Feeding scraps to chickens

[mdquilts]

I haven’t had chickens long but I’ve discovered they can hear the back door open and get all excited because they think it’s treat time. Then when I toss a bit of something they all scatter to the corners of the run until one brave soul decides to grab a bit and then it’s a crazy grab for whatever that one has. I swear they don’t even taste it they just want what the other has!

 

[killeengreen]

I haven’t had chickens long but I’ve discovered they can hear the back door open and get all excited because they think it’s treat time. Then when I toss a bit of something they all scatter to the corners of the run until one brave soul decides to grab a bit and then it’s a crazy grab for whatever that one has. I swear they don’t even taste it they just want what the other has!

Haha yup. Ours hear the door open too and come running. I have to practically sneak out the door when I'm heading off to work otherwise they think I'm coming to give them something.

 

[Willowspirit]

Every fall my girls get the "squeezins" from Apple Cider making...that includes pulp, seeds, skin, etc.
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If apples make chickens sick, it must take more than this many...

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Apple seeds do contain arsenic. Apple peels do not.

 

[Willowspirit]

Mom always warns me against it. Harmless to us, but id rather not try it with my animals.

Actually humans can die if they eat enough apple seeds on an empty stomach but otherwise not that dangerous.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I was feeding way too many "treats" to my chickens and just backed off a lot. They get occasional radish greens from the garden and I scramble eggs for them on Sunday morning for the extra protein boost. They got watermelon last summer on seriously hot days. This summer only once did they get that. I made green juice from my bounty of romaine lettuce and mixed in 5 other vegetables. They are being fed the fiber that didn't turn into juice so I'm sure it is super nutritious. I only give them bread occasionally despite how much they love it. I try to consider the nutritional value in the "treat" itself before feeding it to them.

 

[AZWhiteKnight]

As long as it has nutritional value, there is no such thing as giving your chickens too many treats. There is no animal on this planet that was designed to eat feed pellets. I appreciate the ease in which they make feeding the birds, but pellets alone do not make a complete diet. Ideally, I would let my flocks eat nothing but bugs, grass, flowers and random table scraps, but there are too many predators and too little grass in Southern Arizona to truly free range.

 

[woodmort]

Chickens are pretty smart when it comes to knowing what to eat or not as long as they have a choice.

 

[Cryss]

Things like apple peels and seeds can have arsnick in them, wich is poisonous to animal

Arsenic is poisonous to people too. Apple seeds do indeed have arsenic in them but you'dhave to eat a lot of seeds and chew them, not just swallow them whole.. My chickens generally avoid them when they devour an apple anyway.
Apple skins do NOT have arsenic in them. Thank goodness or we couldn't eat them. Apple skins are very healthy to eat. As a matter of fact it contains pectin, the stuff that sets up jams and jellies.
That being said I usually cut the apples into chunks anyway. Planning on trying my hand at DIY ACV using apple cores and cast off pieces.

 

[Chicken Heel]

I keep a little pail next to the sink and every house scrap (think edible, not like coffee grounds) goes into it; sandwich crusts, strawberry tops, dropped cheese poofs, scrambled eggs, the pasta stuck to the bottom of the pan, whatever. They love all of it, it cuts down on waste and feed cost and I believe it makes them happier with a more diverse diet. They all love to see me coming but this is probably a couple generations of chickens that have learned from the older ones that food scraps = yums.
Any new members to the flock do take a while to investigate but soon learn. Ducks aren't really interested in anything that isn't fruit scraps.
I also feed layer pellets and scratch.
Is a complete diet?
For us, yes. I don't run a factory farm, the birds are happy and lay well and how many of US eat a complete diet every day?

I've had chickens for 50+ years and this has always been my philosophy.

 

[Shadrach]

I am wondering, I’ve been told you can feed chickens most scraps. My chickens won’t eat most scraps. They are 6 months old, will they eventually? Thanks!

It rather depends on what the scraps are.
When someone can show me a chicken that has voluntarily taken up a vegan diet I might have a bit more faith in commercial feeds. Yes it's true they supply the essentials to support life. There is nothing after that to recommend them.
I have looked and looked hard for any studies that show a chicken lives longer fed solely on vegetable and grain based commercial feeds as opposed to a mixed and varied diet.
The horrible truth is for most people that acquire chickens through the hatcheries and many breeders, is the poor genetics of the chicken are going to kill it long before what those who support the commercial feed companies would call bad diet.
Try offering your chickens some beef mince, or some cooked cod...........mind your fingers.