Topic of the Week - Feeding Treats

[SunflowerTheBun]

I go by the treat guide on BYC!
They get table scraps, but no uncooked vegetables.
They don't get bread, citrus, or potato or banana peels.
Their favourite food is grapes!

 

[Noreaster Egger]

When I give my birds treats, I try to give them things that their jungle fowl ancestors may have encountered. Mostly bugs, greens, berries, and seeds. I figure they get their food in binges too. Maybe they'll find a nest of termites and eat a whole bunch of them at once. Or a bush of edible berries where they fill their crop full of them...then not find berries again for a week. I stay away from dairy, avocados (even though some don't seem to have problems eating them..i.e. the feral chickens in Kauai), and citrus. Every now and then I'll crack open a coconut and give them some of that. If the grocery store has their whole frozen sardines in stock I buy a bag for cheap and throw a dozen out to them every few weeks.

 

[igorsMistress]

I gave my chicks treats within a week of bringing them home.

Started with mealworms by hand, they had some herbs and took almost daily trips outside; they always had dirt in their brooder.

I give treats in the morning when I let them out. It's often a combination of something green, oats, maybe a bit of fruit.

Greens and mealworms are the current favorites but they also like raisins quite a bit.

I don't give anything from the table like pastas, bread or processed foods. Raw fruits, veggies, seeds only.

They don't like eggs.

I am currently sprouting boss, millet and barley.

They have access to a yard but not the full backyard yet so free ranging is somewhat limited for the time being.

 

[brucifer]

- At what age can you start offering chicks treats and how do you go about it?
I start at one week, and I offer them chia seeds. As chicks, all my chickens love those tiny seeds. I also use chia seeds as chick scratch. It keeps their interest in the brooder, and they seem to enjoy kicking through the pine shavings searching for the seeds.

- What treats do you give your flock?
My Orpingtons eat just about everything. They're not picky. Tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, spinach, unsalted air-popped popcorn, capsicum (bell) peppers, dried meal worms, live insects, the list goes on and on.

- How much, and how often do you feed treats?
I spoil all my chickens. They're like my grandchildren. However, the Orpintons are bottomless pits, so I have to divvy out their treats, or they would all end up fat and happy. I just want them happy. The Marans (FBCM) are more selective treat eaters. For example, whereas the Orps love popcorn, the Marans can take it or leave it. The Silkies love chia seeds anytime.

- What treats should NOT be given to chickens, or given in moderation?
I'm not one to really tell people what they should or should not feed their chickens. Personally, I don't feed mine Pop Rocks, Mountain Dew, Spaghetti Os, Sugar Frosted Flakes, or Pop Tarts. Then again, I don't eat those things either.

- What are your flock's favourite treats?
For the Orpingtons, it's a toss up between tomatoes and dried meal worms (aka, chicken crack). They scream, leap in the air, and compete to snatch tomatoes and meal worms from my hands. They also like to play the cluck-cluck chase game with popcorn. For the Marans, it's meal worms, and for the Silkies, its chia seeds. They never tire of them.

 

[missy1971]

- At what age can you start offering chicks treats and how do you go about it?
I start at one week, and I offer them chia seeds. As chicks, all my chickens love those tiny seeds. I also use chia seeds as chick scratch. It keeps their interest in the brooder, and they seem to enjoy kicking through the pine shavings searching for the seeds.

- What treats do you give your flock?
My Orpingtons eat just about everything. They're not picky. Tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, spinach, unsalted air-popped popcorn, capsicum (bell) peppers, dried meal worms, live insects, the list goes on and on.

- How much, and how often do you feed treats?
I spoil all my chickens. They're like my grandchildren. However, the Orpintons are bottomless pits, so I have to divvy out their treats, or they would all end up fat and happy. I just want them happy. The Marans (FBCM) are more selective treat eaters. For example, whereas the Orps love popcorn, the Marans can take it or leave it. The Silkies love chia seeds anytime.

