Should I feed treats?

[AwesomeChickenGuy]

I currently don't feed any treats to my chickens, so should I feed them some?

 

[Meg-in-MT]

It's up to you if you want to feed treats once in a while. I give mine mealworms and the occasional kitchen scrap. They love those worms! And I love to watch them all run with excitement for them

 

[topochico225]

Up to you. Whatever you do, don't let them exceed 10% of the bird's diet. Here's my article about my sweet pullet who got overfed treats: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/keyword-in-moderation.76335/

 

[Kiki]

I currently don't feed any treats to my chickens, so should I feed them some?

No.

 

[AwesomeChickenGuy]

Ok... is there anything wrong with treats?

 

[Aapomp831]

Ok... is there anything wrong with treats?

People give their chickens too many treats. If they have access to grass and bugs, they shouldn’t need anything else. The danger is when the chickens begin to favor the treats and fill up on them - they will neglect their vitamin and mineral fortified food. If you do it in moderation it’s fine, but keep it low carb and don’t feed them bread or potatoes.

 

[Kiki]

Ok... is there anything wrong with treats?

Treats take away from them getting a balanced diet and are not necessary.

If over feed, which happens All. The. Time. The hens will suffer. The whole 10 percent of the daily diet amount is a very very
Small be amount...a spoon full size.

 

[Kiki]

I advise everyone to spend a week or two reading all of the emergency section threads.
Pay attenion to how many times you see egg laying type issues.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Treats are fine as long as they are an actual "treat", meaning an occasional and minimal amount. People tend to overdo it. Whether it doesn't look like much to the human eye or they think their "babies" need/want/love it so much they have to have it, I don't know.

The same goes for any animal.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Treats are good for training purposes, i.e. I have a plastic jar of sunflower seeds (or scratch or black soldier fly larva) and I shake it to get the chickens to come to me.

It's a very small amount, like 2-3 Tbsp for a flock of 10 hens, just enough to reward them for coming when called.