Is it true you're not to feed chickens anything moldy?

[WindingRoad]

Today I started getting 4 eggs! My hens started giving me an egg a day a week ago, then it became 2 eggs and then 3 for the past two days. So I try to give them extra treats like bread or meat- any left over food. Today I gave them moldy cheese, 2 banana muffins, some broccoli and an orange. The cinnamon queens flocked to the cheese while the others ate muffins and broccoli. I think they all ignored the orange. But I posted this in my fb group and someone said it's bad to give them moldy food. Is this true? I thought chickens can eat anything exc paper, plastic, metal and glass. Thank you for your comments!

Do NOT feed anything you would not eat. You wouldn't eat moldy cheese Correct and bread is not good for birds. I NEVER feed bread not even the crusts I don't eat. I can't remember off the top of my head why not but there is a good reason and maybe someone will come along and give you that reason.

 

[Miceeatingchicken]

Hello! In my experience, it is not advised to feed moldy things. My rule of thumb is: if I wouldn't lick it, I don't feed it to my chickens. Congrats on getting eggs! It's always so exciting. Table scraps are fine, but there are a few things to avoid, avocados, citrus, legumes, dried beans, tomatoes, white and green potatoes, and some other things that I'm sure someone can send a link to the article about. Good luck!

Oh, P.S. Aren't Cinnamon Queens sooo pretty!?!

Thank you! And yes, they are!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

For the longest time I thought that it was ok to give my birds moldy bread so I gave them some whenever I had some. Well, sadly, it killed one of my best roosters. I haven't given them any moldy bread since hand. I do give them bread when it's starting to turn, but isn't moldy yet. My geese wouldn't touch it because of the smell, but my hens would go crazy over it. When it starts turning, it's still ok to eat, it just doesn't taste as good and falls apart. So it's ok as long as they're not eating mold.

 

[WindingRoad]

My chickens eat the heck out of tomatoes if they get into the garden with ripe ones. Doesnt seem to hurt them.

Tomatoes and potatoes are night shade plants Many people will tell you that they aren't good for PEOPLE either. My birds won't eat tomatoes.

 

[Miceeatingchicken]

Do NOT feed anything you would not eat. You wouldn't eat moldy cheese Correct and bread is not good for birds. I NEVER feed bread not even the crusts I don't eat. I can't remember off the top of my head why not but there is a good reason and maybe someone will come along and give you that reason.

omg and I've been giving them all my experiment breads! Including sourdough discards!

 

[Miceeatingchicken]

Tomatoes and potatoes are night shade plants Many people will tell you that they aren't good for PEOPLE either. My birds won't eat tomatoes.

I fed them a looot of cherry tomatoes when I went out of state for a few days. They ate it all by the time I got back. Glad they are ok though.

 

[MollyBee88]

Today I started getting 4 eggs! My hens started giving me an egg a day a week ago, then it became 2 eggs and then 3 for the past two days. So I try to give them extra treats like bread or meat- any left over food. Today I gave them moldy cheese, 2 banana muffins, some broccoli and an orange. The cinnamon queens flocked to the cheese while the others ate muffins and broccoli. I think they all ignored the orange. But I posted this in my fb group and someone said it's bad to give them moldy food. Is this true? I thought chickens can eat anything exc paper, plastic, metal and glass. Thank you for your comments!

I’ve heard it’s not good for them so I definitely try to avoid it. However, sometimes accidents happen and water will get in something.... and before you notice, mold will begin . I have accidentally thrown it down before I realized it was moldy.... luckily, my chickens won’t eat it! Thank goodness they are finicky little girls!

 

[NatJ]

I try to give them extra treats like bread or meat- any left over food. Today I gave them moldy cheese, 2 banana muffins, some broccoli and an orange. The cinnamon queens flocked to the cheese while the others ate muffins and broccoli. I think they all ignored the orange. But I posted this in my fb group and someone said it's bad to give them moldy food. Is this true? I thought chickens can eat anything exc paper, plastic, metal and glass.

I would have done exactly the same thing you did.
The mold that usually grows on my cheese or bread doesn't seem to hurt chickens, and it also hasn't hurt me when I've eaten it by mistake. ("Huh, that tastes weird. The chickens can have the rest of it.")

Some people have long lists of what not to give to chickens. I grew up tossing just about everything into the chicken pen and letting them decide for themselves. (Chicken pen = compost pile.) I do think it's important to make sure they ALWAYS have plenty of chicken feed and water, so they don't make poor choices due to being too hungry.

Chicken food is mostly grain, so I don't worry about whether chickens "should" eat bread--they seem to like it just fine, and I haven't seen a problem yet. (Not saying a problem cannot happen--just that I haven't seen it. And I've probably had a few hundred chickens over the last several decades.)

 

[Kiki]

Why in the world are you feeding your chickens all the stuff you've mentioned in post one?

Just feed them the complete balanced layer feed... That alone is exactly what they need.

 

[DaisyDaGuicken]

It is great that you give your chickens treats and stuff but you need to make sure to take out the mold or just not feed it to them at all if the food is moldy. Cheese contains a large amount of fat and shouldn't be fed to chickens very often. I give my chickens treats all the time and its usually fruits like apple skin and bananas. They love sweet food!