Foods to Never Feed to Your Chickens

One of the best things about chickens is that they will eat—and thoroughly enjoy—so many of your table scraps. Not only does this eliminate your food waste, but feeding your chickens treats like melons, berries, peaches and plums, leafy greens, and other veggies can provide extra healthy nutrients in their diet.

As with most pets, however, there are some foods that you should avoid feeding to your chickens. Feeding your chickens the wrong foods can result in unhealthy birds, a decline in egg production, and even death.

Below are a few foods your birds should never eat:

Citrus (peels and fruit). Citrus won’t poison your birds but it causes a decline in egg production, something backyard chicken enthusiasts want to avoid at all costs!

Spoiled meat. This can poison your birds.

Meat in large quantities. Although chickens are not vegetarians, too much fat in their diet is unhealthy.

Raw eggs. Raw eggs are safe for chickens to eat, but it will encourage them to eat their own eggs and prevent you from enjoying them.

Garlic and onion. Garlic and onions are safe for chickens, just be ware that if your hens eat these, you’ll have garlic- and onion-flavored eggs.

Avocado. The fruit of avocado is OK for chickens to eat, but the skins and pits are slightly toxic to chickens.

Potato peels. Potato peels contain solanine, which is toxic to chickens.

Dried or undercooked beans. Beans that are not cooked thoroughly contain hemagluten, which is toxic to chickens.

Very salty foods. Too much salt in your chickens’ diet can cause salt poisoning.

Very sugary foods. To much sugar is unhealthy for chickens.

Processed foods. Processed foods usually contain high levels of salt, sugar, and fat, which is very unhealthy for chickens.

Chocolate. As with most pets, chocolate is poisonous to chickens.

Morning glories or daffodils. These are poisonous to chickens, so it’s best to avoid planting them in your backyard garden.

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