Table Scraps and Leftovers for Chickens

This was SO helpful as I am a HUGE lover of giving our beautiful flock treats!!! I love the sounds they make and how excited they all get when they know we’re headed out with treats!!! I made a horrible mistake the other day and fed them cuties (little oranges) segments. We have 27 total feathered family members and I fed out 6 of those buggers!! They ate them and no one seemed to have any type of reaction; thank goodness!! But I honestly had NO idea the broad range of foods they can eat and love to eat! This was great!!! Thankyou! And as far as the lower rating due to accusing of forced cannibalism??? Birds/animals out in the wild eat what they eat to survive; in the safety of being a pet or member of your homestead, what is fed to them is up to the discrepancy of the owner. Cruel and disrespectful anyone would even post such manure!! And very sad on the UK folks; against the law to feed our scraps??? Yikes and sad!

I was surprised to see nuts on the list of no-no's. I've seen it on the list for ok in so many other places. I've fed my girls nuts as treats for years without any adverse effects. In fact, I had a couple at one point that recognized the container I bought nuts in and would sit on the patio and beg for treats. If ignored, they would hop up onto my lap.

This was very useful. I wasn’t aware they couldn’t have nuts. I’ve given mine nuts before in a wild bird seed mix. I won’t do it anymore.

This was VERY useful and appreciate the list provided. During the winter I provide more supplemental "treats" and scraps from my kitchen. They LOVE the visits and always know the sound of my nearing means goodies!! In the summer when they are out and have more free range, I let them get their fill on what is available from their own scavenger hunts.

This seems pretty consistent with what I've read over the years.

I became a better mom when we got chickens because I stopped freaking out about how much food my toddler was wasting when he would run his hands through his meals and then refuse to eat most of it. Now my kids are much older and don't do that but having the chickens around helps us put our leftovers and scraps to good use, making it easier to teach my kids to eat until they're full rather than clean their plate (an unhealthy eating habit I was taught).

I really like and appreciate this article. I only have 3 chickens and they look forward to their daily snacks.

Would be a good article except..... Are you aware that it is now a criminal offence in the UK to feed chickens waste human food/leftovets etc. Perhaps administrators of this web/blog, albeit written in the US, should be aware you have many readers in the UK. Perhaps a note on such articles to make folk aware. Nick Scott, Cairnryan, Scotland.

Great tips. But I wonder why nuts is in the DONTs. My hen likes roasted nuts. One addition to the DO list: bean curbs. They love it!

i'd say most people dont eat a healthy enought diet to feed their animals... but if you like organic, careful about artificial ingredients and also SWEET how much sugar is added, then YEAH feed your chickens leftovers. If you eat high fat, artificial foods, high in fructose corn syrup and sugar, then NO let your birds be healthy

Feeding a chicken chicken meat is forced cannibalism and animal cruelty.

This is super helpful, especially for those of us newer to raising chickens. Thank you for publishing. I really appreciate it! Our girls are pretty young right now and they don't yet know what to make of these sorts of goodies, but I'm sure they'll get the point as they get older.

Can you feed chickens salt or pepper? Sometimes they snatch my food while I'm eating, but they seem to be fine.

I give my girls table scraps daily. Cuts down on food costs and they love it. Pumpkin and squash have been a big hit this fall. Watermelon and blueberries in the summer are frozen and given in the hottest parts of the day. Thank you for the information.

Great info!

This is a really good article. It tells us the wrongs and rights on what to feed your flock to keep them happy and healthy! A big 5 from me!

The list is long and comprehensive - a good guide for what is and is not safe to feed your chickens.

Very helpful for me! I love giving my hens snacks/treats and often struggle on what kind of foods they can/can't have! Thanks for making this article!

Rated 5 stars! Great job!

Thanks for providing this list.

One of the don'ts I recommend to add is coffee grounds.

Table Scraps and Leftovers for Chickens

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Table Scraps and Leftovers for Chickens

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