i'm seeing a lot of questions on whether it would be a good idea to feed chickens this or that. now, on one hand, commercial grains and feeds have been drastically modified and improved, especially for the development and growth of commercially-raised chickens. my neighbor, for instance, houses 100,000 birds (4 houses, 25,000 per house). they are delivered as little chicks and grow to 8 and 9 lb'ers in just 8 weeks. their feed is changed several times through this rapid growth period and they are given vitamins and medications to ward off illness and disease. BUT, on the other hand, when i was just a tot we had farm animals including hogs and "backyard chickens". Believe me, hogs were no nastier than the chickens. in fact, a chicken, in some ways, is nastier than a hog(but i won't give any graphic examples). chickens will eat just about anything. in fact, what the chickens ate, the hogs ate, and vice versa. And we ate the hogs and chickens, none for the worse. believe me, if you can eat it, a chicken can eat it and like it. I guess it all boils down to this: personal preference. it's kinda like a pet dog. the dog will be much better off, health-wise, in the long run, to not feed it table scraps. a chicken would be no different. by the way, i do spoil my dog and wild chickens occasionally.
