward to giving them some goodies.