Chickens and hot peppers!

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Cool, i have read that but wanted to make sure.

Only mammals can taste spicy food, chickens lack the VR1 capsaicin receptors. Fun fact, these are actually receptors to taste heat. In essence, spicy food isn't spicy at all, it's just how we experience it. So it's perfectly safe for chickens.

Peppers will make the egg yolks darker but they won't make the eggs taste spicy. Many people also use it to keep rats out. There is some evidence for an antibiotic effect and adding a few peppers to their diet could stimulate egg laying.

Source: https://www.chickenfans.com/chickens-spicy-food/

Defazzy! Lovin' the info. Interesting to say the least. Thank you for those nuggets of info. I think i'm gonna go get a pepper from the garden now.

 

[TammyRoesch]

I may have made that confusing. I do fill my chicken feeders, which are all kept inside the coops/runs. I just don't fill the wild bird feeders out in the yard.

I probably could because I clearly see migrating birds making their way into my yard -- which I generally love. Not filling the wild bird feeders isn't stopping them from showing up.

I quit because there was avian flu in a couple of adjacent counties to mine, and because I am close to a county-owned pond where migratory waterfowl congregate.

Also, keep in mind that I am an overprotective worrywart.

Thank you...I understand now...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I assume that offering some fruit/veggie daily (small amount for example, 5 hens get like 10 blueberries), would be a healthy benefit rather than a treat. Thanks aunt jessi

Wrong assumption. ANYTHING which is not a complete balanced feed is a treat.

"Healthy as part of a complete balanced diet" does not mean healthy in isolation.

Offer healthy treats, if that's what you wish to do - but never forget that they ARE treats. and better still, rotate treats, so you aren't offering the same imbalance every day.
and the thumb rule for treats i "less than 10%, by weight, of the daily ration". Your suggestion of 2 blueberries per hen is well w/i that, particularly as blueberries are high water content. So the practice was right, even if the mindset had the capacity to lead you astray.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Wrong assumption. ANYTHING which is not a complete balanced feed is a treat.

"Healthy as part of a complete balanced diet" does not mean healthy in isolation.

Offer healthy treats, if that's what you wish to do - but never forget that they ARE treats. and better still, rotate treats, so you aren't offering the same imbalance every day.
and the thumb rule for treats i "less than 10%, by weight, of the daily ration". Your suggestion of 2 blueberries per hen is well w/i that, particularly as blueberries are high water content. So the practice was right, even if the mindset had the capacity to lead you astray.

How did i know you would chime in storm! And i hoped you would. Your information about chicken nutrition is like none other. i knew you would say what you said even tho i hoped it wasnt true, lol. i dont really know how to decipher 10%. Moving forward, sigh, less treats. Oh, but let me paint a picture. I hang one small/med apple from the run......would this be within 10%? Thanks a ton storm.

 

[DuneDucks]

I assume that offering some fruit/veggie daily (small amount for example, 5 hens get like 10 blueberries), would be a healthy benefit rather than a treat.

You'll probably get a few different answers on this, but the general rule is to allow no more than 10% of their diet to be *treats*. You'll see some pretty silly distinctions to what is and isn't a treat though. For example, there's probably users on here that let their chicken free range around a variety of different berry bushes, but any berries consumed while free ranging don't count towards that treat %. Same goes for a bunch of stuff they'll forage throughout the day. Nobody free-ranging chickens is out there getting an exact count of how many bugs their chicken ate and how many more they can feed them as treats.

There's a lot of use advice and information here, but ultimately, it's up to your own discretion how you feed your chickens. Everyone here has had different experiences that have led to a 1,000+ different ways of raising/feeding poultry.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

You'll probably get a few different answers on this, but the general rule is to allow no more than 10% of their diet to be *treats*. You'll see some pretty silly distinctions to what is and isn't a treat though. For example, there's probably users on here that let their chicken free range around a variety of different berry bushes, but any berries consumed while free ranging don't count towards that treat %. Same goes for a bunch of stuff they'll forage throughout the day. Nobody free-ranging chickens is out there getting an exact count of how many bugs their chicken ate and how many more they can feed them as treats.

There's a lot of use advice and information here, but ultimately, it's up to your own discretion how you feed your chickens. Everyone here has had different experiences that have led to a 1,000+ different ways of raising/feeding poultry.

Thanks dune ducks. Its tough because the best part of having a backyard flock is offering fruits/veggies and interacting in this way. Sigh. I suppose I am doing them an injustice to give them sweet berries and other favorite items and this is just a sad reality. I know that every once in awhile is ok i guess. Maybe holidays and birthdays i can give them something special.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

How did i know you would chime in storm! And i hoped you would. Your information about chicken nutrition is like none other. i knew you would say what you said even tho i hoped it wasnt true, lol. i dont really know how to decipher 10%. Moving forward, sigh, less treats. Oh, but let me paint a picture. I hang one small/med apple from the run......would this be within 10%? Thanks a ton storm.

Storm, i have a question for you! (I always have questions for you). I live in new england, zone 6a. Our winters get cold, down to zero often in the winter. Should my feed plan be adjusted in the winter? I think you live in desert type zone (i think), so you may not have experience but some info. I think i gave too many BOSS this past winter. Thanks

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Thanks dune ducks. Its tough because the best part of having a backyard flock is offering fruits/veggies and interacting in this way. Sigh. I suppose I am doing them an injustice to give them sweet berries and other favorite items and this is just a sad reality. I know that every once in awhile is ok i guess. Maybe holidays and birthdays i can give them something special.

Most of the time when I'm wanting to "treat" my ladies I'll make up a wet mash out of their food and freeze it a bit then go out there and hand feed a bit then let them get after it, they love it and honestly don't think they really know the difference between that and a chunk of kale

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Storm, i have a question for you! (I always have questions for you). I live in new england, zone 6a. Our winters get cold, down to zero often in the winter. Should my feed plan be adjusted in the winter? I think you live in desert type zone (i think), so you may not have experience but some info. I think i gave too many BOSS this past winter. Thanks

BOSS if very high in fat, @U_Stormcrow has the exact numbers on all that they don't need it, make them a wet mash with hot water if you want to "warm" them up. I'm sure he'll chime in with the full details

 

[U_Stormcrow]

How did i know you would chime in storm! And i hoped you would. Your information about chicken nutrition is like none other. i knew you would say what you said even tho i hoped it wasnt true, lol. i dont really know how to decipher 10%. Moving forward, sigh, less treats. Oh, but let me paint a picture. I hang one small/med apple from the run......would this be within 10%? Thanks a ton storm.

SO, a theoretical average chicken eats a theoretical average 100g of feed per day. Five hens is 500g - that's about 1.1#. Or we can do it the American way and say 1/4# per bird, per day. None of us have "average" chickens anyways!

In either event, treats for five birds shouldn't exceed (per "the thumb rule"), about [16 oz + 4 oz] 20 oz/10 = 2 oz total daily, or 500g/10 = 50g daily. Tyhat's about 1/2 of medium apple or 1/3 of a large apple.

So, why is it a "thumb rule"? Nutritionally dense treats like dried black soldier fly largae, dried earthworms, dried grubs, dried beetles, prunes, raisins, craisins, etc can still result in imbalance at the 10% level (note that the moisture has been removed from all those foods). Seeds (shelled BOSS, white proso millet, flax, etc) can also bump hard agains those limits while complying with the "thumb rule" - particularly fat. At the opposite end, highly moist foods - cucumber, melons, squash, zucchini etc are mostly water (over 90% to over 95%), you can safely add more. Grapes and apples are 80-85% water, don't overdo it too much - these are the treats I suspect the thumb rule was designed around.