Comic Irony and your opinion, please....

[musikfan]

So how many of you feed your chickens leftover eggs or chicken from the dinner table? I did this over the summer and I found it comicallyironic, considering that they gobbled the leftovers up in no time at all. Seems weird considering that they have no idea that they are eating their own kin! LOL!! But then again, my chickens are "garbage compactors". They eat almost anything that I feed them.

Which leads me to my question: Is there anything that you should NOT feed your chickens? I've read different articles but I find a lot of conflicting information. I just know that my girls will eat almost anything- baked beans, pasta, rice, any fruits or veggies, stale crackers, sausage, potatoes ....and the list goes on. They are still alive, so I guess I must not have given them anything fatal yet.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

No AVOCADO OR AVOCADO PEELS. it is toxic for them, and most animals

 

[Brooks_]

No AVOCADO OR AVOCADO PEELS. it is toxic for them, and most animals

More specifically, the pits and skins. The flesh is fine in moderation.

 

[saysfaa]

It may not be as ironic as you think since chickens will readily eat a flock mate alive if they sense enough vulnerability.

I don't offer onions, avocados, or citrus. Or houseplants/ornamentals I know are generally toxic (like four o'clocks) or bugs that are eating them (japanese beetles on four o'clocks).

I don't discourage my husband from occasionally giving the chickens some pastry, pasta, sweets, and fats even though they aren't good for them because he has been very gracious about chickens that he didn't and doesn't want. You might be surprised at how much sugar is in baked beans.

Most nutritional imbalances don't kill birds outright. Or people, for that matter. They result in vulnerability to problems that often don't look related to diet... less able to deal with stress so more behavior problems in crowded spaces, for example, or developing bumble foot from a bump that would not have bruised in optimal health. Or a people example - more severe covid correlating to zinc deficiencies.

 

[musikfan]

No AVOCADO OR AVOCADO PEELS. it is toxic for them, and most animals

Yes, I do remember reading that at one point. Thanks.

 

[musikfan]

Did I mention how much they loved grassphoppers back at the end of August? What a comical sight: I'd give one through the chicken wire and one of them would get to it, grab it and race away to the corner of the run to selfishly gobble it up. LOL....