Whats a favourite food for chickens and what not to feed!?Newbie here!

Cabbage is fine, lots of people feed it whole tied on a string for the chickens to play tether ball with.

I feed my chickens pretty much ANYTHING, especially anything that we normally eat. They don't care much for citrus, and I don't give them really high salty stuff (like popcorn or chips), but pretty much everything else goes. The fact that they can and will eat almost anything is nice at the feed store. I just buy whatever is cheap for "scratch" treats. Just remember, treats in moderation. They do need to eat their layer pellets to make sure their diet is well rounded.

 

For a special treat, try them on a nice ripe peach or juicy strawberry held out in your hand.

You can also poke a stick into the ground, leave about 3 inches sticking up, and impale an apple or ripe pear on it. They will peck on it like a lollipop and the stick stops it from rolling around the yard and picking up dirt.

Note that chickens DO NOT LIKE peach skin or apple skin, try peeling an area or take a bite out of the fruit so they can see the tasty insides!

Now, rice and spaghetti noodles aren't good for them, because it's just empty calories and no vitamins, but they enjoy these too... so save it for the chickens if you have any leftovers. (But don't feed them anything with salty sauce).

Chickens also enjoy handfuls of soft, juicy grass, clover and dandelion leaves if they don't have any in their pen. Make sure to pick only soft, tender stuff and tear it into 1 or 2 inch pieces so it's easy to swallow. This is like salad for them and has all sorts of vitamins. It will also make your egg yolks bright yellow!

 

I had the same sense of being overwhelmed when we first got our girls. You will probably find, in time, that common sense works well in deciding what to feed your hens.

My girls don't like lettuce or carrots. The love watermelon, berries, cooked eggs, cucumber (especially the seeds, not the skin), grapes, tomatoes... the list is endless. Almost forgot - CORN! Fresh, frozen, on the cobb, off the cobb... matters not!

I have found that hand feeding my girls is a great way to bond with them. We've been holding them since the day we got them and they are now 10 months old. They come running when we go into the yard, and they hang out by the back door when we are inside.

BYC is a great source of info - and fun! Welcome to the flock!

 

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


go to this link....it helps.

Mine LOVE grapes...I cut them in half, also pasta, rice, celery, lettuce, "turkey meat"...they cleaned off the bones last Thanksgiving...hard to watch them though!! Strawberries, blueberries, etc....they don't like citrus items...

 

I'm new to chickens myself, but have found my 3 week old girls love meal worms, and plain yogurt. I give them a bowl of yogurt a night, and they come running! It's a great source of calcium. I wouldn't advise any fruit or flavored yogurt due to the artificial sweeteners. I have heard, and will try hanging a head of broccoli from a string. Apparently it's like a pinata of sorts. Just wait until you have leftovers from dinner or your garden, and give them those. Use good sense of course! Good luck with it!!!

 

We're new, too and have learned that our chickens love green vegetables. They also like canteloupe seeds, complete with the stuff that holds them together. Corn tortillas, crumbs and walnuts are fun. They're mad for craisins but I guess they should have them too often because they are so sweet. They don't care for apples or carrots.

 

Uh, oh. I made a mistake in the last post. I should have said they should NOT have craisins too often because they are so sweet. Does anyone have any experience with sweet things?

 

experiment! Just like other animals, chickens are individuals with differing tastes. Mine think zucchini, squash and pumpkin are all forms of candy. Pumpkin seeds are a natural wormer, so it is great that they love it. I think the most popular treat of all is Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS). It is high protien and the birds love it.

Remember though, that a good commercial or balanced blend from your local feed store is the primary diet for chickens. All other food is for treats.

 

My girls LOVE corn on the cob, raw or cooked. They go crazy for it. They also love Cheerios, uncoked oatmeal, watermelon, cooked artichoke, wheat bread, red bell pepper , cucumbers and most greens. They don't like kale or chard, too bitter, I guess. They also don't eat carrots.

It's easy to see what they don't care for because they will pick it up and subsequently throw it back down and walk away. They will squabble over the good stuff. I try to spread it out so they all get enough of the scraps. They usually come literally knocking at my back door with their beaks for more.

Anything the girls don't eat, the big lurking crow on the fence swoops down and grabs cleaning up the mess.