Safe Scraps For Chooks

By Dr TD

​One of the many things we love about backyard chickens is the idea of reducing food waste and our little feathery powerhouses converting celery tops and cauliflower leaves into fresh eggs.

But how can we feed the flock kitchen scraps safely? The ratio of commercial feed: grain: greens is important.

Too high a proportion of delicious fatty grains, such as scratch mix, barley, corn, or oats can make chickens overweight, and deficient in protein, calcium, and good vitamins such as Vitamin A. This predisposes them to egg-laying difficulties including egg yolk coelomitis. And chickens will always choose grain if it's freely available.

Too much vegetable matter, and chickens will starve! Your kitchen scraps have good trace elements and vitamins but are low in energy.

Commercial foods such as layer pellets are tailored to meet the needs of today's high-output hen. General guidelines are about 120g per chicken per day.

In addition, a small scattering of scratch mix, which the chickens have to search the garden for, makes the perfect environmental enrichment.

Plus they can get added goodness from that bucket of vegetable kitchen scraps. 

Meat scraps should be left out, because of how quickly they go off - rotting food can result in paralysis from botulism - and because feeding livestock to other livestock is kinda how we ended up with mad cow disease.

And remember that some of our vegetable scraps are poisonous. Don't feed avocado pits or peel, onions, or raw potato to chooks. Too much parsley can sensitise them to the sun, so feed in moderation to avoid burnt chickens.

As for forage or weed piles from gardening, take care with long grass because it can cause crop impaction, as can polystyrene and cigarette butts. Castor beans, tobacco and nightshades are toxic. Pesticides, fertilisers, lead paint or wire offcuts are also to be avoided.

Don't forget the shell grit and the fresh water (allow 400mL/ chicken/ day) and you're all set to feed safe scraps to your chooks.