Foods to Supplement Chicken Feed

Chickens are natural omnivores, eating most anything they find from plants to bugs and slugs. Commercial chicken feed provides a good base for a chicken diet. However, adding supplemental foods makes life much more interesting for these birds that naturally spend most of their day grazing. The natural eating habits of chickens make them easy to feed a variety of supplemental foods to.

  1. Vegetables

    • Chickens relish green lettuces and other vegetables. The more color to the vegetables, the more nutrients they offer for your chickens. Toss your chickens bunches of kale, dandelion greens, mustard, carrots or sweet potatoes, whether you cut them up or feed them whole is your choice. Another option is to plant your chickens their own garden where they can find their own vegetables.

    Bugs and Slugs

    • If your chickens are free to roam during the day then they will naturally find their own insects to eat, keeping your yard free of unwanted insects, slugs and snails. Help them find these prized treats by turning over rocks and logs to find the bugs, or collect slugs and snails in the early morning to give your chickens. You can also purchase mealworms and wax worms at local pet stores to offer your chickens as a treat.

    Chicken Scratch

    • Chicken scratch is a product that can be purchased from most any feed store. It is a mix of dried corn kernels and other grains that chickens tend to go nuts for. Offer scratch by scattering on the ground or in a bowl.

    Other People Food

    • Chickens will eat anything offered. Instead of throwing out leftovers, offer them to your birds. Keep in mind that what is healthy for you will be healthy for your chickens. Do not offer your chickens sweets or other junk food--just as for humans, these foods are not healthy for chickens.

    Oyster Shells

    • Oyster shells provide extra calcium to egg-laying hens. If you have egg layers, offer oyster shells in a bowl as an addition to grit. Oyster shells do not grind up food like grit and should not be fed as a grit.

    Grit

    • Chickens need grit to digest their food. If they are strictly on a diet of soft commercial chicken feed then grit is not necessary. However, if you are adding supplemental foods, then grit must be one of them. Free-range chickens will find small pebbles and sand on their own. If your chickens are contained then purchase a commercial grit meant for chickens. Put the grit in a bowl that the chickens have access to at all times.