people with house chickens

[MaddiesMum]

Citrus is not toxic. There was a misconception a while back and we are still hearing about it. A while ago, some company did a test to see if leftover orange pulp from orange juice production could be used as a chicken feed because it was inexpensive. The study showed that "citrus should not be used as chicken feed", but everyone thought that meant it was bad for them. Citrus will not harm your chickens! Mine love it and it's full of vitamins for their little bodies.

In addition to uncooked beans and lentils, avocadoes, potato skins, and too much sugar are toxic. ( Don't feed chickens candy, lol!)

I've also heard to limit any salt intake! Could potentially cause health problems

 

[ChickenPeep]

Yes that too! Apparently salt is vital to thier health but they get enough through thier food. But yes, no potato chips or Chinese food for them!

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Mine love strawberries, but for some reason they won't go near strawberry tops.

Carrots wound be hard for them to eat. Mine have never touched them before. Maybe if you cooked them up and mashed them they would eat them.

I tried giving her slices of strawberry and tiny pieces of carrots, but she wouldn't touch either. Anybody else's birds refuse strawberries or carrots?

Or any other odd foods for that matter?

That's funny! My girls go nuts when I give them strawberry tops! They don't like carrots so much (unless they are cut into tiny tiny pieces), but they love carrot peels. They turn up their little beaks at parsnip peels though.

My chickens favorite treats are apple cores, watermelon, carrot peels, strawberries, cabbage and lettuce, grapefruit, oranges, bread (their all time favorite), tomatoes, dried cranberries, raisins, cooked oatmeal, macaroni, scrambled eggs, spaghetti noodles... I could go on all day. My girls aren't very picky when it comes to treats.

Yesterday I hung a large head of cabbage in their coop, and they had eaten over half of it in less that 4 hours. I went out to close them up last night, and I couldn't believe how much they had eaten of it! It must be because they haven't been able to get outside and eat greens and stuff for a while. Darn hawk... They will be going to live with a family friend soon (since we are moving into the city limits in January), and she doesn't have hardly any predators in her area. So they'll be able to go outside all the time. Her chicken coop is her entire barn, and her barn is huge. She has 20+ hens and about 3-4 roosters already, and her chickens love it there. I'm thinking my girls (and of course boy) will love it there as well.

 

[roostersandhens]

I tried giving her slices of strawberry and tiny pieces of carrots, but she wouldn't touch either. Anybody else's birds refuse strawberries or carrots?

Or any other odd foods for that matter?

My chickens like small pieces of carrot. My rooster Eddy hates strawberries but my hen Red loves them! I think I have caught my house rooster Bumblebee up on the counter eating them. He made a mess.

My chickens love sunflower seeds! I buy 'em raw and unsalted. Bumblebee my house boy loves them! They also like plumbs, those are my boy Eddy's favorite!

 

[roostersandhens]

This is my house rooster

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote:

 

[Tacampbell1973]

This is my house rooster

 

[ChickenPeep]

@Tacampbell1973
No, I don't think that's true either. Just make sure they have lots of grit. Oranges for everyone! e

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I gave Sunni some oranges yesterday. She loved them! This morning I gave her some cut up cabbage, Cheerios, and grapes. I'm trying to spoil her as much as possible before I leave for the day. We are going to go and make some measurements at the house we'll be moving to, and then we'll be spending the rest of the day at my grandmothers house. Sunni will be fine in her little enclosure, I just need to give her some dishes of treats before we leave so she doesn't get bored.

My mom and I are going to make Sunni some new diapers. The ones from lovemychix just aren't working. They are too big (still), and the elastic is way too stretchy. Yesterday Sunni hooked her foot in the diaper when she jumped up on something, and she stretched the elastic to the point where she can't even wear that diaper anymore. We'll just have to go to Walmart and try and find some better elastic and maybe some new waterproof liners for in the diaper pouch. The upside to making diapers myself is that I can make a bunch of different ones so that she isn't constantly wearing the same two colors.

 

[MaddiesMum]

I gave Sunni some oranges yesterday. She loved them! This morning I gave her some cut up cabbage, Cheerios, and grapes. I'm trying to spoil her as much as possible before I leave for the day. We are going to go and make some measurements at the house we'll be moving to, and then we'll be spending the rest of the day at my grandmothers house. Sunni will be fine in her little enclosure, I just need to give her some dishes of treats before we leave so she doesn't get bored.

My mom and I are going to make Sunni some new diapers. The ones from lovemychix just aren't working. They are too big (still), and the elastic is way too stretchy. Yesterday Sunni hooked her foot in the diaper when she jumped up on something, and she stretched the elastic to the point where she can't even wear that diaper anymore. We'll just have to go to Walmart and try and find some better elastic and maybe some new waterproof liners for in the diaper pouch. The upside to making diapers myself is that I can make a bunch of different ones so that she isn't constantly wearing the same two colors.

Seriously, try Hen Holsters! They're a bit pricey but well worth it.. excellently made and have two removable liners (one in the diaper, one extra) that make cleaning a breeze.

http://crazykfarm.mybigcommerce.com/hen-holster-bird-diaper-harness/

^I personally found it easier to just hold Maddie with one arm against my stomach, but every bird is different. It just takes a few times to figure out a method that works best for you and your birdy!

I have the bikini style one, I loved it. Will definitely be ordering them again in the future.