- What treats should NOT be given to chickens, or given in moderation?
I'm not one to really tell people what they should or should not feed their chickens. Personally, I don't feed mine Pop Rocks, Mountain Dew, Spaghetti Os, Sugar Frosted Flakes, or Pop Tarts. Then again, I don't eat those things either.

- What are your flock's favourite treats?
For the Orpingtons, it's a toss up between tomatoes and dried meal worms (aka, chicken crack). They scream, leap in the air, and compete to snatch tomatoes and meal worms from my hands. They also like to play the cluck-cluck chase game with popcorn. For the Marans, it's meal worms, and for the Silkies, its chia seeds. They never tire of them.

Love that.... makes me feel better about what i give my baby girls!

 

[Patinas]

I am new to this and my flock ranges from 2 weeks to 5 weeks old. I have tried the following so far:

Organic Oats: They will eat it if I crumble it into smaller pieces

Wheat Germ: They eat it

Cantelope: No

Scrambled Egg: No

Chick Kibble: They love it

Chick Grit: I offer it daily. I don't leave it out for them 24/7 but they do eat it.

Yogurt: Nope. I've offered unflavored twice so far.

Meal Worms: No. I crumbled them and no takers.

Baby Cake: They love it

 

[Gorman Farm]

Many of us like to give our flocks a little treat now and then, beside their usual feed. So this week I would like to hear you all's thoughts on feeding treats. Specifically:

- At what age can you start offering chicks treats and how do you go about it?


The first week or so I might add just a small amount of chopped fine hard boiled egg to the chick starter. They do not get any other treats til they are old enough to be outside and graze on some grass.

- What treats do you give your flock?

Wow lots of things but in small amounts, kale, grass clippings, guava from my tree, rolled oats, stale bread, salad scraps, hard boiled eggs, melon, green peppers, mealworms, sesame seeds all in moderation. Regularly I give them home grown fresh herbs, thyme, basil, and rosemary which they love. Organic Apple Cider Vinegar a few times a month in their water.

- How much, and how often do you feed treats?

In moderation. In winter they have eaten all the grass in their run so I do give them grass clippings 2 to 3 times a week, or the kale.They get a small amount of scratch daily with their crumble and oyster shell.

- What treats should NOT be given to chickens, or given in moderation?

No onions, chocolate, avacados, or apple seeds.

- What are your flock's favourite treats?

Definitely the guava fruit I give it to the chickens and my turkeys. That is only in summer the fruit that hits the ground, we eat the rest ourselves.
Second favorite is fresh thyme and kale. I heard that the thyme is really good for them and natural pest control. It's easy to grow. My turkeys favorite are acorns from the all of oak trees we have, the chickens don't like/eat the acorns.

Somewhere I read about not giving them bread products, I do give mine some bread, I make sure to leave it out over night and let it get really stale, and sometimes I even put it in the oven to get a bit hard. Then I do chop it up small so everyone gets just a little.

 

[missy1971]

I'm really loving this thread, I'm a treat girl, probably why my boy"s (dogs) are spoiled rotten. My girls (chicken's) should get the same treatment!

 

[Shezadandy]

Ours solved the watermelon and cantaloupe rind issue-- always felt terrible wasting such a big volume as we eat a lot of them- out the the chickens and it disappears.
Pumpkins purchased after Halloween or grown in the garden are a huge hit- wonderful for those winter days nobody wants to go outside in the cold wind driven rain. Great way to keep the beaks busy.
Same thing for flock blocks- not really a nutritional thing, more something they have to work at and get pecking satisfaction from when the weather is just yuck.
Grapes and blueberries result in chicken rugby matches out in the run.

I use scratch as a quick way to look for any "off" chickens on my first visit outside in the mornings and a small amount at various times- at the rate of about a teaspoon at a time kind of in quadrants outside. I've caught one compacted crop before it turned into something much worse and one overheating on a warmer day after a bunch of cold weather by lack of enthusiasm for scratch- before it turns into a bird all puffed up looking miserable.

 

[ChickenChild8]

The treats I feed my chicks are mealworms. I started this when they were about 2 weeks old. I feed them mealworms about every other day in small portions.