Feeding scraps to chickens

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Ok, I can get behind the idea that chickens in the wild eat all kinds of stuff, and I'm reassured by all the folks here who say they feed scraps and it hasn't hurt their hens or the hens' laying at all. But I have to ask: Does this also pertain to when they are chicks...just starting out? Do you "scraps are fine" folks stick with just the formulated chick-starter food at that point, and add scraps when they are bigger? Or do you go with a tiny amount of different food stuffs from the beginning....because I've seen so much of "don't feed them anything but chick-starter when they are babies...it will impede their development".

Technically, there hasn't been a "wild" chicken in hundreds, potentially thousands, of years....humans have been selectively breeding livestock for a long time.

That being said, a chicken can get the proper nutrients it needs from non-pelleted food, just like a person can (although on some busy days, I wish I could just have some "human pellets" for a quick, balanced meal).

I give small treats fairly early to chicks, certainly by the time they're let out. Turns out, they figure out pretty quickly that they are chickens, and act like chickens.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I often tell folks that I've found an amazing device capable of taking a key waste stream (food waste makes up a sizable percentage of total waste, and when landfilled, causes all kinds of issues) and convert it into fresh, healthy food that that is delivered daily in single serving completely recyclable packaging.

As a bi-product, the device also creates nutrient-rich soil amendment that adds a boost of nitrogen to your compost and is a key nutrient for many crops.

Also, the device costs about $4 per unit and can be stored in most backyards.

To own this amazing device (a chicken) and NOT use it for this purpose strikes me as being as crazy as if you owned a car that ran on gasoline or household garbage, but you still went to the gas station every week.

 

[Anime2lover]

Apple seeds contain amygdalin, which is converted into cyanide when the seeds are chewed or crushed.

If a adult human were to finely chew about 200 apple seeds, it might just kill them.

I plan to not do that.

Me either.

 

[gtaus]

I've seen chicks here being encouraged by mum to disembowel dead mice, eat stag beetles after mum has thrown them around a bit, all sorts of bugs, new shoots of particular plants are popular..............
What isn't popular is the chick feed.

I hope to raise chicks from a broody hen someday. It would be real interesting to watch what the hen teaches the chicks to eat. I bet it would be lots of stuff, not just chick starter feed.

When I moved my 8 week old pullets out of the brooder and into the coop with grass covered chicken run, they eat less than half the chick starter feed they ate when in the brooder. I will give them some kitchen scraps, but with just the wife and myself, it's really not all that much in scraps offered. So mostly they must be eating stuff they find in the grass. I also cut and bag grass clippings for them, but again, they scratch through the clippings and find lots to eat, but it does not appear that they eat the grass itself, or maybe very little.

As for scraps, my 10 week old pullets turn their beaks up at most things offered. That is fine with me, I just dump uneaten items in the compost bin. I really don't know what they are finding to eat out in the grassy chicken run, but their commercial chick starter feed consumption is half of what it was weeks ago. The birds seem healthy and happy, so I don't worry much about it.

One reason I got chickens was to feed them kitchen scraps. So I will continue to offer them scraps and hope they will eat more variety as they get older.

I also like watching YouTube videos of chickens living off compost piles without ever eating commercial food. Here is one of my favorite videos about How Karl Hammer Feeds 600 Chickens (Without Grains). I found it very interesting.

 

[Willowspirit]

Apple seeds contain amygdalin, which is converted into cyanide when the seeds are chewed or crushed.

If a adult human were to finely chew about 200 apple seeds, it might just kill them.

I plan to not do that.

It’s a terrible way to die.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

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.

My rooster seems to avoid bugs and worms. The girls love them, Randy not so much. I feel like he isn't getting enough protein.

 

[BReeder!]

We give the chickens greens quite often. They are usually in the form of weeds and garden clippings though. As for kitchen waste, most of it goes to our compost bins along with all other plant based waste and the bird poop.
I absolutely recommend composting kitchen scraps over feeding them to chickens for the dietary reasons listed above. Chickens do enjoy scratching through a compost pile and picking desireable bits too; though I would try to only give them access to a pile that has finished cooking. This way they get to eat good quality (dietarily speaking) bugs and microflora that will add to their balanced diet and digestive health rather than likely lead to long term problems like obesity.
So compost is an all around win - the you keep food waste out if landfills, you have a way to process chicken poop, you get a great garden amendment, and the chickens get a beneficial dietary supplement.

 

[woodmort]

Some of your chickens eat better than I do

 

[Bugmom16]

Some of your chickens eat better than I do

My husband says that all the time about our chickens!

 

[Bugmom16]

We give our flock mostly veggies or fruit. They have their crumbles/pellets which they devour but since we live in Texas and it is so hot we give them watermelon on extreme hot days for extra water intake and cooling off. When I first presented watermelon to them they turned their beaks up at it. It took me breaking it into some smaller pieces and feeding it to the brave ones before the group decided it was ok to eat.

We have tried broccoli - loved it in the beginning but now, it is a no go.
Lettuces - it is a 50/50 chance on liking it. They eat grass and young leaves off of some of our trees
Cabbage - didn't like it but determined to see if hanging it vs in a tray (which I did) they would like it more
Carrots - they didn't like it in chunks but liked it when I shredded it in long strips
Strawberries/blackberries/blueberries - their favorites. We do that sparingly but they go crazy for them.