Are you staring at your flock wondering what on earth to feed those hungry beaks? I’ve been there! When I first started raising chickens, I was constantly second-guessing every kitchen scrap I tossed their way. Should I give them those banana peels? What about those tomato leaves? (Spoiler alert: yes to banana peels, big NO to tomato leaves!)
As backyard chicken owners, we all want our feathered friends to be healthy, happy, and laying those perfect eggs. The good news is chickens are natural omnivores and can eat a surprising variety of foods. The bad news? Some common foods can be downright dangerous for them.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share everything I’ve learned about what chickens can eat, what they should avoid, and how to keep your flock thriving with a balanced diet
Why a Balanced Diet Matters for Your Chickens
Before we dive into the food list, let’s talk about why proper nutrition matters. Just like us humans, chickens need a balanced diet to thrive.
- Young chicks need 14-18% protein to develop strong bones and healthy immune systems
- Laying hens require 16-18% protein plus extra calcium for egg production
- Roosters generally need about 9% protein
Without proper nutrients, you might notice:
- Thin, brittle eggshells (calcium deficiency)
- Poor feather quality
- Reduced egg production
- Weakened immune systems
- Less active, less happy chickens
What Can Chickens Eat? 70+ Chicken-Approved Foods
Let’s get to the good stuff! Here’s a comprehensive list of foods your chickens can safely enjoy:
Fruits
Chickens absolutely LOVE fruits! Mine go crazy for:
- Apples (remove seeds as they contain small amounts of cyanide)
- Bananas (peels and all!)
- Berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
- Cantaloupe (flesh, seeds, and rind)
- Cherries (pitted – the pits contain cyanide)
- Grapes (seedless preferred, in moderation)
- Honeydew
- Mangoes
- Oranges (in moderation – some debate exists about citrus)
- Papaya (great for parasite control!)
- Peaches (remove pits)
- Pears (remove seeds)
- Pineapple
- Plums (remove pits)
- Watermelon (a summer favorite – rind, flesh, and seeds)
Vegetables
My chickens especially love leafy greens and colorful veggies
- Asparagus (may alter egg taste)
- Beets (and beet greens!)
- Bell peppers (avoid leaves and stems)
- Broccoli (in moderation – contains goitrogens)
- Brussels sprouts (in moderation – contains goitrogens)
- Cabbage (in moderation – contains goitrogens)
- Carrots (and carrot tops!)
- Cauliflower
- Celery (chop into small pieces to prevent crop issues)
- Corn (cooked or raw)
- Cucumber (great for hydration in summer)
- Kale (in moderation – contains goitrogens)
- Lettuce
- Peas
- Pumpkin (flesh and seeds – seeds may help with parasite control)
- Squash (all varieties, including acorn squash)
- Sweet potatoes (cooked)
- Swiss chard
- Tomatoes (ripe fruit only – leaves and stems contain solanine and are toxic!)
- Zucchini
Grains & Seeds
Great for energy and variety:
- Amaranth (cooked or extruded, never raw)
- Barley
- Bird seed
- Buckwheat
- Corn
- Flaxseeds
- Millet
- Oats (raw or cooked)
- Popcorn (popped, unsalted)
- Quinoa (washed or cooked)
- Rice (cooked only)
- Sunflower seeds (great for molting birds)
- Wheat
Protein Sources
Protein helps with egg production and feather growth:
- Black soldier fly larvae (aka Grubblies – 50x more calcium than mealworms!)
- Cooked beans (NEVER raw beans – they contain hemagglutinin)
- Cooked chicken (yes, they can eat cooked chicken)
- Cooked eggs (scrambled or boiled)
- Cooked fish
- Crickets
- Mealworms (my chickens’ absolute favorite treat)
- Nightcrawlers
- Shrimp (shell and all)
Nuts (unsalted, shelled)
Good protein source in moderation
- Almonds
- Brazil nuts
- Cashews
- Hazelnuts
- Peanuts and peanut butter
- Pecans
- Walnuts
Dairy (in moderation)
Chickens lack the lactase enzyme, so go easy on dairy:
- Cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Yogurt (good source of probiotics)
Herbs & Beneficial Additions
These can boost health and immune function:
- Basil (supports respiratory health)
- Cilantro
- Garlic (small amounts for immune support)
- Ginger (antioxidant and stress reducer)
- Mint
- Oregano (excellent for immune health)
- Parsley
30 Foods Chickens Should NEVER Eat
Now for the important part – foods that can harm or even kill your chickens:
Absolute No-Nos (Toxic Foods)
- Avocado (all parts contain persin, which is toxic to chickens)
- Chocolate (contains theobromine, toxic to chickens)
- Coffee grounds (caffeine is dangerous to chickens)
- Green potato peels/skins (contain solanine)
- Moldy or spoiled food (can cause mycotoxicosis)
- Onions (can cause anemia and flavor eggs in smaller quantities)
- Raw beans (contain hemagglutinin which causes blood clots)
- Raw potato (contains solanine)
- Rhubarb (contains oxalic acid that can damage livers)
- Stone fruit pits and apple seeds (contain cyanide)
- Tomato leaves/stems and green tomatoes (contain solanine)
- Xylitol (artificial sweetener, harmful to all pets)
Foods to Avoid or Limit
- Alcohol (toxic to chickens)
- Bread (little nutritional value, feed in moderation)
- Butter (too fatty for chickens)
- Citrus (debated – some say it interferes with calcium absorption)
- Fried foods (too fatty and unhealthy)
- Garlic (in large amounts – can flavor eggs)
- Maggots (risk of botulism)
- Raw chicken (risk of salmonella)
- Raw eggs (might encourage egg-eating behavior)
- Salty foods (can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances)
- Sugary foods (can cause obesity and other health issues)
- Uncooked rice (potential crop impaction)
- Wild mushrooms (potentially toxic)
Creative Ways to Feed Your Chickens Without Breaking the Bank
Feeding chickens doesn’t have to be expensive! Here are my favorite ways to save money:
1. Free-ranging
Let your chickens forage for bugs, worms, and grass. My girls absolutely love hunting for insects, and it provides them with natural protein sources. I’ve noticed my free-range eggs have much more vibrant yolks!
