Safe Kitchen Scraps and Treats (10% Rule)

Treats should stay under 10% of daily intake so the balanced layer or all-flock feed still does its job. Safe crowd favorites: leafy greens (kale, chard, lettuce, spinach in moderation), cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon and other melons, cooked squash and pumpkin (raw is fine too), berries, apples (no seeds in bulk, they contain cyanide compounds), bananas, grapes cut in half, cooked plain rice, cooked plain oatmeal, cooked pasta, plain whole grain bread in small amounts, cooked beans (never raw), scrambled or hard-boiled eggs, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, mealworms and black soldier fly larvae, garden bugs, worms, and grasshoppers. Herbs chickens love: oregano, parsley, basil, mint, thyme, dill. Rules of thumb: nothing moldy, nothing greasy or heavily salted, nothing sugary, no raw meat scraps that could rot in the run. Chop bulky treats so a bossy hen cannot swallow them whole. Toss treats in the run late afternoon so hens fill up on their real feed first.