Topic of the Week - Feeding table scraps to your flock

[shotgunranch]

We split our fruit and veggie scraps between the chickens and compost pile. They get all the extra vegetables out of our garden and the neighbors bring all their extras from their garden for the chickens. They also get bread scraps. We also feed egg shells instead of oyster shell. They get egg shells free choice, bread every few days and fruit and vegetable scraps as available. They get the plants from the garden at the end of the season and get to eat the leaves and pick through the root balls for bugs.

 

[Doug Kost]

Our girls love string cheese, watermelon, cottage cheese, yogurt and grapes.

 

[ShellAndSteph]

Mine get Gerber baby cereal mixed with water almost every morning. Sometimes plain, sometimes with molasses and sometimes with jarred baby food meats and/or baby food fruit or veggies. We have alot that my granddaughter didn't eat and the chickens love it. They get fresh fruit or veggies as available, scratch. I am very particular about the scraps i give them. They are spoiled.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

What kind of meat is safe to give to chcikens?

If it walks, flies, swims, crawls or takes the Taxi, then it is chicken food.

Some animals however can harbor disease organisms that can be passed on to your chickens but your birds will eat these species anyway, especially if you free range your poultry.

This is why I worm all my birds 2 to 4 times a year and this is why you should also worm on a regular schedule.

 

[lucyanddom]

Our chickens get all craps apart from chicken.and in summer we grow watermelons and cute them into big chunks and put natural yoghurt on top of it and they go crazy for it !

 

[ASKT4G]

Is any kind of yogurt ok? Or is there a favorite for them?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Mine get things from the garden and purchased watermelon and other large melons. Yes I buy it just for them. Melons from the neighbor and odds and ends from their gardens as well. Spoiled? Perhaps but I wont tell them that.

I have given mine hamburger, turkey carcass from Thanksgiving and fish. Yes they love all three. The turkey kind of freaked me out how fast they tore into eating it.

When they are molting I make sure to give them fish and other protein kicks.

Yogurt is something I have given and they do love it. Plain is the best option in my opinion as when you read the ingredients in the flavored ones there are some things that one cannot pronounce. I am thinking if I cannot say it they should not eat it.

Swiss chard is a favorite and so are tomatoes. Interesting thing about the tomatoes... I tried to give them a store bought tomato and they wanted nothing to do with it and actually stayed clear across the run from it. Once it was removed they went about their business. I wonder what was so odd about it that it freaked them out that bad. If I give them a tomato from the garden I am lucky to get out alive as they rush over to eat it.

Mine get something every day. Not really table scraps as we do use salt when we cook and do not wish to make them sick. More like things either grown or purchased just for them. The apple tree is full of fruit this year so when those are ripe they will be having some apples with bonus worms.

 

[zenaura]

Last winter, I attended a poultry care seminar by Michael J. Darre, Ph.D. P.A.S., Professor and Extension Poultry Specialist, Dept of Animal Science, University of Connecticut www.facebook.com/UConnAnimalScience
Dr. Darre suggested 2T per day was the max on "people food" for healthy hens. Anything more than that interferred with intake of food developed with their specific nutritional needs in mind. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Dr. D's sessions, you will be in for a treat! (That said, mine get tofu in the morning and a slice of watermelon on hot afternoons.) He also introduced many of us to Koop Clean, which has been a time, $, and labor-saving investment.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Chickens survived for thousands of years on forage and kitchen scraps, so I don't worry too much about "how much" they're getting. I have a sort of compost bin set up inside of the coop, and I just dump everything in there and let the chickens pick out what they want. Neighbors have even started leaving me their kitchen scraps in a bin I set up for them, and I give those to my flock as well. Nothing goes to waste as it is either eaten by the chickens or composts for the garden.

 

[lcertuche]

I keep a bucket on my kitchen counter and I have everyone trained (almost) to throw every crumb, peel, grain, shell, etc.. My birds are mostly free-range and get plenty of bugs, frogs, lizards, and of course grass and grass seeds. I see them pecking the muscadine on the ground and it is like the Walking Dead if they find a mouse or young rat. They also get fermented feed at least at night before going to bed. I cook beans frequently and they get a good ladle full of those with their scraps.