Treating your Chickens?

[Grits&Eggs]

I love to see mine come running when I yell "yummies" (that is my word for treats)! If they are distracted or I need to call them to me I usually only give a 1/2 oz or less per bird. My treats are usually scratch, corn cobs, sunflower/bird/pumpkin/etc seeds, or meal worms (I raise them so they are live!) .
I have a cup that I marked so I only give them up to 1oz per chicken - I also spread last nights left overs and veggie scraps in the morning before they come out of the coop, so they have to hunt and scratch around to find them. I gave them a couple oz of corned beef/chopped and the leftover cabbage and cooked carrots, they loved it!! Oh, and I also have a hanging feeder that I will put in a cabbage or a head of iceberg, romaine etc.

 

[Trish1974]

My flocks get a handful of scratch/mealworms/sunflower seeds every morning and every evening. To me, that isn't anything they couldn't get in nature if they were free ranging. They would be scratching up worms on their own, foraging seeds from weeds and grasses, and corn out of fields. I think "treats" is rather a misnomer when speaking of these types of foods. I prefer to call it "natural supplementation".

 

[oceansunset73]

I give my girls treats once a day, but only a handful of it and that's it.
Fall/Winter: scratch, mealworms, cauliflower
Spring/Summer: berries, watermelon, grapes

 

[moniquem]

When its really cold in the morning I make a meal mash by mixing hot water with:
little oatmeal
their chicken food
raisens
chopped nuts
peas
flaxseed

Other than that I give them a mixture of scratch, hulled sunflower seeds, grubblies, black oil sunflower seeds, and henny penny mix. I put this in a jar and when I shke it they come running. But only a handful a day.

I feed mostly their chicken food with oyster shell, I want nice strong shells. Now that the snow has melted in the yard they are munching grass, weeds, bugs and whatever else they can find-happy birds!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I give treats every day.

I give 2 measuring cups worth of scratch with sunflower seeds moved in.
I also occasionally give watermelon among other garden treats.
On days I give fruit or veggies I do not give scratch.

My birds thing wet mash is a great and I give that daily.....all you can eat style.

Once a week I mix a can of mackerel in with the mash.

 

[BReeder!]

My son (toddler) loves to give treats to the chickens. Cheerios (plain, not honey nut or any other flavor) are a favorite treat. I kept a 25 lb scratch block in the coop over winter also. We used to keep a bucket of scratch in the run. My son would open it himself and throw many tiny fistfuls of scratch on the ground for the chickens. I will likely go back to the bucket of scratch now that the 25 lb block is gone - the bucket is just more fun for the little man. In the bucket I mix a quality bird seed (large variety of seeds/grain) with cracked corn.
We also give fruit and vegetable scraps form the kitchen from time to time. There's a tubberware bowl in our fridge where we store them and every few days chop it up and give it to the chickens. Leftover cooked rice (be sure it's cooked) and steal rolled oats are given sometimes too. I like to mix rice or oats with leftovers like soup, gravy or chili (chickens do like meat but keep it limited).
As for frequency, my chickens get some sort of treat daily. I'm more liberal most I feel, but my chickens are big and healthy and so are their eggs.

 

[Gracethechick]

I don’t have chickens yet, but if I get some I’ll treat with some sort of treat once a week or once every other week or so.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I give treats every day.

I give 2 measuring cups worth of scratch with sunflower seeds moved in.
I also occasionally give watermelon among other garden treats.
On days I give fruit or veggies I do not give scratch.

My birds thing wet mash is a great and I give that daily.....all you can eat style.

Once a week I mix a can of mackerel in with the mash.

Forgot to put how many birds. There are 24 LF and 2 bantams.

 

[BigBirdsWorld]

How often do you treat them mealworms?

Daily.

 

[Shorty22366]

I give treats daily but limit it. Mine enjoy grapes, strawberries, blueberries, mealworms, cracked corn, cooked rice, scrambled eggs and melons. I make sure they don't get too much that they won't eat their food.