Treats

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.