Homemade Treats for Chickens
Inside: Your chickens will love all of these homemade treats. Here are some easy recipes for homemade treats that your chickens are sure to love.
As any chicken keeper knows, our feathered friends love a good treat. While there are many commercial treats available, it's also easy to make your own. Not only will your chickens enjoy the homemade treats, but you'll also know exactly what's in them. Here are some easy recipes for homemade treats that your chickens are sure to love.
This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.
Homemade Treats for Chickens
My chickens are spoiled. They get treats all the time. I see it as they poop out my food, so anything that we feed them goes back to us. My sister, who does not have chickens, laughs at how much I spoil my birds with treats.
Get updates & freebies delivered to your inbox!
My favorite thing to feed my chickens during the winter months is their feed! In the morning while I am filling their waters with fresh warm water, I soak their feed in hot water. I only soak it for maybe 30 minutes.
I add in bits of apple cores from the day before and other similar things. Sometimes I will also add in oregano or red chili pepper flakes.
It's a warm treat for super cold mornings.
Oatmeal Cookie Balls
The recipe for these treats is loosely based on an old recipe for oatmeal cookies. They are easy to whip up and will freeze well. Just remember to keep your hands (and mouth!) off because these are supposed to be for the chickens.
Find the oatmeal cookie recipe for chickens here.
Chicken Oatmeal
Everyone loves a warm bowl of oatmeal on a chilly day. Here is a basic oatmeal recipe and some ideas to adapt it to make it delicious and nutritious for your hens. I make this for our birds on those rare freezing days that we have.
How to make it:
- 1 cup of oats
- 1 3/4 cups of water
Add-in options:
- meal worms
- raisins
- scratch grain
- assorted berries
- sunflower seeds
- dried and fresh herbs
Suet Cakes
Suet cakes are a great boredom buster for the flock. Give them this fun snack to help. Bonus, it contains healthy fats like coconut oil to give them a calorie boost in winter.
Suet cake treats work great when frozen, so they are perfect for helping hot hens cool off in the middle of the summer.
You can find a lot of recipes online, one of these days I'll get around to making some to share here as well.
Frozen Fruits & Vegetables
In the summer toss some frozen fruits or vegetables into your chicken run. They love it. It's a great way for them to cool down in the heat.
Frozen Corn
In a muffin tin mix some frozen or canned corn with water and freeze. Entertain your chickens while they have a cool treat. I recommended a silicone muffin pan that you can easily pop the pieces out of.
You don't have to feed your chickens treats. Our chickens are pets, so just like our cats and dogs great treats, we give our chickens treats. the biggest difference is that my chickens poop treats for us.
What Not to Feed Your Chickens
While you might want to feed your chickens anything and everything from your kitchen there are things that you should not feed your chickens:
- Avocadoes (mainly the pit and peel)
- Chocolate or Candy
- Citrus
- Green Potato Skins
- Dry Beans
- Junk Food
- Moldy or Rotten Foods
- High Salt Foods
- Onions
- Coffee
- Raw Rice or Beans
- Spinach or Rhubarb Leaves
- Tomatoes & Eggplant
- Raw Eggs – they could develop a taste for them and start eating the eggs you wish to collect
Enjoy your chickens and their eggs. Focus on feeding them their daily feed and then you can add some treats in here and there.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I give my chickens as a treat? Watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries make healthy snacks for chickens when fed in moderation. A few flock favorites include: Vegetables: Lettuce, beets, broccoli, carrots, kale, swiss chard, squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers.
What kitchen scraps can you feed chickens? The scraps can be raw or cooked. Your birds will happily gobble up all kinds of fruits and vegetables, including berries, apples, and greens, as well as bread and rice.
