What treats do you give your chickens?

[Stephanie8806]

What a fantastic idea to buy leftover pumpkin from the patches! I keep reading of people giving their chickens pumpkin, but we don't really eat fresh pumpkin so I thought my girls were just going to miss out. Thank you for the tip!

Newbie here so please forgive the question, but I've seen several references to "BOSS." What is that?

Its actually funny, my chickens won’t touch raw pumpkin! They will only eat it if roasted, and even then it goes really slow unless I mix seedy/spotty things in(pumpkin seed, sesame, grubs, scratch, etc) to encourage pecking. It’s funny, all chickens are so different!

And yes, as others have confirmed, BOSS is short for Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. They’re smaller than the spitting snacking seeds you find, say, at a gas station... and they’re husks are a little bit softer. You can find them in the bird seed section of pretty much all farm supply stores, and even on amazon. I don’t give them too much as they’re high in fat, but it’s a good little treat from time to time!

 

[Stephanie8806]

My chickens also LOVE eating grass. My first flock had a huge coop and they ate all of the grass in it in like a week.

I too was shocked at how efficiently chickens can clear ground!! They move a surprising amount of earth too, which we learned after watching the terrain change in their run, which has a pretty substantial slope. We are actually going to be adding some logs in the ground for terracing this spring, because they excavate uphill and it all moves downhill... so much so that the fencing(which was buried 6” in the ground) is now exposed past the bottom edge at the uphill side, and there is an 18” buildup against the downhill fence inside the run!

 

[lubu]

Twice a week we give them fermented foods and they love it. We’re in the process of trying get bigger with the fermented food so we can feed them that everyday. One is to cut down on cost of food and two is that it’s something they love to eat. Once in a while we give them mealworms. They’re so expensive though.

 

[Susili]

I give mine corn and they get all our table scraps, right now I only have two , but it’s winter and everything turns icy , chicken scratch was normally on the menu , not with such a small amount of chicks

 

[pyaresquared]

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?

Blueberries, watermelon, lettuce, pomegranates (from our bushes--no one else likes them), canned corn (salt free), clabbered milk, bugs, worms, cheese.

 

[Nero70002]

Blueberries, watermelon, lettuce, pomegranates (from our bushes--no one else likes them), canned corn (salt free), clabbered milk, bugs, worms, cheese.

Whats clabbered milk?

 

[Happy hen lover]

I too was shocked at how efficiently chickens can clear ground!! They move a surprising amount of earth too, which we learned after watching the terrain change in their run, which has a pretty substantial slope. We are actually going to be adding some logs in the ground for terracing this spring, because they excavate uphill and it all moves downhill... so much so that the fencing(which was buried 6” in the ground) is now exposed past the bottom edge at the uphill side, and there is an 18” buildup against the downhill fence inside the run!

It's amazing how they move dirt I am constantly raking dirt to open the gate to get in! I like the terrace idea. We put some grazing boxes in and planted wheat in them
It's the first place they went I'm the fall. Hilarious. I have grown fodder in house with wheat too. Works great

 

[Stephanie8806]

It's amazing how they move dirt I am constantly raking dirt to open the gate to get in! I like the terrace idea. We put some grazing boxes in and planted wheat in them
It's the first place they went I'm the fall. Hilarious. I have grown fodder in house with wheat too. Works great

Ohmigosh yes! Raking dirt to open the gate is so annoying! In the summer here, its super dry and dusty, but once it gets wet it’s like packed slippery clay. A true pain in the butt! They’re lucky we love them

I think I’m going to incorporate some screen covers in for in ground sprouting boxes when I put the terracing in this summer. Even though they are let out to free range every day, it would be nice for them to have a little vegetation in there for if we go out of town or something! I think if I build an A-frame and cover it with chicken wire, then it could double as an activity roost while the ground below it rests

 

[Happy hen lover]

Ohmigosh yes! Raking dirt to open the gate is so annoying! In the summer here, its super dry and dusty, but once it gets wet it’s like packed slippery clay. A true pain in the butt! They’re lucky we love them

I think I’m going to incorporate some screen covers in for in ground sprouting boxes when I put the terracing in this summer. Even though they are let out to free range every day, it would be nice for them to have a little vegetation in there for if we go out of town or something! I think if I build an A-frame and cover it with chicken wire, then it could double as an activity roost while the ground below it rests

Yes even with straw on ground they can move it . And yes they're lucky we do love them! We built a box out of 2x4 then covered the top with welded chicken wire ( hail screen) and the keeps them up 3 1/2 inches off of planted stuff. They just peck whatever grows up past that. Also use it to clean beaks which I love to watch. The specked us actually standing on grazing box earlier this fall.

 

[Stephanie8806]

Yes even with straw on ground they can move it . And yes they're lucky we do love them! We built a box out of 2x4 then covered the top with welded chicken wire ( hail screen) and the keeps them up 3 1/2 inches off of planted stuff. They just peck whatever grows up past that. Also use it to clean beaks which I love to watch. The specked us actually standing on grazing box earlier this fall.

oh yes, I’m planning on putting some heavier stuff down that straw, and I’m going to make sure the terrace walls are a few inches higher than the fill level to help catch any scratch scatter. Probably going to mix some gravel and play ground bark so it’s a little heavier and will drain well I love how well those screens work!!! And if they poop on them, I’m sure it’s easy to just hose them off?