2. Grow Your Own Feed
I’ve started growing sunflowers, corn, and kale specifically for my chickens. It’s easier than you think, and it drastically cuts down on feed costs.
3. Use Kitchen Scraps Wisely
Don’t throw away those veggie peels and fruit cores! Most kitchen scraps make excellent chicken treats. I keep a special “chicken bucket” in my kitchen for collecting safe scraps throughout the day.
4. Make Homemade Chicken Feed
Try this simple homemade feed recipe:
- Wheat – 30%
- Corn – 30%
- Peas – 20%
- Fish Meal – 10%
- Oats – 10%
- Poultry Nutri-Balancer – 2%
- Free Choice Kelp
- Free Choice Aragonite
5. Ferment Your Grains
Fermenting grains increases their nutritional value and makes them more digestible. Plus, it can reduce the amount you need to feed!
6. Partner with Local Businesses
I’ve made arrangements with local coffee shops and restaurants to collect their vegetable scraps. Many businesses are happy to set aside chicken-safe food waste rather than throwing it away.
Signs Your Chickens Are Getting a Proper Diet
How do you know if your feeding program is working? Look for these signs:
- Glossy feathers that look healthy and vibrant
- Consistent egg production with strong shells
- Active, energetic behavior – scratching, foraging, and dust bathing
- Bright red combs and wattles (for hens that have started laying)
- Solid droppings that aren’t too runny or too firm
Final Thoughts: Balance is Key
While this list of chicken-approved foods is extensive, remember that variety and balance are key. Just like us, chickens benefit from a diverse diet that includes proteins, carbs, healthy fats, and plenty of vitamins and minerals.
I always make sure my chickens have access to a high-quality layer feed as their main source of nutrition, with treats making up no more than 10-20% of their diet. This ensures they get all the essential nutrients they need while still enjoying variety and enrichment from treats.
Happy chicken keeping!
Can Chickens Survive Without Chicken Feed?
Backyard chickens 1,000 years ago likely weren’t laying an egg a day; the foraging and free-ranging of their diet wouldn’t support it.
But can chickens of today survive without chicken feed like those chickens of our ancestors? Maybe!
If you have enough land with crops growing and bugs plentiful, you can allow your chickens to forage for most of their diet from bugs and plants during the time of year that the plants are growing. Because they won’t be getting as high of a protein ratio, you won’t get as many eggs.
Right now, we are thankful for modern commercial feeds. They certainly make our lives easier and make home production much simpler. But with inflation and generally rising prices, if the cost of feed prohibits you from keeping your chickens, then perhaps it’s time to think outside the box and find another solution to feeding your chickens.
Will it be perfect? Maybe not. Will they get the exact proper ratio of protein? Maybe not. But as long as your chickens are happy and healthy, there is some wiggle room and we want to encourage you to have the freedom to find for yourself.
There are many ways you can get creative with what to feed your chickens beyond layer feed.
Should Chickens Eat Grain
We all know chickens haven’t been eating grain forever. They simply weren’t created to do so. In the wild, grains are only available a small part of the year, when grasses ripen. This means that the domesticated chickens’ predecessors had to find other sources of nutrition for much of the year. Bagged chicken feed is a newer, more modern way of feeding chickens to maximize egg production or weight gain.
The typical modern backyard chicken’s diet is comprised mostly of commercial chicken feed, followed by greens and healthy kitchen scraps, with the occasional chicken treats, mealworms and other healthy protein. But this does not mimic what chickens used to eat before industrial agriculture got involved. Today’s chickens have been bred to have such a high production rate that their nutritional requirements are significantly higher.
So should chickens eat grain? It depends!
What Kitchen Scraps Your Chickens Can And CANT Eat! Some Are Toxic For Chickens!
FAQ
What should a chicken eat?
Chickens require a balanced diet that includes a mix of grains, protein, and other nutrients. The type of feed you choose will depend on the age and stage of development of your chickens, as well as your specific goals (such as egg production or meat production).
What can chickens eat if feed goes bad?
When feed goes bad, it loses nutritional value. There are many kinds of feed that chickens can eat, but the basic ingredients include cracked corn, soybean meal, fishmeal, or meat and bone meal. Chickens should eat a well-balanced diet of feed that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates.
Can you feed a chicken a chick?
It is up to you whether you want to purchase medicated or unmedicated feed – just make sure you only feed chicks chick starter. When your chickens become pullets, they can be switched to layer feed or broiler feed. Layer feed has 16% protein and should not be given to birds unless they are lying.
Is there anything chickens can’t eat?
What foods are safe for chickens to eat?
Chickens eat commercial layer feed, grass, and bugs from their yard, supplemented with fruits and vegetables like kale, watermelon, and squash in moderation. They also benefit from protein sources such as mealworms, cooked eggs, and meat scraps, as well as calcium from crushed eggshells. Whole grains, some herbs, and fermented feed can also be part of their diet, but avoid avocados, chocolate, spoiled meat, raw/dried beans, and sugary or salty foods.
Do chickens eat banana peels?
What kind of people’s food can chickens have?