What not to feed your chickens:

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

If there were enough leftovers, of the right kinds, then the chickens would probably do fine. But there would always be a pile of stuff that they didn't eat.

For example, if you gave them the leftovers from a school or restaurant, they might eat all the meat & eggs, half of the veggies and fruits, and a quarter of the bread--leaving a big pile of bread and some other stuff that might just rot and stink, or that you could compost (and then the chickens could pick through the compost for worms and bugs.)

If the food scraps really are free, AND if you have few enough chickens compared to the amount of food, AND if you're willing to take the time to manage it, that could work fine. But for most people, it's not the best choice.

Heck, you could probably get PAID to haul away food waste in the right situation!

Composting the “leftovers” is key as you said...keep the smell down, attract worms and bugs, and make a useful end product.

I have two compost piles In my run...one active and one resting. They both hold roughly 800 cubic feet of material. I add roughly a half pickup bed of food scraps twice a week to the active pile, plus enough carbon to offset that.

I was turning some compost last week, literally two days after the snow had melted, and uncovered a ton of worms. That’s free protein for the flock!

But yeah, mine is not the average backyard setup!

 

[chickentrains]

my compost isn't with the chickens

its in a bin in the back of the yard, we just don't have the space! We don't feed the chickens leftovers, we save it for the garden to feed us

besides oyster shells,what they find in the yard, and their normal food, they don't get much else. The occasional treat, but most of the leftovers are composted

 

[NatJ]

We don't feed the chickens leftovers, we save it for the garden to feed us

I figure it's more valuable to let the chickens eat the leftovers they want, then compost the rest, preferably in the chicken run, so they can eat any bugs and worms that come. And what the chickens did eat will eventually reach the garden as chicken manure.

(If what you're doing works for you, then certainly keep doing it. There are lots of good ways to do things. Mine is just different than yours.)

 

[chickentrains]

I figure it's more valuable to let the chickens eat the leftovers they want, then compost the rest, preferably in the chicken run, so they can eat any bugs and worms that come. And what the chickens did eat will eventually reach the garden as chicken manure.

it probably is, but we are novice chicken keepers and we're too spooked to feed our chickens extras too often

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Yeah, I’d agree that chickens in the compost system is a “value add”, but also 100% endorse “do what you’re comfortable with and learn as you go”.

When it comes to compost and chickens, one thing that I think is great that you can put carbs, protein, etc into one end of a chicken, and nitrogen (manure) and breakfast (eggs) come out the other end.

Add in that they’ll turn the pile for free and it’s a pretty sweet system!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I have a citrus squeeze juicer and during mandarin season, I get all the juice. The chickens get the squeezed halves, which they pick completely clean, and the goats eat all the peels.
All of us benefit from the neighbor's tree. The neighbor gets eggs and juice back.
Chickens and goats are fine and the neighbor and I are fine.
So, basically, for one month out of the year, my chickens get about a 5 gallon bucketful of pulpy orange peels every 5-7 days.
(My chickens free range + get pellets every evening)
(H2O & Oyster shell available 24/7)

And yet, if tomorrow a new chicken owner posted on this site concerned that an orange slice or lime wedge made it into their flock’s food, a sizable amount of the replies would say citrus is “poisonous” or “toxic” to chickens.

 

[rjohns39]

To the OP. Neither of my feed books address citrus either way. While they both address things that should not be used in feed and why.

Consider it as a treat and keep it and other treats below 10% of total diet.

 

[slip n slide]

Chickens will ea some dumb things bcz the texture seems right,ie,styrofoam,rubber bands,small buttons etc but by and large they know themselves what to eat and not to eat.They can eat stuff that would kill us and not be bothered.
I eat a good diet,very whole food/health conscious so I don't feel bad about feeding them "ppl food".
Fried food is not bad for them either,their body appreciates the fats,esp in winter.
They looove it when I come home w/ a stringer of panfish and get to sort through the carcass pile for eggs ,meat scraps or guts.
Trimming a piece of beef,pork or chicken for cooking? They get all the fat and skin.
Dinner I forgot about in the fridge from two or three nts ago? Chicken food.
Been keeping chickens for almost 50 years and it works for me.Recycling at it's finest;no food waste and some fine eggs in return.
The quality of their diet is reflected in the quality of the eggs.

 

[Powerhour]

Cleaning out a bunch of hollow gourds would the seeds be a healthy snack for my chickens they love every other type of squash seed I give them

 

[rjohns39]

Cleaning out a bunch of hollow gourds would the seeds be a healthy snack for my chickens they love every other type of squash seed I give them

Offer them some and see what they think. Just don't over do it.