I want to get more "experimental" with the treats!

[ntiveheart]

i don't throw anything away. period. like alan, my dogs get first dibs on meat/bone scraps....i even run poultry bones thru the pressure canner (they get soft enough to crumble with your fingers). the dogs think they've died and gone to heaven when i open a jar of that lol

the birds and bunnies get most everything else. the little bit they don't get, goes to the compost pile.

 

[crittersitter]

Once a week i splurge for my girls and bring home crickets from the store. They go bonkers for them! Other than that i pretty much give them whatever's in the fridge.

 

[elmo]

Never heard the one about the carrot tops. Why on earth would that be bad for chickens? Mine love those.

 

[sotelomary]

Quote:
Do you feed the 20% layer pellets year round? I was told that was too much to give to them year round because it would be too hard on their bodies. I am planning on mixing some of it into their 16% feed to see if it helps with feather picking. Please give me your opinion.

Thanks
Mary

 

[wannabe_goatmom]

My girls get warm oatmeal every morning. They love it with a spoonful of peanut butter mixed in.

 

[Kim_NC]

Quote:
Do you feed the 20% layer pellets year round? I was told that was too much to give to them year round because it would be too hard on their bodies. I am planning on mixing some of it into their 16% feed to see if it helps with feather picking. Please give me your opinion.

Thanks
Mary

Yes, I feed 20% pellets year round. But with the other things they get, their total protein averages 17-18%. Here's the math....

.85 x 20% = 17% layer pellets
.15 x 0% = 0% treat
Total = 17 %

For a treat like scratch around 8% protein...
.85 x 20% = 17% layer pellets
.15 x 8% = 1.2% treat
Total = 18.2 %

Any birds that are molting I feed a treat of 28% game bird crumbles....really ups the protein to bring their feathers back.

 

[yotetrapper]

I've fed my chickens everything from my kitchen for the last 5 years, and haven't had n't any problems with it. They won't eat the raw potatoes though. But, that only makes up a small percentage of their diet, and I have a LOT of chickens.... with a bag of chips, each chicken is lucky to get one, LOL.

 

[chickengrandma]

You really need to give your girls meat. They looooooove it. Its fun to give to them because of how much they love it. I'm not sure how they know the difference between the different foods, but they sure do.

Yogurt is just a hoot to give them. They stick their whole face in it to suck it up. Then they shake their heads and the yogurt goes flying every where. And, it really is good for their gut health.

Oh, and unfortunately, they love styrofoam. I'm not sure what the attraction is. So, make sure to NOT have pieces of it in their vacinity. And, I know this isn't only my girls - I've read several other flocks with the same love.

Other treats (but every flock's likes are different):
Any leftovers
Grapes - make sure to cut them in half so they don't choke on them
Hotdogs
Cheese
Warm oatmeal on a cold day (with raisins and nuts!

Carbs

Mine don't like citrus of any kind, but I also heard it decrease their laying so maybe they just naturally avoid it?

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I don't feed anything moldy to them but otherwise I give them everything, vegetable scraps, leftover food, cracked eggs, whatever we have. Between the dog/cat & them, they get these "treats" about 2-3 times a week at the most. Otherwise they are on their layer ration 24/7 and daily dose of cracked corn/boss each morning.

 

[digitS']

I'm just talking thru my hat here, so feel free to ignore me . . .

It seems to me that chickens have very similar nutritional needs as humans. But, let's leave aside the idea of setting another place at the kitchen table for them, just for a minute.

We humans seem to have some fairly serious dietary problems when left to grab whatever interests us. I mean, take a look at that recent report from the military that 27% of our young people are too fat to be admitted into military service!

We aren't expecting our hens to go to boot camp but most of us do expect some eggs from them. A poor quality diet, even if it is one selected by the hens, is bound to interfere with hoped-for egg production.

Every leftover from the kitchen?? I think that isn't going to measure up to an optimum diet or anywhere close to it. Leftovers in our house are the cheap, high-calorie stuff. It probably isn't much more nutritious than a paper feed bag . . .

The feed industry is certainly efficient. That's how they make their money -- using "stuff" that would probably be thrown away, otherwise. Still, there are certain standards that the government requires of their products. And, there is a commitment that they print onto the feed bag label for them to live up to. After all, there are folks with livestock who count on that feed providing what is needed.

And, I'm not quite ready to set another place at the table for the chickens.

Steve