Do yo feed Your flock KITCHEn scraps...

[MissE]

Mine are incredibly picky, so they’ve killed my enthusiasm for recycling kitchen scraps. I don’t give them anything starchy or moldy, and, as for the rest, they’ll eat some of the fruit, and leave out any vegetables. They think pumpkin is a vegetable and avoid it, too. And definitely anything green! They side-eye green foods like picky eater kids. So I throw the vegetable scraps in the food processor and then mix them with the regular feed crumble and water to make a clumpy mash, which they LOVE. And that’s how I get them to eat their veggies

Kind of like mixing cauliflower in with mashed potatoes.

 

[K0k0shka]

Kind of like mixing cauliflower in with mashed potatoes.

Yeah... My kids are better eaters than my chickens. I didn’t see that coming...

 

[mommiesrcool]

My chickens dont really get table scraps except for brocoil, kale, lettuce, watermelon, cabbage but they are not leftovers I buy that for them lol.

 

[mcdze]

nothing goes to waste .. my chickens eat anything that isnt tied down including my yard this time of the year lol ... just put up a perimeter electric wire to keep them from stripping my yard right around my walkway and front of the garage.. theyre still coming to terms with the 'new reality' around here it learned em quick, but at least im not the bad guy this way

 

[RebeccaRN]

The key to feeding eggshells is just to make them not look like eggs. If they’re crushed, the chickens won’t associate them with eggs.

Many, many people here do it with no issue, so this feels like one of the “false concerns” around chicken raising.

I dry and crush their eggshells and my girls gobble them up. Never had a chicken eat their eggs ever

 

[Kris10powell]

I do. I usually feed leftover meat scraps, vegetable ends, egg shells, rice and dinner leftovers, and stuff like that. I have heard that is isn't good, and can dilute protein in the diet, but I feed a high protein feed and a good amount of the scraps have protein as well. I think it is much better to give it to them then throw it away. How about you?

I do the same thing. In summer I buy frozen blueberries and extra watermelon so they have treats. They love it

 

[Willow2253]

Mine get any fruit of veggie scraps from prepping food, eggshells, (whole grain or gluten free) bread loaf ends, rice, and any safe leftovers that sit in the fridge long enough to be sure no people want them.

 

[Sablehaven]

Chickens are my own personal garbage disposals, in moderation at least, they get all the scraps the dogs don't, and eat what they like, leave what they don't.

Grated cheese is their favorite. Although I had one bird, unfriendly, skittish wyandotte, who would follow me around and just wait, if she knew I had green beans. Only time she ever came within arms reach

 

[VLove]

What age is it okay to start feeding scraps?

 

[Willow2253]

What age is it okay to start feeding scraps?

You’ll get a lot of different answers on that one. I start offering small amounts of scraps as treats at around a month old, after they’ve been on grass for a week or so, though sometimes chicks are hesitant to try new foods. If you have chicks with a broody and they have access to food scraps, the hen isn’t going to care what age her chicks are to feed it to them. The important things are make sure the chicks have appropriately sized grit to help digest any time they’re eating something other than feed, and that their feed makes up most of their diet so they’re getting the nutrition they need.