[mummychick]

I have been giving our chickens leftovers most nights.  Is it okay to feed them these treats most days or should I only give them occasionally? They seem to know when we have had out tea!!!!! 

[pigeonpie]

I think this is all down to personal preference.  Generally the less layers pellets they eat the less eggs they will lay. 
The main thing with feeding household scraps is to make sure that you don't use salt in your cooking and that they don't have any meat scraps.
In the winter my girlies get a big saucepan full of boiled potatoes every day and other veg scraps as and when there is enough to warrant a boiling and they continued laying well throughout the cold and dark nights.  During the summer I don't give them much as they free range and get plenty of goodness so they only get stuff that would otherwise go to waste.

[ehs284]

Nothing wrong with meat scraps, providing that it is fresh. In the wild or free ranging they eat lots of animal protein. Surely the main point is that they are treats, so daily is fine but limit the quantity. Like children (and me) they'd eat treats all the time if you let them. Most people let them eat pellets through the day and give treats late in the day. It depends on the time of year, so now we give corn etc at 5-30 so that they will fill up on pellets later before bedtime. Perhaps the greater problem is that the neighbours give them huge quantities of food (to the disgust of their dog who can't see why chooks should be so spoiled).

[nicky d]

Ive often wondered about meat scraps, why is it you carnt give them to chooks, after all dont chooks if they can get them devour frogs, snails, slugs and mice even birds,   mine pecked to death a little blue tit.    nickyx

[tesni]

on the basis that they will eat meat protein naturally I give mine some meat scraps - they love spag bol    but I don't give chicken to them, that seems unnatural to me and I suspect that although cannibalism may be natural to them in some situations it doesn't sit comfortably with me (not referring to me being a cannibal!)  it seems unhealthy or am I being twee?

[grumpydad]

according to defra, the feeding of meat is prohibited , it comes as a result of sheep products being fed to cattle resulting in bse, cross feeding of species is not allowed.

the only protein ours get, is the occasional fish cat food, especially when they are moulting to help with the extra protein they need for feather production.

[hillfooter]

A couple of issues here.  

Treats generally are best rationed to around 5 % of the chx daily bulk requirements.  Not all treats are equal but generally they tend to be high in energy density (ie a lot of calories for little bulk).  Chx are grazing foraging animals and NEED a staple diet of low energy density food for two reasons.

• 1   Chx regulate their energy input so they eat enough for their needs without over eating but bulk plays a part in this regulation so too much high energy density food can cause over eating and obesity
  
  
• 2   They need to stay active both for physical and mental well being so providing the energy input they need without the bulk feed and foraging leads to inactivity and boredom which can promote bad habits like feather pecking.  This isn't that disimilar to high energy drinks and foods causing hyperactivity in children

Also too many treats can upset the balance of nutrients formulated in layers feed for optimum egg laying performance.  However to be fair they would have to eat a significant imbalance before it was a real issue for pet poultry but commercial layers are more finely tuned to produce optimum feed conversion.

For the above reasons you should not overdo treats and always feed in the evening to top up only.  Vegatables are much less of a problem than protein or refined foods like spaghetti

The second issue is meat.  The issue here is more to do with the sensitivity to argrocultural food production and problems such as BSE.  Commercial meat or egg producers are banned by law from feeding ANY food to an animal which might enter the human food chain with food or leftovers which has been prepared for human consumption in a kitchen.  From the regulations I've read there is some ambiguity how this would apply to hobbyists meat or egg production.  If you sell your eggs I suspect you would be breaking the law to feed leftovers and in particular meat.  If your eggs or chicken meat is for your own consumption I suspect pragmatically the rules aren't enforced though again technically I'm not sure if you might still be breaking the law feeding kitchen scraps.  Meat is particularly frowned upon especially feeding meat products to herbivores, though as has been observed chx are omnivorous.

I've heard conflicting advice on this issue and how it applies to none household pets ie pets which are classified as farm species animals (ie chickens or pet pigs for example).  You can feed meat happily to your pet dog or cat but I'm not sure the same is true of your pet chicken, as a chicken is classified as a farm species.  I've heard conficting opinions even from vets who I would have expected should know the definative answers.

Personally I only would give meat very infrequently or specifically if I wanted to increase protein as a convalescent treatment.

These are my understanding of the legal issues and I'd welcome any input from anyone who produces food for the public and has a better informed opinion.
Best wishes
HF

[VeggieVirgin]

Ive often wondered about meat scraps, why is it you carnt give them to chooks, after all dont chooks if they can get them devour frogs, snails, slugs and mice even birds,   mine pecked to death a little blue tit.    nickyx

I found my three 8-week-old chicks squabbling over a slow worm a couple of weeks ago (we rescued it), and my hens once nicked a mouse off the cat. I found a dead mouse in the coop yesterday morning as well - they obviously hadn't fancied a midnight snack, since it was still in one piece.

[evie2]

Our original chooks (fox got them) particularly liked rice and tuna which they had as a treat a couple of times a week

[mummychick]

Thanks for all the info!!!  I've been giving the chickens only cooked vegetables, rice and pasta  with no added salt.  They seem to like melon    I haven't fed them any meat and I don't really like the idea of giving it to them.  Anyway, with 3 hungry children in the house, there is never any meat left!!!!!

[evie2]

I know what you mean 6 children plus 2 adults, there was never any waste our dogs never begged for food either   the only problem we have is cooking smaller amounts, therefore the chooks get spoiled

[bazzysbarn]

We give layers mash and leftovers from the day before in the morning but they have access to mixed corn and layers pellets. Do you think we should cut down on the corn as we are not getting many eggs?

[joyfull]

cut down on all treats and make sure the majority of their feed is from the layers mash.

[bazzysbarn]

They have been having lots of fruit as well as we have elder and blackberries near their pen. Did think about giving them some chopped apples or would you disagree?

[hillfooter]

We give layers mash and leftovers from the day before in the morning but they have access to mixed corn and layers pellets. Do you think we should cut down on the corn as we are not getting many eggs?

Layers mash is generally used for commercial flocks and fed at set intervals in troughs.  It doesn't suit gravity fed feeders in adlib systems as well as pellets as it tends to cake if left too long and blocks the feeder.  It is therefore a lot more work for you if you have to feed several times a day in a trough.  Mash is cheaper and can be measured and rationed better if optimum cost is required.  However if you just have a few chx rather than a few hundred or thousand the convenience of pellets out weighs the increased cost.  I'd certainly consider completely weening them over to pellets only with a handful of corn in the evening.

As a general rule chx eat anything with seeds so fruit is good except citrus fruit should be avoided.  Apples are excellent and there's no need to chop them.  The exercise is good for them it's good to make them work a bit.
HF