Table Scraps

[Ellie_NY_chick]

Nutrigrain bars. They love them! Also watermelon, corn on the cob, yogurt, and sliced cucumbers. They also love canned cat food, but I only give it in tiny amounts and very rarely.

Mine aren't so crazy about bread or lettuce.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
WHY no potato peelings ? I was raised on a farm and had a full yard of chickens that we had to kick our way in . They were fed everyrthing in the way of leftovers , including potato peelings , ETC . AND had no bad effects not whatsoever .

So , my question is , why are things supposedly SO DIFFERENT NOW then they were 40 plus years ago ?

NOW I would never give my chickens anything molded , SUCH AS BREAD , but potato peelings , HECK YES , they eat that PLUS everything else you can throw to them . LOL

 

[smom1976]

I give my chickens chicken all the time.. They go nuts over it.. it is cooked and we just ate off this bone they are getting... or after a week of being left over in the fridge.. they pick everything off those bones.. nothing could get those bones cleaner... then I move the bones that had just been picked clean to the vermiposting bin .. the worms get it next.. LOL

 

[JennsPeeps]

I chopped up about an ounce of chicken meat for my girls last night. They love the stuff.

 

[rughooker]

I have 3 older chickens that my daughter got at an auction about 7 yrs. ago. ( 2 roosters and a hen) The other day I threw out an over-ripe banana. The old guy picked up a piece and waited "til Rosemary hobbled toward him. Then he dropped it on the ground for her. He does the same w/ Japanese Beetles. What a sweetie!!

 

[Emzyyy]

Really? My chicks eat potato peels all the time and nothing happens? Well we got some of this healthy popcorn w/o salt or butter or added ingredients and didn't like it so we gave it to ours they liked it. Watermellon and cantelope is prob the best though. They like pumpkins too.

 

[newchickenfamily]

Our girls like everything (almost!)! I did give them a leftover slice of banana bread that I made. They wouldn't touch it!?!?!

Oh well, we sure do like having them to eat up our leftovers! I can't believe how quick they make scraps disappear.

 

[Grass]

you all would freak if ya knew the mess my wifes been throwing together for the chickensstarts out with yogurt and fried potatoes and some eggs shells some blueberries and what ever else she finds to throiw in.....the love a messy meal ...blows me away what they'll eat

 

[greyhorsewoman]

My chickens get pretty much anything leftover in the kitchen (that the dogs won't eat first). Occasionally there is something they don't much care for, and since they are pretty well fed, overall, they aren't inclined to eat anything that they don't consider acceptable. I don't throw them onions/garlic because I don't want the eggs tainted with that flavor !

Chickens are opportunists. They eat a huge variety of things, including each other, as disgusting as that may seem to us. So feeding them small quantities of leftover meat (any kind), is acceptable.

As to mad cow disease ... think of it this way: if a horse/cow/sheep/goat died in the pasture, no matter HOW hungry the remaining horses/cows/sheep/goats would be, they would not eat it. They would also starve to death. So when we 'formulate' some food to feed back to these animals it is TOTALLY unnatural. If a chicken dies in a flock, if left there, the other chickens would soon devour it, and that is normal.

This also holds true with feline. For centuries, cats were used to control rodents in grain bins, because they never ate the grain, only the rodents. Now we formulate feed to 'trick' them into eating grains. Now domestic house cats often end up with urinary, kidney, and other problems associated with their unnatural diet. Dogs are a little more tolerant. While they prefer meat, they will naturally eat some vegetable/grain matter, though not much as much as some commercial foods provide.

Commercially, we want to feed meat to cows and grain to cats! Isn't that just plain silly?

 

[greenmulberry]

I feed any leftovers from our meals to the chickens, and any scraps from veggies or fruits. There are some things they do not care for, that I throw right in the compost because I don't want it to rot in thier run, but they have the ability to root through the compost as well if they choose.

I used to let the chickens pick clean the carcasses from roast chicken, that is their favorite treat, however, now that I have learned to make stock I save them for myself. They do get to eat the stock straining leftovers, which is onion, carrot, celery, and chicken bones and bits, cooked to mush. They eat every bit of it.