Treats to young Hens

[NewEggs]

My wife and I are picking up our 8-9 week old Hens and a Rooster today. This is our 1st time raising backyard chickens, and have learned a lot from this and other sites. Our coop is ready and we are very excited!
I have a maybe silly question. Is it ok to feed our chickens treats along with their chick feed? Thanks to anyone who responds....

 

[Ridgerunner]

People really get hung up on feeding them things and it is not that big a deal. As long as they have grit, you can feed them about anything you eat.

They should have a balanced diet. Their chick feed is balanced. When you add treats you take a chance of upsetting that balance. The solution is to not go overboard. Don't give them huge amounts of the treats. Give them what they can clean up in maybe 15 to 20 minutes and you are plenty safe. And give them different things. Just set aside some of your kitchen scraps for them, assuming you cook. That way they should get varied treats.

If given the chance, chickens will forage for food. They willl eat grass and weeds, grass and weed seeds, fruit fallen from fruit trees, grapes, blueberries, flying and hopping things, all kinds of creepy crawlies, even mice, frogs, and small snakes. It's almost if it doesn't eat them, they'll eat it. When they forage, the don't look at a grasshopper and say, "I've had enough protein for the day. I think I'll pass". They don't pass at all. They are not that worried about it. They need a roughly balanced diet, but that balance really does not have to be that fine-tuned.

As long as you take reasonable common sense precautions, they will do fine. Just don't get unreasonable with the treats and make sure they have grit.

 

[NewEggs]

Thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply. Kinda what I thought from my reading, but nice to hear. Peace...