what other foods can chickens eat? i need help.

[dkruse1971]

I am new to raising chickens for eggs and meat. I currently just feed them feed, but i am going through it so fast. please help...

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Hello ....I am also a new chicken owner and seen there is a chart on this site .It shows alot of different food the chickens can eat..and cannot eat.....you will be surprized !!!It's a very good idea !!! How many chickens do you have? Good Luck

 

[SeaChick]

Feed them your table scraps and peelings, etc from food prep. For instance, this week we've given them: leftover meatloaf, leftover fish, apple cores, carrot peels, bread heels and stale bread, tomatoes with soft/rotten spots, a smashed-open pumpkin.

no-nos: anything moldy or rancid, potato peels

also if you let them out to range they will eat lots of grass, which will make your eggs really helthy and tasty, and bugs and worms...

 

[Chickee's Mom]

Hello, and what kind of chickens do you have?? Do they get to go outside and eat anything??
What are you feeding right now?
The page on here is great for treats. Its under Feeding time and its Buff Hooligans treat chart, great stuff.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

The link to the Treats Chart is:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

Or you can see at the top of the Backyard Chickens website page where it says "Learning Center". Click on that, then click on "How-To Pages". The Treats Chart is among that list.

 

[chicknmania]

I thought it was interesting that I read a post earlier about lots of people saying their chickens liked spaghetti with meat sauce. They thought they liked spaghetti cause it looked like worms. Well, we tried to give ours spaghetti...I swear, if they could talk, they would've said ewwwwww!!!! Worms!!!They recoiled from it and backed away. We had to tear the strands into pieces before they'd touch it. Free ranging seems to help with feed costs, and this time of year we give ours lots of table scraps...anything leftover (in moderation) that isn't moldy or too spicey or salty. We also feed ours cracked corn along with other feed...it's cheaper and is a hot feed, I've read, so helps them stay warmer.

 

[tvtaber]

We feed tham a lot of table stuff, including leftover casseroles that I put in the fridge but no one ever eats. The first time I put spaghetti in they made a fuss of not going near it, so I just left it there and next day it was all gone. They are wary of new stuff, but if you leave them alone they will get around to checking it out.

Chickens are omnivores, so do not hesitate to feed them meat as well. One thing I have found that they love is weeds pulled up from around the yard and dumped in the run. Ours go out in the yard on the weekends, but are usually in a run the rest of the time. I just pull up a huge pile of the grass and other weeds around the place and dump them in the run and they have a great time!

Fruit is also good. If you have fruit trees around just toss the windfall fruit in there for them. Maybe you could get windfall from your neighbors as well, if they have trees.

Vicki

 

[NS2A]

I give mine whatever table scraps I have that the goats won't eat.

Just like grandma used to do

And they LOVE black oil sunflower seeds! Lots of energy in there to keep them warm.

BTW, as anyone ever fed your chickens bird seed? Just the cheap mix?

 

[chicknmania]

Ours LOVE Cardinal Crunch birdseed. It isn't as cheap as some, but it has peanuts and I think dried fruit in it, among other things. Another thing ours really like is chopped unsalted peanuts.

 

[bjcoop]

Hi! We treat with cheap birdseed. They LOVE it! They watch me to see if I am going for the bag...then they come running!

I throw it on the floor and they scratch for it.
They also like oatmeal, fresh corn, blackberries I picked for them last summer, and mac and cheese.
--bjcoop