If you are like me, one of the things you really enjoy doing is spoiling your chickens…with treats! It’s fun to watch the enthusiasm in my chickens when they greet me thinking I have yummy stuff just for them, and it’s fun to watch my roosters as they call all of their lady friends over when they think they have a special snack to share. Treat time appears to be an exciting time for my chickens and I’m sure it is for your birds too! What are some things we should know about treats for our birds?
First, we should know the reason that we are offering treats to our chickens. Knowing the reason, might help to determine the type of treat we offer our friends. Some of my reasons for offering treats include breaking up the monotony of their diet, offering foods with beneficial vitamins and minerals, providing an activity to ward off boredom, and to cool them off in summer or warm them up on a cold winter day. Chickens are also great recyclers, so not much food goes to waste at my house.
Just as I was generally picky about what treats I gave my kids as they were growing up, I am careful as to the treats that I offer my chickens. I think about what fine foods and treats Mother Nature provides for my animals. Being kept in an enclosure deprives my birds of the enjoyment and benefits of many of these foods, so I try my best to make up for it and offer these beneficial foods as treats. I try not to fill my chickens up with foods that will provide them little in the way of nutrients, even if it’s something they like. I try to steer clear of processed foods and foods that contain a lot of salt or sugar. I also try to give my chickens their treats in the afternoon between feedings. Again this is so that they will be more inclined to eat their regular meal as opposed to filling up on snacks…you know, the dessert first mind set.
So exactly what kind of treats do I feed my chickens.
If I’m trying to give them a fun activity to alleviate boredom, I will will give them something like a head of cabbage, leafy lettuce or bunch of herbs hanging on a rope, or unsalted shelled peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds hidden in a straw filled plastic kiddie pool. Other foods that tend to keep them busy are whole apples, a pumpkin cut in half, corn on the cob. In the fall, I will give them a whole sunflower head with seeds still intact. You can string or hang fruits and/or vegetables. Make it challenging, but not too difficult or they will lose interest.
During the hot summer, my chickens seem to appreciate melons and cold or frozen treats. Chickens don’t sweat, they pant and fluff out their feathers to try and cool off and seek shady areas to hang out in. Making sure they have plenty of cool liquids will keep them hydrated and a little cooler. Put berries, herbs or nutritious greens in a shallow water dish to encourage drinking. I planted a couple of fruit trees in my chicken run to provide shade and help keep them a little cooler in the summer. An added benefit is the fruit that might fall to the ground.
During the cold of winter you can give your chickens warmed up foods like oatmeal, scrambled eggs, heated up leftovers, or warm broth. Digesting foods that contain fat, protein and carbohydrates is one of the ways that animals keep warm. During the winter your chickens will likely need more food then they do in the summer, so make sure that the treats you provide are sources of additional protein and carbohydrates.
My birds enjoy wild bird seed mix in the winter. They like the milo and millet seeds which are good sources of carbohydrates, protein, iron, fiber, calcium and other vitamins.
When I clean out the refrigerator, or my husband is tired of leftovers, as long as they are not moldy or spoiled, they go to the chickens. When we go out to dinner and there are leftover veggies, salad or scraps that nobody will eat…doggie bag for the chickens. When we butcher a deer or an elk, meat scraps for the chickens. The thanksgiving turkey carcass goes to the chickens. Got some meat that’s freezer burned, cook it up and feed it to the chickens. Most produce from the garden is good for and loved by the chickens. When I find bugs in the garden, especially slugs, I give them to…oh, the chickens.
I plant a couple of containers inside the chicken run with herbs and edible flowers. I do put some fencing around them to protect the plants from total destruction, but the chickens keep them well groomed.
Grass clippings are fun for them to dig around in. It’s almost like foraging! I imagine they find some yummy weed seeds and maybe a bug or two.
Sprouted beans, wheat or lentils are an enjoyed treat and provide health benefits. Dried beans should never be given to chickens until they are either sprouted or cooked. Milk products are not necessarily the best for chickens either. In nature chickens do not have access to milk, so why give it to them now. There are other food sources that can be used to provide calcium and vitamin D such as crushed egg shells and fish. Make sure that your chickens are getting out of the coop and into the sunshine as well…even in the winter. Feeding treats out in the chicken run is a good way to encourage them to spend time outside.
Whatever you decide to do about treats, just remember your purpose for giving them, make sure they are nutritional, take the lead from Mother Nature and be creative and have fun! You’ll find thatyou enjoy treat time almost as much as your birds do!