If you haven’t already figured it out, chickens will eat almost anything. They love all kinds of table scraps that you normally put in the compost, or heaven forbid, throw out. You shouldn’t worry too much about giving them something that might be bad for them. This urban myth is kicking around on the Internet. One of my favorites is that ‘potato peels will kill your chickens.’ Yes, if they eat a few pounds of them they might die. Just like most wild animals, chickens have a natural instinct for what is good for them and what is bad. This is why I said you don’t need to worry about what you feed them. If it’s not good, they will stay away.
Chickens will go wild for tomatoes, grapes, apple cores, pears, greens, breads, pasta, etc. They don’t like citric or hard vegetables, and that is about it. If you make a little too much spaghetti for dinner give it to the chickens they love it. After you finish eating an apple, give the core to the chickens. Your chickens become a renewable garbage disposal. You give them table scraps, which in your eyes are just unusable food, and you get eggs, and the best fertilizer in the world. That sounds like a great deal to me.
The more chicken scraps you give them the less feed they will eat, which will save you money. Don’t overdo it on the table scraps though; a little every day is great. They still need to eat some of their feed, which has some basic essentials that might not be in your table scraps.
It seems that my chickens favorite treat is oatmeal, that has been cooked, mixed with yogurt. They go CRAZY! Yes, I do make them this every now and again, they do become like pets. Feel free to share any thoughts about what your chickens like to eat.
My chickens go nuts over tomatoes also. And I mean they seriously go nuts – they dive on them like they haven’t eaten for weeks. They also love strawberries which I learned the hard way last summer when I let them free range during the day in my back yard. They don’t like lettuce at all but they love spinach.
We found that whenever we fed our chickens our tomato skins after canning tomatoes, their egg production took a dive. Hopefully you didn’t have that problem!
Moderation. Too much of anything can create imbalance.
Adult chickens are about the size of an infant. What happens to a baby when they have too many tomatoes (or too soon)?
My 75 lb. Labrador Retriever loves tomatoes. They will eat until there’s nothing left…piles of food at a time, and she OD’s on them from time to time with consequences that pass in a day or two.
Regarding feeding Table Scraps to Chickens: Do you just throw the scraps on to the ground for the chickens, or do you set them out on a pan or dish of some kind? Just wondering. Can I assume the chickens will eat up everything you give them. Am concerned with rodents that will appear if they do not eat up everything. How do you prevent that from happening?
all i can say to that is mine won’t eat out of a pan much..i tried a few times and they look at you like what is that??? Just throw it on the ground, i know it sounds gross but thats how they eat and no i haven’t had a problem w/ rodents..had mine for 2 years now and i live in a residence out in the forrest.
I recently have gotten four chicks and I have lots of citrus trees. I have been feeding them oranges ever since I got them. I cut them in half and hang them on the cage with large “s” hooks, they eat everything down to the pith. I also put them in my mature compost bin and they enjoy the pill bugs and pincher bugs. They especially like corn on the cob after dinner.