Feeding Chickens does not seem like it would be Rocket Science for most of you, and actually there is not much to it at all.  it just takes some common sense and some research.

As I travel around looking at other Chicken sites I see several of you asking questions about certain fruits and vegetables that are allowed to be feed to us Chickens without harming us. One of the big questions is on pineapple.

While us older Chicks may be able to handle the acid of the pineapple I will strongly recommend that you do not feed it to the younger babes. There tiny stomachs are not able to handle the strong acid of the pineapple and will cause them to have diarrhea and even cause death.

My owners son decided to be very helpful one day and took out the peels of a delicious fruit salad that was prepared for the family.  He divided them up among all of us chickens.  Unfortunately he gave the pineapple peel to the 4-6 week old chicks.

When my owner went out in the morning to check on us all he discovered a very sad situation had occurred with his new up and coming flock of chickens.  Several of the chicks had died and many more were very week and dehydrated.

Confused why so many very healthy chicks the night before now lay dead he began an investigation only to discover the well picked over pineapple peeling.

During his search on the internet to see if this was the problem he found many more asking the same question in chicken forums.  There was a wide variety of answers being given but the most common one was do not feed to young chicks as it contains to much acid that their tiny stomachs can’t handle.

Now table scraps are not all bad as many folks like to give their chicken’s table scraps like vegetables, fruit, and meat. Now it may seem odd to give your chicken meat however if you think about it they are scooping up meat all the time outside in the form of worms, bugs, and possibly a mouse if you can imagine that. You will find that we  will eat nearly anything , just do not give us the peelings of citrus fruits, bananas, or green skinned potatoes.  NO PINEAPPLE

Yep, just like your mom said eat your greens they are good for us chickens as well.  You can give us chickens greens from your garden as long as you have not used any pesticides. If you let us chickens roam free make sure that you have your flower beds and garden fenced in or else we will make a nice meal of your crops.

Can you give your chickens your clips left over from lawn mowing? Yes, although, you should make sure they are very short clippings and only offer a small amount. If your clippings are too long they can cause some serious trouble. Your chicken might end up impacted and the clippings balled up. If you have a chicken tractor movable cage) let them feast on the grass clippings on the ground this way they will eat small pieces.

Feeding Chickens does not have to be something that causes so much grief and confusion if you just do your research and follow common sense.

What us adult birds maybe able to handle, may not be something you should feed your young replacement chickens.

Talk to your local feed stores and veterinarian if you have any questions whatsoever when it comes to feeding your back yard chickens.