Newbie questions

[Stumpy]

What additional foods can be fed to chickens and ducks besides commercial food? I assume you can feed them table scraps, but is there anything that should be avoided, say the way one should avoid feeding a dog chocolate or grapes, for instance?

If my dream of having poultry is to come true, avoiding expense is going to be very important, not only in building a coop, but in keeping it going. I have read about using pine shavings. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that, but I assume this is something bought commercially. It is also not very easy to find wheat straw here. Could I use pine straw, which is available free in abundance? I do have access to shredded paper.

 

[Gersbud]

I like to feed my chickens table scraps as well as Black Oil Sunflower seeds, in the winter I like to give them oatmeal. In the summer I like to give them frozen vegatables. My chickens also love grapes. they go wild
There is a thread on here on what types of treats that you can give to your chickens. My bad but I can't remember where it is.Sorry

I like to use pine shavings in the coop. It helps keep the coop dry. It is also much easier to keep the coop clean. Straw and hay keeps it damp and is hard to keep the coop clean . I don't like it.

But you have come to the right place for the help that you are looking for. You can find just about any answer to Chicken related questions here on BYC.

Good Luck with your flock

 

[ChickNLittle]

What I have heard is "no garlic" it gives the eggs a bad taste. Some people say the same about onions.

 

[wynedot55]

you can feed them all your garden waste.

 

[Gersbud]

Go the the Feeding time section on the index and the very first post is a treat chart on what you can give your chickens to eat besides just a commerical layer. I would link it to this post put I don't know how to make a link.