What Can I Feed My Chickens?
This is one of the questions I keep
asking as we are beginning our chicken adventure. I have done a lot of research using my friend
Google. Listed in this blog entry are
the answer I have found to date. I will
continue to research and gain more information as this adventure continues.
After reading many articles here is the short answer,
In addition to chicken food, and scratch: Almost anything.
As
I searched I was looking for specifics so in the following you will find the
long answers: Chickens love table scraps and can
eat almost anything you eat and are a wonderful addition to a self-reliant, self-sufficient
lifestyle taking care of table and garden scraps throughout the year. .
Chickens CAN EAT THESE FOODS.
·
Apples
Raw and Applesauce: (Apple
seeds contain cyanide, but not in sufficient quantities to kill)
·
Asparagus
Raw or cooked: Okay to
feed, but not a favorite.
·
Bananas: High in potassium, a good treat (they usually will not
eat the peel).
·
Beans: Well-cooked only, never dry also, green beans
are good.
·
Beets and beet
greens: Go for it.
·
Berries of all
kinds: A treat, especially
strawberries.
·
Breads of all
kinds: Good use for stale bread or rolls -
feed starches in moderation.
·
Broccoli &
Cauliflower: Good for chickens.
·
Cabbage &
Brussels Sprouts: Whole head or scraps.
·
Carrots
Raw and Cooked: They like
carrot greens too.
·
Catfood: Wet and dry - in moderation.
·
Cereal: Avoid highly sugared cereal such as Cocopuffs, etc.
·
Cheese: Including cottage cheese, feed in moderation,
fatty but a good source of protein and calcium
·
Cooked Chicken: They may like it and it won't kill them, but... ummm
SO wrong.
·
Corn on Cob and
Canned: Raw and cooked.
·
Crickets, meal
worms, maggots, earth worms, etc: Can
be bought as fishing bait, at pet-supply stores or you can raise them yourself.
Great treats, provides protein and its fun to watch the chickens catch them.
·
Cucumbers: Let mature for yummy seeds and flesh, peels are good too.
·
Eggs: Hard boiled, cooked and scrambled are a good source of
protein, and a favorite treat. Feed cooked eggs only because you don't
want your chickens to start eating their own raw eggs.
·
Eggplant: Fruit ok in moderation, avoid peels. Eggplants are in
the nightshade family and contain Solanine.
·
Fish /
Seafood: Cooked flesh only. Shells and
peelings are high in calcium and beneficial.
·
Flowers: Make sure they haven't been treated with pesticides,
such as florist flowers might be. Marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies, etc... are
all beneficial.
·
Fruit: Pears, peaches, cherries, apples
·
Grains: Bulgar, flax, niger, wheat-berries, etc.
·
Grapes: Seedless. Great fun - the cause of many entertaining
"chicken keep away"games.
·
Grits: Cooked "leftovers" only.
·
Lawn Clippings: Only if it's not fertilized and not treated with
chemicals or pesticides.
·
Lettuce /
Kale: Any leafy greens, spinach collards,
chickweed included. A big treat, depending on how much other greenery
they have access to.
·
Meat scraps of
any kind: Not too fatty. In
moderation, a good source of protein
·
Melon: Cantaloupe, etc...both seeds and flesh are good
chicken treats.
·
Milk: Plain, raw or slightly sour - good for chickens and
they love it.
·
Oatmeal
Raw or cooked: Cooked
makes a nice warm treat on a cold winter day - high in protein.
·
Pasta /
Macaroni: Cooked spaghetti, etc, a
favorite next to live bugs, but does not contain much nutrition.
·
Peas: Peas and pea tendrils and flowers.
·
Peppers: Don't really like them but won't hurt them.
·
Pomegranates: Raw, seeds are a big treat.
·
Popcorn: Popped, no butter, no salt. Seeds, just like any other
dried corn, will be fairly indigestible unless you grind it a bit.
·
Potatoes /
Sweet Potatoes / Yams: Cooked
- avoid green parts of peels! Starchy, not much nutrition.
·
Pumpkins /
Winter Squash: Raw or cooked. Both
seeds and flesh are a nutritious treat.
·
Raisins: Go for it.
·
Rice: Cooked only, pilaf mixes are okay too, plain white
rice has very little nutrition.
·
Sprouts: Wheat and oat sprouts are great! Good for greens in
mid-winter.
·
Summer Squash: Yellow squash and zucchini, yellow squash not a
huge favorite, but okay to feed.
·
Sunflower
Seeds: Sunflower seeds with the shell
still on is fine to feed, as well as with the shell off. A good treat, helps
hens lay eggs and grow healthy feathers.
·
Tomatos: Raw and or cooked.
Avoid feeding the plants.
·
Turnips: Cooked. Not a huge favorite but not harmful.
·
Watermelon: Served cold, it can keep chickens cool and
hydrated during hot summers. Seeds and flesh are both okay to feed. They
will peck a rind clean then add rind to compost pile.
·
Yogurt
Plain or Flavored: A big
favorite and good for their digestive systems. Plain is better and has less
sugar than flavored yogurt.
Again, meat is OK. Chickens are omnivores and in the wild they will eat mice, snakes, frogs, lizards and dead carcasses (like eagles, vultures, hawks and ravens do). It does not make them peck at each other, they will not pick up disease in that manner. Too many chickens in a small area makes them peck at each other.
Some people say no Ham - because of the salt. Ham is ok in very small amounts.
Foods to AVOID FEEDING Chickens:
·
Raw green
potatoes and green potato peels: Toxic
substance called Solanine.
While not fatal they aren't "good" for chickens. Many people feed
green potato peels in small amounts. Cooked potatoes that had green peels
should be fine, cooking the potatoes reduces toxicity.
·
Rhubarb leaves: are poisonous to almost everything to some extent with oxalic acid,
the fruit stalks contain low levels of the toxin but in small amounts should be
fine. While munching on a few leaves may not kill them, it's certainly not good
for them. The effects of oxalic acid are very well
documented.
·
Anything super
salty: Too much salt can
overload their little kidneys - remember in moderation.
·
Citrus Peels: Supposedly they interfere with calcium absorption. , But
it is a moot point as they really won't eat them anyways.
·
Dried
or Undercooked Beans: Contains a
poison called Hemagglutinin which is toxic to birds.
Hemegglutinin is found in Lectin -
which is common in legumes (specially soybeans and kidney beans). Cooking the
beans reduces the the toxicity.
·
Candy,
Chocolate, Sugar: Again
while not fatal, it's bad for their systems (as most processed foods are to
people), and chocolate can be poisonous to most pets.
·
Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Other Drugs: Their
systems can't clear the toxins.
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