Kitchen scraps

[dcfi20]

What kind of kitchen scrap are good to give? and what should I avoid giving?

 

[kpsullivan]

Avoid giving meat products, onions and garlic. Also, nothing that is moldy or rotten!

 

[justbugged]

I give my birds anything out of my kitchen, except for moldy or clearly rotten food.

 

[krcote]

My girls get nearly everything out of my kitchen INCLUDING moldy, rotten and meat items. Mold/rot is not an issue in small quantities. I think folks are afraid of it because of the whole moldy feed warning. You have to remember that is a a very large amount of mold in a very large food source. A moldy/rotten cuke split between them all is a delicious treat. Chickens also LOVE meat. Insects are essentially meat. There is no need to restrict meat from their diets. I do however forbid them to eat chicken

But plenty of folks on here will throw them the carcass of a baked bird when they are done dinner for the girls to pick clean. Garlic and onions are also touted at a "No No" on here as well. Garlic and onions are also fine in moderation. When their diet is comprise of a large volume of garlic/onions, their eggs tend to taste off. My girls get every food byproduct that leaves my kitchen besides chicken, coffee grounds and the papery outsides of onions/garlic (who wants to eat those?!). I chuck my egg shells into the compost as well, but some folks dry and crush them and offer them back to the flock to increase shell integrity. Your chickens can eat nearly anything! Try not to over think it!!!

 

[moetrout]

I don't feed moldy or rotten stuff, but that is my own hang up not theirs. I am sure my chickens would eat it. I also don't feed them anything that is salty or overly processed/can foods. I do feed them meat like chicken carcasses (or not) and beef fat/grisle.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Look at the BYC Treats Chart - that addresses a lot of questions about what is a good scrap to give them.

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

 

[yinzerchick]

Mine get left over spaghetti with maranara, hot dogs, cheese, tuna, shrimp, (any fish/seafood) some cereals, oatmeal, eggs, (shells and all) assorted veggies and fruits, seeds, and just about anything else that's about to go bad, or is left over and not going to be eaten by us. I don't usually give them anything with lots of sugar, or salt, or that is real rotten/moldy. I actually buy the cheap hot dogs (.88 cents a pack) for them and chop a up a couple at a time for treats, but then again I can be found out in the yard with a fly swatter, on a grasshopper killing spree to give them too. I loooovvvve my chicken ladies! ♥
I haven't given any garlic or onions, because I thought it might effect the taste of the eggs, but it probably wouldn't unless I gave them huge amounts. I just haven't done it...yet.

 

[dcfi20]

Thank you all, great info!!

 

[duckinnut]

I will be working in the garden and often find zucchinis with blossom end rot and just throw it in the run. Mele ensues. Just use your senses with food,if it smells bad looks ungodly or solid turn to soup maybe the compost pile might be better. Although saw my girls disect a toad and cant imagine they are too germ and bacteria free but on the flip side the toad has caught bugs saves the chicken time that way.