Chickens are super funny when one of them finds a treat. Even when there are more treats around they seem to want the same one as each other. Have you ever seen them just chase each other? It is one of the most entertaining things ever 😂. If you haven’t seen them chase each other for treats, then I highly suggest YouTubing chickens chasing each other for treats. Chickens love pecking food and will often get into things that may be harmful or poisonous to them, so I made a list of things that your chickens can and cannot eat.
Foods your chickens can eat:
These are some of the fruits and veggies they can have. They can have every part of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew, and my chickens go crazy for them. Broccoli and cauliflower are another good treat for your flock plus every bit of the plant is safe for them! Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, clover and mustard greens are very healthy for your chickens. Your flock may also enjoy having pumpkins and squash and you can give it to them raw or cooked. Berries are a fun treat to give to your flock, and they will love and eat the berries right up.
Some protein sources that you can feed them are fish and shellfish but only the flesh so that they don’t get sick. They love eggs scrambled or hard-boiled and if cooked properly you shouldn’t have any problem with your chickens trying to eat their eggs. Mealworms, crickets, and earthworms are delicious treats for your chickens and mine love them! You can also feed them sunflower seeds if unsalted, oatmeal if cooked, rice and pasta if cooked and yogurt if plain. Which I have only tried the sunflower seeds and oatmeal, so if you try any of the others be sure to let me know how it went! These are just some of the fun treats to feed your flock. I am definitely sure that there are even more healthy options to feed them.
Foods your chickens chickens cannot eat:
These are some things to make sure to never feed to chickens. Rhubarb is a very poisonous plant, every part of the plant is poisonous so if you grow it make sure that you do not feed the extra leaves to your flock. Chocolate, candy, and sugar should never be fed to your birds, which in my opinion shouldn’t be fed to any animal. Citrus fruits are way to acidic and should not be fed to them as well as raw green potato peels and dried beans. And any type of moldy foods are super toxic, but if it is just super ripe than it is ok just be sure that there is no sign of mold. Pits and skin from avocados pits are also poisonous to your flock. Now this is not everything chickens can and cannot have because it would take way to long to list everything but these are the most common things that they can and cannot have.
If you guys have any other fun treats that you feed your chickens, or any other poisonous plants that we should be aware of, then feel free to let me know in the comments section below!
The 1912 Homestead 