Those Insider Treats For Chickens Straight From The Chickens Beak
What would your chickens tell you…
When you come into their hen house carrying a bunch of edible goodies and their eyes start to bulge with excitement.
One of the nicest reactions you are going to get from your chickens is when those treats for chickens become an obsession with your feathered friends running around the chicken run following you for their chicken treats.
Treats For Chickens They Want To Tell You About
What do chickens like to eat the most?
Where do you start, there are some treats that chickens just love and you might be surprised just what they are.
So let’s get away from the chicken feed, and find out what you can feed your chickens straight from your kitchen.
Let’s have a look at some selective treats:
As whole vegetables are on the menu and grains as well.
That’s a no-brainer.
Treats will not only have your chickens kept happy, but it will also ensure that they are receiving a nutritionally balanced diet.
Such good choices include those leafy greens, corn, cooked beans, non-sugary cereals.
Sugar is not a good thing to give them unless it is naturally in their treats.
Overall – grains, berries, and most other fruit and vegetables you can get your hands on.
What Food Scraps Are Safe For Your Chickens?
These safe Table Scraps which are good for your Chickens are:
- some bread
- corn on the cobb
- cooked meats
- oatmeal
- fruit
- peas
- grains
Is Bread Bad For Your Chickens?
Yes, treats for chickens do include bread, and there are so many types of bread out there you are spoiled for choice.
But you do need to give them bread in moderation thought, but do not give them mouldy bread.
Would you eat it?
I didn’t think so…
So why would you give it to your best feathery buddies?
Can I Give My Chickens Meat
Chickens like ourselves, are omnivores, meaning that they not only eat grains and plant life, they also are carnivores.
So yes meat is on the chicken’s menu, after all.
You do see them scratching away in the garden and it’s not for grass and grains all the time.
Cooked meat should be cut into small pieces, if you have not observer your chickens lately, you will see that they have a beak, so everything going down a chickens throat is whole unless they tear at it.
But with meat, it can be a little hard.
I have seen chickens swallowing food that is too big for them, and they’re gulping away trying to get down that lump of food.
Successful in their plight, but they do not give up till that food is in their bellies and not stolen away by the other chickens in the coop.
So why would you not want to cut up the meat to make it easier for them to eat…
Can Chickens Eat Cucumber?
Chickens will readily eat all the parts of cucumber, if you cut it in half and throw it into the chicken run, you will see that they have their own way of pecking all the insides of the cucumber.
See also Everything You Need to Know About Rhode Island Reds.
They are not so fond of the cumber skins so cutting it up for them will be easier.
And you will most probably see the skins of the cucumbers gradually shrive away in the yard.
But if the skin of the cucumber is not hard, they will have a go at that as well…
The chickens will actually spend quite a lot of time trying to break their way through food with skins on it just to get at the good bits, then after they have eaten all of that.
The skin is in their beady little sights, and it’s on.
When it comes to treats for chickens, they are determined to get the best out of their treats and they most usually will.
At times, I find that they will go away for a while if they have had enough, only to come back later to have another go before the treats shrivel up in the sun and gets too hard for them to eat.
Can You Give Chickens Peanut Butter?
What!
Threats for chickens? Peanut Butter…
Now here’s an interesting one…
Yes, chickens can in fact eat peanut butter. It’s actually a favourite among most birds, as it consists of nuts, and this food is close enough to grains.
It also provides some good nutrition as well…
And there’s no doubt that if you give your chickens peanut butter once, they will tell you that they want this as one of their chickens treats.
It should however only be given to them in moderation though, as it is high in fats, carbs, and there are some brands of peanut butter which is also high in sugars.
Can Chickens Eat Popcorn?
Have you never seen a chicken laying back eating popcorn while watching a good movie?
Me neither…
Treats for chickens… popcorn?
Why not, as popcorn is in fact dried corn, popcorn, but do not give them the salt and butter as well now…
Or they will be going to the movies. So if you are a few chickens down…
Then you know where they are.
They will be happy to gobble it up without the movie though…
Are Oranges OK For Chickens?
Now, this is an interesting one…
And at first thought, you might hesitate about giving them any oranges.
Yet, in fact, oranges are fine to give your chickens.
You can try giving them a frozen orange as a hot weather treat.
Cut the orange in half and freeze it, not holding the frozen orange in your hands as you go running down to the chicken coop throwing the frozen orange up in the air constantly because your hands are freezing.
Give it to the hens and roosters to peck at when it’s hot.
See also The Surprising Amount of Eggs a Single Chicken Can Produce - And Other Important Factors When Keeping Chickens
I know you can not help watching them to see how they handle it, I would.
Can Chickens Eat Banana?
Have you seen chickens monkeying around eating bananas in their chicken run?
That means that bananas are fine for your chickens.
Yet again, ideally only in small amounts people…
Chickens just love bananas and they are also rich in potassium, minerals and some vitamins as well.
They will go straight in beak first, I remember their beaks with banana all over it.
Such a sight.
Are Grapes OK For Chickens?
As far as treats for chickens go, grapes are another safe choice as a chicken treat, and knowing that your chickens will love you for it, is a great plus…
Grapes are sweet and juicy, even when they start to shrivel up.
So giving them in moderation is going to have your chickens running around with a whole grape in their beak while trying to dodge other hens in the pursuit to get the last grape.
That’s how much chickens love their treats such as grapes.
Can I Give My Chickens Strawberries?
If you have a vegetable patch in your garden and were also growing a bunch of strawberry plants, do you think your chickens when let out for a run in the backyard would leave your strawberries alone?
I thought not.
So… Chickens do love strawberries, that love of a little variety when it comes to treats for chickens in their diets, as with us is always on the menu.
And by adding some leftover strawberries to their meal will make them a happy flock of chickens indeed.
Is Pasta Good For Chickens?
Have you seen an Italian chicken running around your chicken coop?
Well they do not have to be Italian to like pasta.
Chickens can and will eat pasta on any occasion as they will also eat noodles.
But again, you should only feed your chickens limited quantities of pasta in their diets as pasta can be very low in proteins and high in those carbohydrates which makes for a poor chicken feed.
Pasta and noodles also tend to be low in nutrients as well, so moderation on the way to go.
What Are Chickens Favourite Treats?
- turnios
- kale
- lettice
- watermelon
- strawberries
- chard
- blueberries
Healthy snacks for a healthy chicken.
Remember to feed these in moderation as their chicken feed is their staple diet, and you do not want your chickens to get diarrhoea do you.
There are a few more favourites to consider which are beets, broccoli, carrots, squash, pumpkins as well
So, treats for chickens does in fact give you a lot of variety to give them.
And you can always go to a fruit and vegetable shop and see if they have any leftovers that they might have in the back.
After all…
They do get their fruit and veggies ready for public display, so there could be lettuce leaves and such things to pick up for free if you have a lot of chickens to feed.