Garden scraps

[Possum-Pie]

Yeah, I'm not disrespecting anyone, it's just that many people throw away good food that a chicken would eat. A simple compost can/bin of veggie scraps that you took out to your hens would supplement their diet. Unless you have chickens in a city in a tiny yard, you have enough room to grow tomatoes, melons, etc. for the birds.

 

[igorsMistress]

There is a difference between garden supplemental feed and "treats" . think about giving your kids ice cream and Pizza for supper every day. there is little nutrition. BUT chickens were originally free-range birds in south-east Asia where NO body gave them balanced diets. They ate what gave them the best chance of reproduction/survival. The scientific balanced feed offered today are great, but chickens ate for a hundred-thousand years without human feed...They can live and thrive with a balanced garden waste diet if carefully mixed.

Not really. Treats are anything other than their feed which is nutritionally balanced for their needs. Anything they get other than that dilutes the nutrients they get overall.

I’m not saying giving them veggies/fruit is all bad, but that they should still be considered treats rather than as primary food in order to maintain their best condition and health.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Not really. Treats are anything other than their feed which is nutritionally balanced for their needs. Anything they get other than that dilutes the nutrients they get overall.

I’m not saying giving them veggies/fruit is all bad, but that they should still be considered treats rather than as primary food in order to maintain their best condition and health.

I respectfully disagree. Chickens have been around for hundreds of thousands of years before "Agway" developed a feed for them. They KNOW what they need, they eat balanced diets, but we humans do often offer things such as cracked corn which offer flavor but not as much nutrition. If you have garden scraps, give them to the girls. Of course also offer pellets/crumbles for the micronutrients, but chickens, cows, horses, pigs, and other "domestic" animals survived for thousands of years without human intervention...

 

[rosemarythyme]

My flock loves zucchini, melons, blueberries, and almost all greens. They don’t eat strawberries or collards.

Mine would shank the dogs for strawberries (yes the dogs eat them too). As I mostly grow strawberries as ground cover they're free to help themselves.

 

[Possum-Pie]

The frustrating thing for me is that my chickens will eat something one time, and ignore it the next. They left a whole pile of cabbage leaves today, but have eaten them in the past.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Here is a question for the group...I find it strange that when I put out something that they all enjoy eating, they jump from piece to piece rather than staying in one spot. I have 6 hens and a rooster, so today I chopped up a hunk of watermelon for them. I always put at least 7-8 pieces of anything I give them so the dominant hens can't keep the others away. Yet every time a hen will run to a piece of watermelon, eat several bites, see a hen at a different piece, and run to that one. The hen who was eating that piece will then have to go find another piece. Why not each choose a piece, stay at it until satisfied, then walk away? Even my three cats are smart enough to know that if they are eating a treat, stay with it!

 

[Love Donkeys]

I put out the leftovers from Bar-B-Q Ribs I thought our barn cats would love them. They came over and licked all the Bar-B-Q sauce off. The left over pieces of meat and fat on the bones they didn't even touch. Then the Chickens showed up, they attacked the bones! When they left only the hard bones were left. A few hours later the Gray Squirrels took the bones way! Everyone loves Bar-B-Q!

 

[Possum-Pie]

I put out the leftovers from Bar-B-Q Ribs I thought our barn cats would love them. They came over and licked all the Bar-B-Q sauce off. The left over pieces of meat and fat on the bones they didn't even touch. Then the Chickens showed up, they attacked the bones! When they left only the hard bones were left. A few hours later the Gray Squirrels took the bones way! Everyone loves Bar-B-Q!

LOL, I've bought Friskies canned cat food for YEARS for all of the cats I've had. They generally love every flavor, but I have a cat who will walk away from anything that has "turkey" in the description. They eat dry food but get a spoon of canned food as a treat every morning and every evening. They all consider "wet" food as a treat, but she will not eat the Turkey flavor. I truly believe that even if starving, cats will walk away from a particular flavor.

 

[saysfaa]

Yeah, many cats will starve rather than eat food not on their "okay to eat" list. They are weird that way. Hm, that way too - cats can be weird in lots of ways.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Here is a question for the group...I find it strange that when I put out something that they all enjoy eating, they jump from piece to piece rather than staying in one spot. I have 6 hens and a rooster, so today I chopped up a hunk of watermelon for them. I always put at least 7-8 pieces of anything I give them so the dominant hens can't keep the others away. Yet every time a hen will run to a piece of watermelon, eat several bites, see a hen at a different piece, and run to that one. The hen who was eating that piece will then have to go find another piece. Why not each choose a piece, stay at it until satisfied, then walk away?

It's probably partially flock mentality, part "grass is greener" mentality - if another bird is eating a different slice of watermelon, clearly that's the better one. They'd rather give up their position at the one they're at, to get a bite of something better.