Is there anything chickens can't eat?

[farmerChef]

I've been feeding my chickens table scraps. and was wondering if there was anything I shouldn't feed them. You know, like dogs with chocolate and ham?

 

[maizey]

there are some things to avoid.. here is a handy dandy treat chart that someone around here came up with.. its great!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[heathersboers]

I know that cornbread will kill a goat- will it swell in a chickens stomach??

 

[Steak and Eggs Farm]

We don't have a garbage disposal so all table scraps go to the dog, chickens or cows. I would say not to give them moldy food but they can digest anything.

 

[Judy]

On the cornbread, I put a bunch of corn meal right out of the bag on some fire ant hills a while back, to see if it would kill the fire ants as I've read. The chickens scarfed up the meal in no time. If they can eat it raw, surely they can eat it cooked in bread.

I don't give them sweets, and limit anything very salty or fatty, but other than that, they get most anything around. I've read that potato peels are toxic to them, but I've also read that they won't eat them, as well as that they eat them without a problem. I don't worry about it. I figure there are a lot more poisonous things where they free range than what comes out of my kitchen.

If I don't eat it raw, though, I don't feed it raw. Sometimes it won't matter, as with oatmeal, but sometimes it will, as with dried peas and beans.

 

[geeber]

As a parrot owner there are four things I never feed birds (to be on the safe side I dont feed this to my chickens either).

1. avocados
2. chocolate
3. caffeine
4. liquor

Everything else is up for grabs.

 

[sourland]

If you've ever seen poultry who have eaten fermented fruit, you know that birds and alcohol don't mix.

 

[sashurlow]

Sourland... do tell. What exactly happens.

 

[woodmort]

Very large rocks--they will consume small ones however.

 

[Chick Charm]

potato skins.