what table scraps should i give and not give to my chickens?

[NEWCHICKS4]

I have 12 chicks and Im new to this, my chicks are 4 weeks old so I was wondering which table scraps I should and shouldnt give to them. I also heard grapes are not good for them, is this true? I would appretiate all the help I can get!

 

[Beekissed]

There really isn't anything you eat that will harm these birds. They will pick through and only eat what they can tolerate...trust me. They won't touch potato peels or onion peelings, so don't bother to try. Anything else is pretty much fair game and they will swarm over it like flies.

I wouldn't make a habit of giving your birds too many scraps vs. layer mash/feed if you want them to perform at an optimal level but to get rid of the occasional garbage, it's okay.

 

[Imp]

I have 12 chicks and Im new to this, my chicks are 4 weeks old so I was wondering which table scraps I should and shouldnt give to them. I also heard grapes are not good for them, is this true? I would appretiate all the help I can get!

First off

.

I have never had any chicken turn down any treat in their bowl, except for a couple years when they wouldn't eat peas. Lol, don't know what was up with that. Lol. The only people food that I won't give is avocado, and some say that is OK. (Guess too many years with cage birds)
A lot of people give their chickens grapes. (Maybe the grape thing is from feeding dogs grapes and raisins.)

Imp

 

[triplepurpose]

There really isn't anything you eat that will harm these birds. They will pick through and only eat what they can tolerate...trust me. They won't touch potato peels or onion peelings, so don't bother to try. Anything else is pretty much fair game and they will swarm over it like flies.

I wouldn't make a habit of giving your birds too many scraps vs. layer mash/feed if you want them to perform at an optimal level but to get rid of the occasional garbage, it's okay.

X2
Keep a scrap bucket in the kitchen, put all your kitchen waste in it, including the rotten and spoiled stuff, and once a day or when it's full, scatter everything onto the litter. What they don't eat becomes part of the litter. This has worked in our coop for over twenty years. Chickens love nothing more than to scratch through garbage looking for tidbits. Just don't confuse your "garbage disposal" with actual feeding (whatever it is you're feeding)--while they find lots of good bits in there to eat, sometimes enough to make a dent in their appetite even, there usually is not enough in the average "scrap bucket" to make a full meal for a flock. Unless perhaps you have only a few chickens and a mountain of kitchen scraps big enough that they can forage all they need out of it--which in most households is not going to be the case.

 

[snoggle]

My addition to this is from what I've read, not my own experience as I am a new chicken owner and the chicks are only 3 weeks old.

One thing that I read is that you might not want to feed them any veggie that you wouldn't want them to eat out of your garden (assuming you have a garden and will be letting the chickens into it.) Don't let them fall in love with spinach if you don't want them eating your spinach. I have a feeling they would tear up the spinach in the garden anyway, even if you didn't expose it to them as a treat first, so this may not really be that important.

The other idea that I've read about and have actually started, is to keep a worm composting bin (look up Vermicomposting). You can throw a lot of kitchen scraps in there that the chickens shouldn't or wouldn't eat and let the worms eat them. Things like potato peels, rotten or moldy produce, and some processed junk food. Then, you can feed the worms to the chickens.

 

[Beekissed]

Yes...chickens do not need to "fall in love" with a vegetable in order to eat it out of your garden. They eat what is their choice foods and just about anything green and succulent can fall under that...like lettuce, spinach, young corn, etc.

It's best not to plan having your chickens in your garden...at least, not if you wish to have a good garden that yields plenty of food.

 

[NEWCHICKS4]

Thanks you guys sooooo much for the help! And thank you for the welcome! I very much appretiate all of your comments! Thanks!

 

[Jasmo]

Hi Backyarders,

we have had 8 hens for around 2 years now, and I have often cooked our potato peelings and carrot ends & peelings until really soft, mashed them and then added some breakfast/porridge oats. Is this ok for our hens?? The hens always seem to eat it,

 

[LindaB220]

Hi Backyarders,

we have had 8 hens for around 2 years now, and I have often cooked our potato peelings and carrot ends & peelings until really soft, mashed them and then added some breakfast/porridge oats. Is this ok for our hens?? The hens always seem to eat it,

Hey Jasmo

That's certainly a winner. That's what they used to do back 100 years ago. That's a great snack.

 

[Dustieburk]

You can feed chickens just about anything . I don't feed my chickens any meat , but some people do . You can feed them veggies, fruits and noodles .