What is your chickens’ favorite scrap treat?

[Marie2020]

Last year, the USDA was running that Farmers to Families program.

My church got a whole truck load of boxes loaded down with things like milk, Dannon yogurt and Daisy sour cream.


We offered it free to the community, and we had many takers, but we were still left with over a hundred boxes of food after the community came by to get the free food.


After the volunteers took what they wanted of the leftover food, there were STILL 28 unclaimed boxes.


Thinking about my chickens, I took them home.


I fed the chickens the milk first. I didn’t have enough refrigerator space for 28 gallons of 2% white milk. Who does?


So I loaded the yogurt, sour cream and cheese (mostly 1 pound blocks of cheddar cheese) and only a single gallon of the milk in my fridge.

But I began giving the chickens two gallons of milk a day - in bowls completely separate from their feed troughs or water buckets.

By the second day, mind you, this milk was no longer refrigerated (although it was commercially pasteurized).

The birds loved it, even in those first few days when it was still liquid.


But they loved it even more after it had aged a few days, and the curds began to separate from the whey.

They weren’t all that fond of the liquidy whey, but boy did they love the curds!

It was harder to get the creamy solids out of the plastic bottle (I literally had to cut the bottle open to free the creamy curds). It was messy! But the chickens couldn’t get enough of those old, unrefrigerated curds.

After all the milk was gone, I began to give them the sour cream and yogurt - one bowl for each of my two groups, each day.

They loved that, too.


But We were using the fridge for the human family’s food, too. So several of the yogurts and sour creams got pushed to the back, and were essentially lost for about a year or so.

I finally found them when I went cleaning the fridge out before preparing the Christmas meal.

They were over a year old, but I fed them to the birds - and they came back for days afterwards, hoping for more.

So, yes, chickens CAN eat//drink old milk, yogurt and sour cream.

So milk slightly off is okay? I never thought of this. My one girl seems too lack calcium.
If you confirm this I can add this to their treats
This old giant yogurt is working well

 

[VTchiclady]

There is still snow on the ground here in VT. Besides leftovers, cabbage is my go to vegetable for hens. I usually just cut it in half so that all can enjoy. Once in awhile I just give them the whole head. I have 25 hens that get their cabbage 3-4 times a week. They have also gone through all the winter squash I had stored. But by far they love fermented grain. I add Durvet Layer Boost to the fermenting grains for extra Vit D

 

[Hipchicker]

Watermelon and tomatoes from the kitchen. Figs, pears and apples from our trees...

I’ve read that apple seeds are poisonous if eaten in to big of a quantity

 

[Marie2020]

Raw oats are ok right?

I'm concerned that would cause a blockage. I don't know

I like to make sure a lot of fluid is their oats.

 

[Marie2020]

My chickens love milk and almost any kind of dairy product, like unflavored or vanilla yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, or regular shredded cheese.

My husband and I do not drink an entire gallon of milk before it starts to go bad, but that is no problem because the chickens will drink any cow’s milk that is too old for us to drink.

I learned alot from a professional farmer who produced excellent organic raw milk, organic eggs,organic butter and cheese made from raw milk, and kefir. At one time, she was the only USDA certified producer of such foodstuffs anywhere in west Tennessee.

From her, I found out that milk is safe to drink by humans and chickens long after the milk sours. I used to throw old milk away when it got old and began to sour, but she pointed out to me that our great great grandparents - who lacked refrigeration - used to drink sour milk and even developed lots of time treasured recipes to use sour milk. It was only in the last century - with the advent of electric refrigerators - that most of us began to limit ourselves to fresh, still sweet milk.

I guess I am spoiled, because I still don’t want to drink the older milk.

But that is OK by my hens - they love that older milk.

Would you know if a yogurt that is well out of date is okay? Like months but had been sealed.

 

[topochico225]

Would you know if a yogurt that is well out of date is okay? Like months but had been sealed.

I’d think it’d be pretty acidic, but if there’s no visible mold it’d be fine. I’m not an expert though!

 

[Laura Anne]

Also for a little comic relief, give them a pan of whipped cream!

 

[Marie2020]

Yes!


As long as the yogurt has been refrigerated, and does not have any mold or bacteria growing on it.

Thank you

 

[Marie2020]

The weirdest thing that they absolutely demolish is the wet cat food that the picky cats won’t finish! Cantelope, shrimp, pulled pork, rice, oatmeal, grapes, chicken noodle soup, you name… they come running every morning

The cat food I'm doubtful about besides the fact my cat would go spare. He had a munch of their raw cauliflower. There was one black furry chicken amongst them all today enjoying the scraps