Just like we don’t want our kids filling up on too many snacks between meals, we also want to make sure that our chickens still have plenty of room for their main meal by limiting the number of treats they get. Find out how to feed treats appropriately.
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General Rules
As a general rule-of-thumb, no more than 10% of their total daily dietary intake should be from treats. This means about 2 tablespoons maximum per day for each chicken.
If you are going to feed treats or scraps, only give them once per day after the chickens have already consumed their main meal to make sure they are getting enough nutrient-dense food.
Clean up any uneaten scraps to prevent them from rotting and also to keep rodents away.
Safe To feed
The following lists contain some healthy options for food items you can feed as snacks:
Green Leafy Vegetables
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kale
Lettuce
Chard
Spinach
Brussel Sprouts
Orange or Yellow Vegetables
Carrots
Pumpkin
Squash
Zucchini
Corn
Parsnips
Grains
Rice
Wheat
Oatmeal
Scratch Mix
Fruits
Apples
Berries
Cucumbers
Peaches
Pears
Melons
Banana
Figs
Proteins
Meal worms
Foods to Avoid
There is also a long list of foods to avoid since they can be unhealthy and potentially deadly if fed to chickens.
Human Foods
Processed foods
Raw meat
Alcohol
Chocolate
Caffeine
Sugar
Nightshade Plants
Green potatoes
Raw potato peels
Green tomatoes
Eggplants
Peppers
Miscellaneous Foods
Avocados
Dried or Raw Beans
Citrus
Onion
Garlic
Rhubarb
Grass Clippings
If it is considered junk food for us, then it is definitely not good to feed to your chickens. Plants in the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and peppers) are highly toxic to chickens. If you are letting your chickens forage in your vegetable garden, make sure they don’t have access to any of these plants. Do not feed grass clippings either since the long strands can potentially crop impactions.