Maintaining your chickens’ health requires a balance between nutritious snacks and treats. While treats can be fun to give them, they don’t always provide much nutritional value.
Healthy snacks are an ideal way to supplement your flock’s complete formulated feed and provide them with essential nutrients they may not get from their regular diet. However, it should only be fed in moderation – no more than two tablespoons per chicken daily.
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Cottage Cheese
Chickens love cottage cheese as a snack, as it provides them with protein and calcium. Plus, it helps them grow and lay eggs – making it an excellent choice for your flock!
Making cheese at home is easy and makes a healthy alternative to processed cheese. Plus, there’s no added fat and it’s low in calories!
Cottage cheese is a soft and creamy cheese made from cow’s milk that has been curdled and drained off. Its mild taste lends it an interesting twist; often mixed with fruit, granola or chives for recipes like lasagna. Cottage cheese can also serve in place of ricotta in recipes like that!
Leftover Meals
Leftover meals can make nutritious snacks for chickens if they’re nutritious. Vegetables, fruits (especially watermelon rinds and cantaloupe), grains, dairy products and protein sources like meat scraps all make excellent additions.
However, it is essential to remember that chickens should only eat table scraps in small amounts and not regularly. This list includes foods like pizza (no more than once a week) and high carbohydrate food scraps.
Eggshells
Eggshells make an excellent snack for chickens as they contain a significant amount of calcium. Laying hens need this mineral in order to stay healthy and produce plenty of eggs.
If you want to feed your chickens eggshells, it is essential that they be dried and crushed prior to consumption. Doing this will mask the odor and flavor of the shells so they cannot be identified as freshly laid eggs.
Fish
Fish is an ideal snack for chickens as it supplies them with protein and essential nutrients. Furthermore, its high Omega fatty acid content supports growth and development in chickens.
You can feed your chickens a variety of fish, such as cod, salmon, pollock, tilapia, halibut, shellfish and tuna.
Chickens should never consume spoiled or rotten fish, as this may expose them to various diseases and food poisoning.
Berries
Berries make an ideal snack for chickens, giving them essential vitamins and minerals as well as keeping your flock cool during hot weather.
Blueberries are an especially beneficial food choice for chickens, as they contain vitamin C and dietary fiber that are essential to their wellbeing and can help combat constipation.
Be sure to select organic, pesticide-free berries for your chickens. Those with high pesticide residues can cause problems like respiratory issues or neurological damage in your birds.
Pumpkins
Pumpkins are one of the healthiest and tastiest treats for chickens. Not only do they contain loads of essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, but they’re also delicious to boot!
They’re also high in potassium, making them perfect for hens during hot summer days.
Feed your hens whole pumpkins or chop them up into small cubes. Before cutting anything up, make sure you remove any rotting or moldy parts first.
Pumpkin flesh and seeds are delicious to your hens, as they boast powerful anti-oxidant properties which may help paralyze internal worms and parasites. Plus, pumpkins provide a good source of Vitamin E and Zinc–both essential for maintaining a healthy immune system.
Vegetables
Chickens love to snack on a wide selection of fruits and vegetables. Some of their favorites include bananas, apples, pears, grapes, tomatoes, strawberries, and watermelon.
Other vegetables beneficial for chickens include broccoli, carrots, celery, corn on the cob, cucumbers, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach and squash.
Vegetables not only benefit your chickens, but they’re an excellent source of vitamins and minerals as well as helping keep them hydrated in hot weather.
