What your chickens can and can't eat!

[JacinLarkwell]

Apple seeds are fine too in small amounts. When I give a bird(s) apples, they usually gobble down a couple of the seeds. Just like with people, it takes more than you'd think to get poisoned

 

[NatJ]

I see ham, olives, pasta, and pizza as "yes" with a warning about salt, and meat as "yes" with a warning about fat.

But french fries say "no" because of fat and salt. A few bites of French Fries are not going to be a big deal-- I think they should be "in moderation" as well.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Thankful that there were no lists back in 1993 when I started with chickens. Sorry, not sorry.

 

[NatJ]

Thankful that there were no lists back in 1993 when I started with chickens. Sorry, not sorry.

I grew up raising chickens, taught by someone who in turn grew up raising chickens...

I follow the basic principle of "toss it in the chicken run, let them decide." Over quite a few years, with some hundreds of chickens (cumulative), I have not yet seen a chicken die or even show any obvious symptoms of trouble, except one single time, and no list would have prevented that one.

The one-time problem: one hen had a t-shaped piece of something stuck in her beak. One part was going down the throat, the other two parts stuck out at the sides so it could not go down, and the hen was trying hard to swallow the thing anyway. One person held the hen, another person pulled the thing out, and all was fine again.

A few things are so obviously toxic that I was taught not to put them in the chicken run (rhubarb leaves, tomato & potato leaves: those aren't safe for people to eat either.) And when the family didn't eat much junk food, the scraps for the chickens didn't have much junk food either ("junk food" in this case meaning things heavy on fat/salt/calories and low on any other nutrients.)

 

[Insnesnakos]

Apple seeds are fine too in small amounts. When I give a bird(s) apples, they usually gobble down a couple of the seeds. Just like with people, it takes more than you'd think to get poisoned

Mine eat the seeds
It's their first priority when I give them apple

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Almost any bugs you find crawling around your home are ok to feed the chickies. I’ve fed mine stink bugs, ladybugs, etc.
Japanese Beatles are also a favorite of my flock.

All bugs if my cat doesn't eat them first!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Uncooked rice is a no?
Always knew it be a yes either cooked or raw.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Uncooked rice is a no?
Always knew it be a yes either cooked or raw.

It's low in nutrients and has the risk of expanding and causing damage in the stomach if too much is eaten

 

[PMD PerformanceHorses]

Do you cook the mice?

Sorry. At least I'm trying to be sorry. I might have been able to resist if the "mice: yes" hadn't been the next line under "meat scaps: yes: avoid fat, only feed cooked scraps, and only in moderation"

All feeds in the table should be in moderation. Not just the ham, lemon, meat scraps, pasta, and yogurt.

And why do you think chickens can't digest milk? It was a main protein source in many feed formations in the poultry text books and extension bulletins from the land grant universities in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's - basically, until soy meal became so widely available.

DONT COOK THE MICE! THATS NASTY!!

 

[wrathsfarm]

DONT COOK THE MICE! THATS NASTY!!

That's kind of a blanket statement... I mean rotisserie over an open campfire with a special person on a starry night is still a stern... NO?