What treats do you give your chickens?

[Chickassan]

This, and live mealworms.
Honestly they much prefer the gummi candy.

 

[EverV]

Today they got a mash that had carrot pulp, apple core bits (no seeds), and their food that is broken up. I was making kombucha, so they got a bit of the SCOBY and I moistened it all with some of the kombucha.

Gone in seconds!

Nice!

 

[HappyClucker7]

I give mine mealworms and scratch, plus any food scraps I have. They also get fresh veggies and bugs from my garden in the summer.
On their birthday and on holidays they get some kind of special treat like a chicken seed cake, a hentastic herb treat, etc.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I made a modified version from Lisa Steels recipe. It contains dried mealworms, peanut butter, black sunflower seeds, raisins, oatmeal etc. I put them in molds bake and freeze. Keeps my birds happy through the winter and helps during molt. Feather turnover creates loss of protein since they are like made of 80% protein. Keeps feathers beautiful and shiny during molt. Nice treat and my hens are never naked. They love them. ❤ Chicken Chick also has a version or two.
It goes like this.
Molt muffins:
2 cups of oatmeal, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1 cup sunflower seeds, 1 cup mealworms, 1/2 cup raisins.
Stir in 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup molasses to bind. Add to molds, bake at 325F for 20 minutes. Done

Dang, can I be your chicken? Lol. Hold the mealworms.

 

[linguini]

I have given my chooks

grass from the yard
bird suet
meal worms
black sun flower seeds
chicken scratch snack
cabbages
banana
kiwi (boy, they go crazy about this)
pine nuts (absolute favorite)
kitchen vege leftovers
purple cabbages (they turned their nose on it at first, but when I returned a coupe hours later, all I found were the teal green poops - just like the pictures LizzyJo showed, so I saved and decidated the purple cabbages for them occasionally )
wet layer feed and
fermented layer feed

And then I discovered that whatever I give them from my hands, they think it's the best thing in the world, even with the layer feed crumbles I took directly from their feeder. Isn't that odd? Silly creatures!

 

[EverV]

I have given my chooks

grass from the yard
bird suet
meal worms
black sun flower seeds
chicken scratch snack
cabbages
banana
kiwi (boy, they go crazy about this)
pine nuts (absolute favorite)
kitchen vege leftovers
purple cabbages (they turned their nose on it at first, but when I returned a coupe hours later, all I found were the teal green poops - just like the pictures LizzyJo showed, so I saved and decidated the purple cabbages for them occasionally )
wet layer feed and
fermented layer feed

And then I discovered that whatever I give them from my hands, they think it's the best thing in the world, even with the layer feed crumbles I took directly from their feeder. Isn't that odd? Silly creatures!

Nice! My chickens used to be fed a fancy, organic feed with pieces of corn and grain in it, as that was the only feed available at our local pet store (the nearest tsc is a 40 minute drive). When we had to transition them over to pellets for cost reasons, they went crazy for the pellets when we hand fed them.

 

[pelicanchook]

In winter I add warm water to their pellets and call it porridge, and then add two eggs on top, every morning.
In summer I buy tins of corn kernels (cheap) and keep them in the fridge, and then take a tin down when it starts getting hot around midday. In really hot weather (quite often 40C, 104F) I freeze the corn kernels and give them the frozen kernels. That's in addition to weeds, kitchen scraps, cheap throwouts from the veggie section of the supermarket, and when I can get it, half a watermelon.

 

[schmedlap]

Hello! I'm starting this thread to see what treats everyone gives their chickens (as stated in the title). As of now, I don't have a proper calcium container for my girls, so I make it up to them by giving them a daily bowl with baked & crushed egg shells and whatever table scraps/treats I have on hand. If I don't have table scraps, I'll make them something. #spoiled chickens. Today they got: half a mashed banana, some oatmeal, raisins, cranberries, cabbage, scratch, a couple chunks of stale bread, and a tiny bit of cinnamon for respiratory health (this isn't a regular thing). Sometimes I'll even scramble an egg for them and add that too. Aside from this, I'll occasionally give them some mealworms and wilting lettuce/kale. What does everyone else give their chickens?

sounds like they're getting plenty. oyster shells mixed with feed will give them calcium. my girls love millet and 5 grain scratch.

 

[JanKuziel]

Most days I start the morning with some oatmeal and sprinkle millet/blueberries and banana on it. If it’s very cold I will cook it a bit to warm them up for the day. I’m reading your comments and realize it may be better to save this for after they lay tho. They also love kale leaves and tomatoes. Lots of other veggie scraps get tossed in their run if I have them. But it looks like I might be giving a bigger portion than I should do I’ll cut down on the amount. Thanks for this thread everyone. I am still learning and read so many good ideas and advice here!

 

[hennylover]

Hello! I'm starting this thread to see what treats everyone gives their chickens (as stated in the title). As of now, I don't have a proper calcium container for my girls, so I make it up to them by giving them a daily bowl with baked & crushed egg shells and whatever table scraps/treats I have on hand. If I don't have table scraps, I'll make them something. #spoiled chickens. Today they got: half a mashed banana, some oatmeal, raisins, cranberries, cabbage, scratch, a couple chunks of stale bread, and a tiny bit of cinnamon for respiratory health (this isn't a regular thing). Sometimes I'll even scramble an egg for them and add that too. Aside from this, I'll occasionally give them some mealworms and wilting lettuce/kale. What does everyone else give their chickens?

Hi! I give them warm oatmeal on cold days.. steak scraps make them insane with joy,I give them small amounts of cheese and they love it when I hold an apple for them to peck at..I put everything in a plastic bag that used to contain treats,so they know what's coming..if I steam veggies,they get the leftovers..I don't give them chicken ( that's creepy) ,but I do give them the skin pulled apart.if they could talk, I'd buy them whatever they want!