Chicken predators

[chickenlover432]

Hey guys,
Just out of interest, could you tell me what foods chicken's can't eat? And also what their predators are?
Chickenlover

 

[blucoondawg]

I have never found a food a chicken can't eat aside from maybe a poisonous flower from your flower bed, as for predators pretty much any carnivorous or omnivorous animal or bird that lives in your area, the worst usually being domestic dogs

 

[Stiggy]

As above dogs can be very vicious towards chickens however things like rats, stoats, ferrets, cats (wild or not), hedgehogs and hawks can and will do heeps of damage if given the chance

 

[chickenlover432]

I think I've heard somewhere that avocado can cause heart problems. I'm wondering if chocolate is poisonous...

 

[blucoondawg]

I think I've heard somewhere that avocado can cause heart problems. I'm wondering if chocolate is poisonous...

The pit and skin of the avocado has a toxin in it but not the meat unless the pit is cracked and some leaks in, chocolate is also not good for them but I wouldn't consider any of it poisonous. I have seen chickens eat guacamole and not die. Dogs aren't supposed to eat chocolate either but it won't hurt them in small amounts, I have had a lot of dogs eat chocolate in small amounts over the years.

Chickens are best off fed chicken feed, layer, grower, starter, whatever is needed for your particular birds, these feeds are designed to give the chicken what it needs to live a healthy and productive life, feeding them a bunch of other garbage isn't the best for them, even though they love to eat different things most of it is empty calories to them and not beneficial at all, throwing them some greens or melon or an occasional treat is okay but don't plan on feeding so much junk food to them that you have to worry about what is toxic or not, they can eat most things in moderation but over doing anything isn't good for them.

 

[chickenlover432]

I feed my girls for breakfast, a mash made of oats, yoghurt, crushed garlic in a jar, eggshells, and warm water on a cold morning I also give them a seed made of corn, pellets and different seeds. And occasionally we give them some scraps like mashed potato and cheese(my girls LOVE mashed potato and cheese!)


All of my girls absolutely love their food

P.S I also pick grass and worms for them so they don't have to go to the trouble of searching for them

 

[Stiggy]

Nice , Its a great way to spend time with them and get them friendly by picking worms or digging for worms with them. I'm not sure if you can get mash in other countries but here in NZ on a cold wet miserable day/ on frosty mornings I give my girls a hot mash with bread ( soaked in hot water), the mash which contains crushed barley, crushed oats, crushed and dried greens( like a charf) crushed wheat and crushed peas. I also add a little aviary mix bird seed ( I spoil them) and some grower/ layer pellets. this makes a mush that's good for them, that they love and its warm so it warms them up also . Cheese is one things that chickens love, also meet scraps, bacon etc cooked or raw ( they love raw meat ) which in small ammounts is good for them and makes a great treat

 

[chickenlover432]

Oh right, we live in Aus and we don't very cold weather.