Fruits: Most fruits are fine to feed your chickens. Apples, berries, tomatoes, and cucumbers are a few great choices. Watermelons are also a perfect hydrating snack for chickens during hot weather. Grains: Rice, wheat, oatmeal, and other grains are fine for your chickens to eat.
Table and kitchen scraps can be a terrific addition to the diets of your chickens. Being omnivores, they will eat just about anything; however, care must be taken on just what (and how much) is given in the way of scraps.
Just like other animals, chickens love treats. Great treat options include cooked oatmeal, greens like kale and spinach, pumpkin, and scratch grains. You can also occasionally hang things like heads of cabbage or suet blocks in their run for the chickens to peck.
Chickens are predominantly foragers, meaning they spend most of their time grazing for grasses, weeds, and seeds. While foraging, chickens will use their beaks to peck at or beat food against the ground. With this method, they can break up their food into smaller pieces.
Some of our favourites include, raisins, scratch, mealworms, sunflower seeds, berries and dried or fresh herbs- spoilt hens indeed! Raw or cooked, flesh and seeds- pumpkins are a great nutritious treat for chickens.
Leafy vegetation can also pose a danger. Tomatoes, peppers and potatoes are members of the nightshade family, so their leaves are toxic to many animals. Raw, green potatoes can carry this toxin in their skins, so while the flesh is safe, chickens shouldn't be fed peelings.
We need to remember that chickens are omnivores. This means that they have the ability to eat greens, fruits, and many meats. Because they are omnivores, the majority of foods in those categories are safe for chickens to eat. So yes, chickens can eat bananas peels.
You can scatter insects, like worms and crickets, in the chicken yard for your birds to take. Alternatively, you can stuff a rotten wood log with whatever you have a bile. Chickens also like playing in fallen leaves, particularly if you toss some bugs or treats in them.
Whether it's fireworks night or next door is having a party, having a radio on in the coop playing classical music or a talk show in the background can soothe your hens. This works a night or during the day and it gives them a sense of security when they are used to hearing human voices around.
It is important that your hens get the best nutrition so make sure the bulk of their diet is from a high quality layer pellet. Around 10% of their daily intake can be treats or scraps. It is probably best to feed the scraps and leftovers later in the day so you know they have eaten most of their daily feed already.
Most backyard chicken keepers that we know feed scraps to their chickens. But this doesn't mean that scraps are good for chickens. In fact, many chicken health problems are caused by poor diet. Feeding scraps to your chickens can cause deficiencies and ill-health.
"But most of the garden scraps and plant material is safe to feed." Never feed chickens spoiled or moldy food. The scraps can be raw or cooked, but the chickens probably prefer raw. Your birds will happily gobble up all kinds of fruits and vegetables, including berries, apples, and greens, as well as bread and rice.
Can chickens eat apples? Yes. Your girls can eat apples and apple sauce too. It's best to chop them to aid digestion although you may notice that they will peck at windfalls.
Our girls love vegetable peels, bananas, apple cores, carrots, and broccoli. You are safe to feed chickens pretty much any vegetable or fruit except any raw green peels (such as green potato peel) and any citric fruits such as oranges and lemons.
Yep – your chickens can definitely eat bananas!
Bananas are a lovely treat for your flock and a great way to make use of the overripe ones. However, they are high in sugar, so moderation is key.
Where do chickens sleep? Most chickens prefer to sleep on a roost rather than on the floor or in a nesting box. And trying to do the right thing, many backyard chicken keepers provide roosts in the form of broom handles or round bars.
High Energy. The easiest and fastest way to know if your chickens are happy is to watch them. A content chicken will participate in normal chicken activities, such as pecking and scratching the ground, taking a dust bath, hunting for bugs, nesting, preening, and laying eggs.
Spend Quality Time
One of the best ways to get your flock to trust you is to spend time with them. If they're chicks, pick them up and spend some one-on-one time with them every day. Let them see your face and talk to them. They will get comfortable with you and even nap in your hands or on your lap.
Crushed egg shells can be fed to laying hens as a source of extra calcium. But they shouldn't be the only source of calcium. Chickens always need access to shell grit, even if you are giving them crushed egg shells as well and regardless of whether they free range.
If you've wondered whether chickens can eat apple peel (skin), the answer is "absolutely"! The peel contains higher levels of antioxidants than the flesh. Studies have also found that it can reduce the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol in chickens, and increase the HDL (good) fats(3).
Chickens can eat ripened tomato fruit but not the leaves, stems, flowers, and green or unripe ones because of their solanine content. It would be best to avoid moldy tomatoes as well and wait for them to ripen before throwing them into your chicken's feeder.
Foods that are Safe to Feed Your Chickens
Bread – Bread, in moderation, can be fed to your chickens, but avoid moldy bread. Cooked meats – Meats should be cut into small pieces.
In short, it is perfectly safe for chickens to eat carrots as a healthy treat in addition to their normal complete feed. As with any treat, owners should feed carrots to chickens in moderation, so they still get the full nutritional benefit from their usual food.
Yes. They love eating cheese! However, you want to do so in moderation. As a general rule of thumb, cheese (or dairy) should not make up more than 10% of your chickens diet.