Fun & Treats
It’s fun to pamper your flock with treats and toys, and it’s good for your chickens’ happiness as well. Chickens, especially birds kept in confinement, that aren’t provided with physical and mental stimulation are prone to behavioral problems such as bullying, cannibalism, egg eating and feather pulling. Free-range chickens benefit from treats, too.
Chickens are smart and quick to learn things, but they need a reason to want to do it. Treats are the way to your chickens’ hearts, whether you treat them in an effort to teach them something or just because you enjoy watching them savor the goodies you give them.
Menu Do’s and Don’ts
Chickens can safely eat the following.
• bread, crackers — in moderation, nonmoldy
• breakfast cereal — no sugary products
• broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower. Tip: Hang whole heads or entire plants where chickens can pick them, or tuck pieces in a suet cage to hang on the fence or wall
• carrots — raw in chunks, cooked and foliage
• cheese, including cottage cheese — in
moderation due to fat content.
• corn — cracked raw kernels, on the cob,
and canned, raw or cooked
• crickets — Buy them live at bait shops and
pet stores.
• cucumbers, pumpkins, summer squash, zucchini — especially large, overripe ones containing lots of seeds. Slice or crack them open to expose the goody inside.
• eggs — scrambled or boiled and mashed
• fish — cooked and deboned
• fruit — bananas without the peel; all
kinds of berries, melons, apples, pitted pears, peaches, plums, cherries and so on
• garden pests — potato bugs, cabbage
worms and slugs
• grits — cooked
• leafy garden greens — all kinds
• mangels, turnips, rutabagas — raw or cooked
• mealworms
• meat scraps — but avoid fatty, salty meats