what to feed and what not to feed

[Fowl97]

my chickens love peaches and tomatoes and a sugar pumpkin. Are all thoes ok to feed them? Also how about lettuce my pullets dont really care for it please respond.

what do you feed for treats?

 

[Fowl97]

also how about peppers and other gasy foods.

 

[CHIC]

All chickens are different and will prefer different treats. I think any produce is great- whatever they prefer. Keep a good variety for some great nutritious tasty eggs. I wouldn't do anything overly spicy or smelly though- could flavor your eggs. I've also read that they won't eat citrus fruit.

 

[CHIC]

Oh yeah, and dark leafy veggies will make nice dark orange colored yolks.

 

[TM Chickens]

This page has a detailed chart on what is safe and what is not: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats Chart

 

[gritsar]

Here's the link to the treat chart that you can use as a general guide:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

I pretty much feed my chickens anything. If they don't like it, they don't eat it.
They find lots of things to eat while free ranging including mice, lizards, crickets, etc.

 

[Danceswithchicks]

Blackberries and sweet clover, my chickens love those. Gassy foods probably would not be a good idea.

 

[Akane]

There isn't much a chicken can't eat. As shown by the very short list of unsafe items in the treat chart. I'd mostly just avoid anything potentially toxic but I also wouldn't feed several things in very large amounts. Make sure it only amounts to a treat and not a significant portion of their diet. Chickens don't notice spicy things and it shouldn't bother them. People feed rather strong pepper to deworm them and increase egg laying.

 

[poultryhaven]

Quote:
I used to feed mine citrus (oranges) and they loved it but then I read its not good for them

 

[digitS']

Quote:
Last year, I steamed and froze pumpkins, including the jack o'lanterns, for the chickens' winter treats. The pumpkin was greatly appreciated in the hen house.
My chickens like tomatoes but cherry tomatoes are a special favorite. They grab one and run . . . keep away

!!

The sparrows moved in pretty hard on our peach tree this year. Probably one-third of the fruit had sparrow damage. Hard enuf for me to harvest the good fruit and I just left what had been damaged. When it fell to the ground, the chickens laid into it with a vengeance! After about a week, they'd cleaned up all the fallen peaches.

Lettuce was a very early treat for the chicks. They all enjoyed this green food before they could get out on their own and forage in the backyard. The lettuce and veggie garden is not in my backyard.

Out on the lawn, they eat a lot of grass. They will eat a little lettuce but nothing like in the days before foraging. Lawn grass seems to provide for most of their need for leafy greens.

Steve