Things Chickens Can Eat
If you’re adding a few chickens to your homestead soon, you’re not alone. Millions of people all over the country, whether they’re in rural towns or have backyard homesteads in urban areas are discovering the joys a flock of chickens.
Among the many tasks you’ll take on with a flock of your own is feeding your birds. There are many ways to feed your chickens effectively, regardless of your budget. However, there are also several foods that you definitely shouldn’t feed your birds as well; some of these foods can actually harm your birds, while others may give your eggs an “off” flavor.
So, let’s take a close look at 20 things chickens can eat and 17 things they can’t.
There are many different types of chicken feeds available. Here are a few that you’ll see at most farm stores.
Since there are so many feed choices, you should definitely talk to a trusted expert at your feed store or on a nearby farm to determine the right mix for your chickens.
There are several table scraps that make great chicken foods. Here are a few you should consider:
Your chickens will do better if you chop the larger table scraps into tinier, easier to ingest pieces. Larger chickens definitely do better with table scraps than juvenile birds do, so you should wait until your chickens are three or months old before you start bringing the slop bucket out to the chicken run.
When you have a flock of chickens, there is no such thing as garden or yard “waste;” everything you’d otherwise bag up and throw out can be used to feed your chickens!
Chickens cannot subsist on these items alone, and you need to ensure that no toxic items or chemicals are mixed in with the yard waste, but otherwise it’s a good food supplement for healthy birds.
If you’d like to learn more about growing fodder for your chickens, here is a great video:
If you want to create a self-sustaining supply of high protein chicken food, consider raising your own supply of worms and bugs. Here a few popular choices to consider.
OK, we went through several great items for you to consider feeding your chickens. Here are some items you will want to avoid feeding your chickens at all costs…
While we previously discussed how to put your leftovers to good use as chicken feed, there are definitely some table scraps you’ll want to keep away from your chickens:
A good rule of thumb as a chicken owner is to avoid feeding your chicken food items that are unhealthy for humans, or at least limit the amounts they consume. Instead, you should just compost your questionable food items in your backyard, or otherwise toss them in the trash.
There are many common wild and cultivated plants in your garden that could harm your chickens if they ingested them. Here a few common ones you should avoid:
Here are a few foods that, while they may not harm your birds, you should definitely ensure your chickens avoid anyway due to the impact they can have on egg flavor:
As you prepare to take care of your chickens, the good and bad foods discussed here are by no means an exhaustive list. There are tons of great things to feed your chickens, and an equal number of foods to avoid letting your chickens eat at all costs, so make sure you do your research.
However, if you are a chicken owner or are about to become one, the important thing is to have a plan. Figure out how much money you have to on hand to spend on things like chicken feed and other foods.
Once you determine your budget, you should then determine exactly what you’re going to feed your chickens and have the food on hand when your chickens arrive. If you do, you’ll have a flock of healthy, happy chickens that are ready to lay eggs, grow, and be a terrific addition to your survival homestead!
Then you’re gonna love my free PDF, 20 common survival items, 20 uncommon survival uses for each. That’s 400 total uses for these innocent little items!
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Interesting that you say rhubarb is poisonous to chickens. My chickens love eating the leaves so much that they’ll decimate a plant in a day if given the chance. I have to build fences around my rhubarb plants and they still manged to devour any leaf too close to the fence. That’s been going on for a few years now. Not sure how poisonous they are to chickens.
Same thing with beans and potato peels! Our chickens have been eating left over beans, all types,for years with no issues, also, peels from potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams………all cooked, but they love them!
I have chickens and they eat rotten food all the time they also can eat raw meat altho we don’t feed it to them they eat bugs, right? that like eating a whole animal of raw meat
My chooks are thriving on corn mill waste and black soldier fly larvae, termites, earthworms and garden stuff. The two layers have given us about 70 eggs and 2 baby chickens all over a seven month period. I live in Ghana
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