what all can you feed chickens??

[Kenzie22]

What all table food can you feed laying hens?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"Can You" is not the same as "should you".

Chickens CAN eat most kitchen waste, and will generally either avoid, or eat so little as to not cause distress, the things they shouldn't. ASSUMING they have ready access to a nutritionally complete feed.

Your kitchen scraps should be considered "treats", not to exceed 10% of the total diet by weight, and should probably be tossed on the compost pile. Chickens will turn the top of the pile rooting for scraps, and what they don't eat will join the rest of the compost.

The won't eat onion paper, or sweet potato skins - which is fine, neither are good for them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

OK. how about this. There are lists all over the internet. and BYC. They disagree. Frequently.

The best thing you can do for your birds is to offer them a commercially complete feed as their sole ration. That you are asking the question at all is evidence you lack the training and experience to evaluate the nutritional needs of poultry, and the value (or concerns) of your scraps. I appreciate that you want to do right by your birds - that's a worthy goal.

But there is NO answer. Certainly not a short one.

Lets talk Corn. Most chicken feeds, and most chicken "scratch", contain corn. You absolutely *can* feed your chickens corn. Corn has insufficient protein to meet a chickens needs, and has to be supplimented with other ingredients to provide a complete diet. Even if you were to use certain high protein corn by products, the amino acid profile of corn won't meet the bird's needs, even if you can get to the 16% protein or so generally considered minimally acceptable here in the US. Your birds would starve to death on it, though you met the target fat, fiber, and protein numbers. Adding corn to the diet reduces the overall value of their daily nutrition.

How about Oats? Again, very popular ingredient in chicken feed. But Oats are high in beta-glucans, which slow digestion, makes some vitamins harder to absorb, and contribute to sticky fecals - which can cause its own problems. With the right enzymes, it can be used in excess of 50% of the diet, assuming you can hit the other targets. Without? Shouldn't exceed 10-20% (sources vary).

Soy? Hugely popular. One of the best plant sources for methionine, a critical limiting amino acid, and has a good AA profile overall. Its also high protein. Has to be heat treated (all legumes do) to neutralize some anti-nutritional factors. Peas and beans? The same. Though not all peas are the same...

BOSS (Black oil sunflower seed) - great protein, high in a few amino acids, useful for addressing ares where grains are deficient. Without the shell, fiber is very reasonable. Also, a monsterous source of fat. Contributes to fatty liver disease and sudden poultry death from internal hemorrhaging.

Calcium, critical to growth, numerous biuological functions, and of course egg laying nice hard shells. Too much? Calcium toxicity causes gout, tumors, intestinal and renal issues of all sorts, blocks nutrient absorbtion - particularly in cockerels, but can occur in hens as well.

Essentially, there is no ingredient a chicken can eat that isn't dangerous to them in excess, or if improperly treated - but if you provide them a commercially complete diet as their primary (and sufficient) feed source, they won't be starving enough to eat something they "shouldn't" to the point that it causes them distress or illness.

People will tell you potato skins will kill them. Sure. So will water. "The Dosage is the Poison." Green (underripe) potato just under the skin is actually far more concerning, but a healthy well fed bird might pick at it, then quickly find something else to eat. No harm, no foul.

Tomatoes? Part of the nightshade family. So what??? Chickens eat tomatoes all the time. Even, gasp, the leaves! But not to excess - they won't deliberately poison themselves, given better quality food to eat.

Now, there are some plants which contain high levels of phytotoxins (light reactive toxins) which are hazardous to chickens (and you, and almost every other thing) - even if you give them to your birds, if they have the choice of something better, after exploring it with their beaks, they will raise their noses and walk away.

I don't mean to demean, but I hope that helps illustrate that the question you are asking is not the question you want answered - that question is highly fact specific, and begins with "I was planning to offer my chickens "X", any concerns???"

 

[Sally PB]

I do give them chicken carcasses and soup-making leavings. They are happy cannibals and I'm not squeamish about it.

Ditto. I make bone broth, pick out bones that I can "use" again, and give the chickens the rest. (Not all at once.) There is nothing to throw out from my Thanksgiving turkey, except the wrapper.

Having a compost pile separate from the chicken coop gives me a place to recycle any kitchen scraps I don't give to my chickens, like moldy bread or the unknown slimy thing from the fridge.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I feed mine just about everything table scraps. Except chicken, oh they will eat it, and I don't think it would necessarily hurt them, it just seems wrong. I do feed table scraps in moderation though.

About the only thing I've found they won't eat is pumpkin.

...meanwhile, my chickens love squash, melons, pumpkins, and other moderately soft skinned gourds. as well as cucumber, zucchini, etc...

Today, they got the raw entrails (minus the gall bladder) of two of their flockmates as I culled. The will happily eat ham, too - but the salt content is cause for concern.

...and there are no known prion diseases in chickens, so before someone imagines "mad chicken" like "mad cow", NO. Better to remain silent and appear ignorant than to speak and remove all doubt. Besides which, the flock ate neither brain nor spine, where prion diseases (TSEs) are concentrated.

 

[3KillerBs]

I give my chickens all sorts of cooking and prep scraps and the leftovers the family has gotten tired of -- but nothing moldy or rotting. I limit grease and salt. It helps that I have between 20-30 chickens to spread things out.

I do give them chicken carcasses and soup-making leavings. They are happy cannibals and I'm not squeamish about it.

 

[m16ty]

I feed mine just about everything table scraps. Except chicken, oh they will eat it, and I don't think it would necessarily hurt them, it just seems wrong. I do feed table scraps in moderation though.

About the only thing I've found they won't eat is pumpkin.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Most citrus you can't feed to your chickens but they won't eat it anyway

 

[Kenzie22]

okay, how about this, what foods can chickens absolutely NOT have??

 

[Banana01]

okay, how about this, what foods can chickens absolutely NOT have??

Where I live the native people recommend mixing onions and garlic with the feed once a week, and they never have to give otc medicines. I on the other hand dont have time to buy and to chop onions and garlic, so I often have to deworm and give anticoccis as well as antibiotics. So you could try to supplement natural antibacterial foods.

Also, feeds often lack certain nutrients that only supplements can provide. Supplements like fish, meat, green veggies... lots of stuff is good.

For what is toxic, try a search. Stuff like tomato plants, some beans and potatoe varieties. Its really too broad a question. But adult chickens know from experience what to eat, and they also teach their babies. I have some chickens that won't eat liver because they are scared and dont recognize it. Others will devour it.