Snacks for chickens?

[chicken4Him]

What kind of snacks do you feed your chickens?

 

[staceyj]

Snacks are fun for both the birds and the owner but should only make up 10% at most of their intake.

Quality chicken feed is formulated to provide a flock with all the nutrients they need to grow and produce.

Scratch is like eating popcorn at the movies, darn tasty but not nutritious.
Corn=fat

Meal worms are a snack chickens flip over and are high in protein but also =fat.

Too much fat in their diet can lead to hepatic disease (aka fatty liver disease) and death.

The same goes for table scraps.

Fruits, veggies, and herbs are a fairly safe way to treat.

Plant a garden patch of dill, parsley, oregano, cilantro, and thyme now, and in three weeks you’ll be swimming in herbs for them!
If you’ve no place to plant, you can usually find bunches of herbs in the grocery store.

There are lots of lists online and here on BYC that tell you what are safe and not safe things to feed your chickens.

 

[staceyj]

I forgot to say hi!



Welcome to BYC!

You’re gonna love it here!

 

[chicken4Him]

Thank you. Have you tried scrambled eggs?

 

[Mechtel8989]

Can they have a couple pieces of orange? Mine a 3-4 weeks old

 

[abraga]

Right now mine get dried meal worms (bulk package from amazon)spinach, minced eggs/bread mixed with probiotics, occasional yogurt, oatmeal with a bit of honey/coconut milk and diced chicken( leftovers)it was a really cold winter and they've been moulting so we give them a bit more protein. In the summer we add lots of fresh garden goodies, corn on the cob, squash melon cukes, etc.

 

[Rlmp817]

Thank you. Have you tried scrambled eggs?

I give mine scrambled or hard boiled eggs (1 a day for 5 birds) but I also know my feed is a little low in protein.
They LOVE eggs!
You can also give meats. (I haven’t yet, but that is more because we hardly ever have leftover meat)

 

[abraga]

I even plant extra tomatoes so they can have them to!

 

[abraga]

Can they have a couple pieces of orange? Mine a 3-4 weeks old

Most chickens don't care much for citrus fruit. At 3 wks I generally add mealworms, a bit of bread, egg and spinach

 

[PollyGirl21]

I feed mine cracked corn, mealworms, salad, the occasional slice of pizza (they love that ) Bread crumbs, Water melon (good to keep them hydrated in the summer), corn, pasta, ect.
You have to experiment to see what kinds of snacks each chicken likes best. One of my hens, Polly, loves cheddar cheese and the juice from cherry tomatoes! How random, right? (she's super picky lol )