Favourite chicken treats

[Dlepage]

Well I know this topic has been discussed but I wanted to share some things I do for my spoiled chickens
On cold winter mornings in Ontario Canada like today -22 C -7 F I like to give my girls a half of a cooked spaghetti squash with some canned corn oregano and garlic to support their respiratory systems and gut health, I also sprinkle it with bird seed and and I add a tablespoon of my egg shells ground up with additional calcium magnesium and vitamin D, of course I warm it up lol. They love it
They have two cozy coop heaters in the coop next to their night perch but they just take out the chill at night. And with last night’s freezing cold temperature outside these heaters are perfect. You can hold your hand on them and they don’t burn just a nice radiant heat keeps the frost off them. And kept the coop at -2 most of the night.
I think I love those stupid chickens a little too much, but they are my babies lol. This is our first winter we got them as day old chicks last April and have enjoyed them so much!

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

I don't have chickens (I'm a quail herder), but I've Heard good things about mealworms and cucumber. Or cabbage hung at head height.

 

[Kiki]

Oh man I cringe when I see people offerings so much treats and scraps to their birds.

Hopefully you're only offering each bird a teaspoon or a tablespoon amount.
Anything more than that can be hurtful.


Each time you feed anything besides a pelleted or crumbled age-appropriate poultry feed you are taking away from that bird getting a balanced diet.
Spend some time reading all of the emergency threads and look at all of the problems that too much scraps and treats cause.

 

[Dlepage]

Thank you for that warning I needed to hear it!!! I try not to over feed treats but it’s hard, you think you’re just being kind in giving them treats but I know you are 100% correct
I tend to over rewards them with treats and I noticed they were not eating the real high quality chicken feed i buy them
I love them and want the best for them and I will cut back to one tablespoon of treats per day per chicken I know it will be harder on me then them.
So great full for your sound advice it is in the best interest of my chickens.
That’s why I love this group of chicken people!!!’

 

[Kiki]

I promise you they will do just fine and actually better if you did not offer so much treats.

Don't feed my birds any treats at all and they thrive.

 

[Sally PB]

My birds' favorite "treat" is their regular food, wetted into a mash. They love it! It's your regular food, sillies, but they think it's great.

Here are some benefits to doing this.

Almost zero waste of feed. They don't eat the powdery bits that fall to the bottom of the bowl, so I save those in a separate container to make into mash.

It doesn't dilute their nutrition, because it's their regular feed.

I can mix some vegetable scraps (carrot peels, a few berries, some spinach, squash seeds) into it and know how much of the extras I'm using, therefore keeping it to the 10% or less suggestion.

It can be cold in the summer, and warm in the winter.

 

[3KillerBs]

My birds' favorite "treat" is their regular food, wetted into a mash. They love it!

*nods*

I cleaned the fines out of the bottoms of the feeders yesterday and made them a pan of mash. They go nuts for it!

Their other favorite is weeds from the garden.

 

[Dlepage]

My birds' favorite "treat" is their regular food, wetted into a mash. They love it! It's your regular food, sillies, but they think it's great.

Here are some benefits to doing this.

Almost zero waste of feed. They don't eat the powdery bits that fall to the bottom of the bowl, so I save those in a separate container to make into mash.

It doesn't dilute their nutrition, because it's their regular feed.

I can mix some vegetable scraps (carrot peels, a few berries, some spinach, squash seeds) into it and know how much of the extras I'm using, therefore keeping it to the 10% or less suggestion.

It can be cold in the summer, and warm in the winter.

I love that idea I will definitely try it ….. more to wean me off giving them something every time I go out to see them. It will be better for them I don’t want to lose any of them to illnesses that can be avoided by a balanced diet meant for chickens

 

[Sally PB]

Their other favorite is weeds from the garden.

Yes, in garden season, they get lots of weeds!

My garden is under a foot of snow, so it'll be awhile. I especially like to do this with weeds that are starting to go to seed, or have long tough roots. It keeps the seeds and roots out of the garden, and they don't have a chance to grow in the chicken run.

The other benefit to that is what they don't eat gets turned into compost in the run. Then the next spring, it gets put back onto the garden, completing the cycle.

 

[Dlepage]

Yes, in garden season, they get lots of weeds!

My garden is under a foot of snow, so it'll be awhile. I especially like to do this with weeds that are starting to go to seed, or have long tough roots. It keeps the seeds and roots out of the garden, and they don't have a chance to grow in the chicken run.

The other benefit to that is what they don't eat gets turned into compost in the run. Then the next spring, it gets put back onto the garden, completing the cycle.

My chickens free range all summer but now I have no grass left lol and my beautiful gardens got trashed So this spring I will be doing some chicken friendly landscaping attached is some before and after pictures this is our first year of having chickens lol learning a lot the hard way lol the after pictures are the ones that look like a dump lol.