melon rinds
apple peelings and trimmings
squash
pumpkin
leftover chicken and meat scraps , try a steak bone. they’ll clean it up completely
pasta
salad
coleslaw
cheese
cereals
bananas
grapes
tomatoes
soup, etc, ad infinitum

Are my birds healthy? You bet your booties they are. They lay very well. per dozen birds I get between 8 to 12 eggs a day.

I used to worry about chickens choking or getting bound up- but honestly if they have enough grit they ‘chew’ things just fine. Chickens have been known to eat snakes, rodents- and other things that cross their path- mine love dandilions and grass and clover which I hand pick and chop a bit with scissors. You would not want to feed mowed grass- to horses either, or picked grass(w/out chopping it abit) or HAY- hay is dried and not breakdownable, so HAY does pose a threat- once they start to swallow a piece there esophagus will pull it down whether they want to keep eating it or not…ever see one running round with a piece of hay in their beak, trying to itch it out with their foot? you pull it out to see its like a foot long? but generally one long stand of hay is not going to bind them up. Young chicks are more seceptable to choking or crop impaction than adults.

there are indeed toxic things to avoid, and things to give only in moderation- some bids are brighter than others and instincually will not eat something toxic to them unless by accident- all animals show levels of instinct- my chicens will run and duck for cover when a larger bird flyes overhead- of course how do they know to do that if they have never been attaked? INSTINCT. but surely dont go throwing something toxic to them when they are cooped up birds- they are more likley to be so bored (lack of free ranging/foraging) that they may jump on anything and eat it- especially when there is competition for the item.

There are days i throw oatmeal, strawberries, corn cobs and a miriad of other things to my bantams and they just look at it -the little buggers! BUT eventuallythey DO eat it- I find that standard sized birds especially red sex links are better garbage disposals (figure of speach of course).

Too much oats/bread can cause sour crop though- so things should always be given in moderations, and yes- it often can throw their system off and cause a couple ‘odd eggs’ to be found….long term deficiencies can cause health issues for sure.

Just use common sense and do your research, certain flocks do better on certain feeds- it all depends of stress level, confinement and how well they are physically and emotionally cared for. Happy hens with spacious clean environments are healthy hens.

e

They love tomato fruits, chopped peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, and other leafy garden scraps. They can actually tell the difference between a comfrey leaf which they devour, and a romaine leaf, which they apparently don’t like.

They love corn plant leaves too. They don’t like eating the bigger corn seeds, but if the seeds are left to soften and or sprout, they gobble them up.

I can’t figure out why people think that chicken food has to be milled. Most 3rd world countries have chickens roaming around, without formulated, pelleted or milled feeds, or vast amounts of grain.

Pioneers had chickens without these things as well, if the chickens did so poorly on a “natural” diet, then there would have been no point in keeping chickens because they wouldn’t have laid any eggs, and been too skinny to make a meal out of.

Chickens are smarter than people give them credit for. They like a varied diet as much as we do.