What chickens eat and what chickens should eat are not always the same thing. Chickens are omnivores. That means they’ll snarf down just about anything, or at least try to! I’ve seen a hen catch and slurp down a snake like spaghetti. I’ve seen a chicken snatch a toad by it’s leg and all of the other hens go in a raucous chase after it, only, at the end to discover that a toad is not good eating. Chickens also eat less exciting foods, like vegetables, fruits, flowers and grass. They eat grains and seeds. They scratch the ground and find bugs and specks of things that we can’t see. So, the question isn’t really what chickens eat, but what the right diet is for them.

In the 19th century most chickens were barnyard scavengers. They hatched out under their mamas and were taught to look for grain in the horse stalls, and for bugs and greens in the garden. The farm wife tossed stale bread and kitchen scraps to the hens. Chickens destined for the table were fattened on sour milk. Sometimes, in the winter, they’d be given a handful of grain. The hens back then laid only a few eggs a week. This haphazard diet was enough sustenance for them. But, flocks became larger and more confined. Chickens were bred to lay more and more eggs. Instead of 90 eggs a year, a hen now might lay over 300. With the increase in egg production came an increase in the nutritional requirements of the flock.

Laying Hen Pellets

Commercial laying hen pellets (or crumbles which are the same thing but smaller) are designed for today’s productive hens. Creating a daily egg is depleting. The pellets have the right proportion of protein, minerals and energy for the chickens. These pellets should make up the bulk of your flock’s diet. Your chickens should have access to the pellets all day long. They should go to bed with full crops (the crop is the pouch in their throat where the food is first stored after it is swallowed.) It takes over 25 hours to create one egg. During the night, as the hen is sleeping, she is still building that egg. She gets the materials for making that egg from digesting food. If her digestive tract is empty she can’t make the egg. So, let your hen eat what she wants from sunup to sundown.

Oyster Shell and Grit

Even though the commercial feed contains calcium, it is good to provide another source. Coarsely broken up oyster shell is the most easily absorbed form (even better than finely-ground.) I put it in a rabbit feed hopper, which keeps it tidy and prevents waste. Chickens also need grit – tiny rocks- that the hens need so that their gizzards can grind up food. Without grit, digestion is slowed and the hens are less efficient at extracting nutrients from feed. Like oyster shell, grit should be offered free choice.

Vegetables, Table Scraps and Free-Ranging

As good as it is, commercial feed should not be the only thing that your hens eat. A standard-sized hen will eat between 1/4 and 1/3 pound of pellets a day, if it’s the only food offered. However, it remains essential for our backyard hens to have a varied diet beyond the pelleted ration. Greens and dirt to scratch in are key components to keeping your flock healthy. If you can let your hens free-range, they’ll find plenty to eat. However, for those of us who live where there are severe winters, or who keep hens on small lots, or have too many predators to allow free-ranging, you have to provide a varied diet in other ways.

Chickens appreciate table scraps. They’ll eat most anything, from coffee grinds to stale toast to soggy green beans. Some things they won’t eat, and sometimes it’s a matter of personal preference. Mine don’t like raisins, and yet it’s a favorite treat for a friend’s flock. Not all of the foods tossed in the compost pile are ideal for chickens, but if your hens are getting most of their food intake from laying hen pellets, then it’s unlikely that they will overeat any one item in the scrap pile. There’s only one item that I know of that is lethal to chickens and that is avocados. Contrary to what you might have read out there, potato skins and eggplant leaves aren’t going to cause any harm. But, some foods are better than others. If you offer too many carbs, like bread and stale cereal, your hens will get fat and won’t get enough protein. So, dole those out judiciously. In the summer, you can toss all of your garden waste, including bug-softened zucchini, weeds and grubs in with your chickens. Your hens will eat what they like and shred the rest. I don’t give them grass clippings, as that can cause impacted crops. The same goes for long scallion stalks. But, it’s not a good idea to simply throw kitchen scraps and garden waste into the run, as it will become a mess. To keep everything tidy and healthy I have a compost bin in the chicken run. What the hens don’t eat gets churned into tiny bits and quickly turns into good dirt. It’s an easy, healthy system.

In the winter, when the compost bin is frozen, I hang cabbages inside the coop for rousing games of cabbage tether ball. I also put treats in suet feeders. Outside, I’ll cut a hole in a pumpkin and the hens will spend days pecking at it – even when frozen it will keep them busy and healthy.

Scratch Grains, Meal Worms and Other Treats

We all love to give our hens treats. Unlike so many others in our lives, chickens are raucously grateful for the smallest offerings. But, I’ve seen a disturbing trend to over-indulgence in the feeding of backyard hens. You can make your chicken sick – or even kill her – with too many of the wrong treats. One food that chickens love is cracked corn. It’s like candy to them. But, it has no nutritional value other than calories. It’s okay to give a little in the winter when the weather is really cold, but otherwise it has no benefit. It does quickly make hens fat, which can lead to serious egg-laying glitches. So, as much as your girls are gleeful about cracked corn, don’t feed it.

On the other end of the spectrum, I am especially concerned about all of the people feeding their hens mealworms. A small amount, like a tablespoon a day, is a fine treat. But, people are feeding handfuls. They’re practically feeding their hens pure protein (mealworms are up around 50%) The chicken expert at my local feedstore just told me about hens dying from kidney failure due to being fed mealworms as the main part of their diet. Besides the health dangers, mealworms are very expensive. Yes, it’s good for chickens to eat bugs, bugs they have worked for and found themselves, bugs that are part of an active life, and one in which the insects are part of other things that the chickens are sorting through and ingesting. A chicken should have to work for her treats, by scratching and exploring. Chickens should fill their crops over the course of a long day, not at one time. Tossing in a large handful of mealworms or corn to your hens is the exact opposite of what is best for them. Because hens that are active and outside are the healthiest, I keep a compost pile in the chicken run. It keeps them busy scratching and there’s always bugs and tidbits for them to find and eat.

Hulled sunflower seeds are a nice treat – in moderation. They have that extra bit of protein, and also contain good essential fats. My retired girls get about a teaspoon per bird per day. Plenty! Don’t feed the seeds with the shells on, as too many can cause an impacted crop. The sunflower seeds, and sometimes a small bit of cracked corn) are what I use to call my hens. If you’ve seen my YouTube video, you know how fast my hens come when called. Since they rarely get such treats, when they hear that can shake, they know something very, very special is waiting for them.

You might see large, solid blocks of chicken treats a the feed store and are supposed to be placed outside for foraging hens. These blocks attract chipmunks and mice to your run, and they don’t encourage the hens to move about and search for food. They also are sweet and so the hens prefer it to their pellets. If your girls are stuck indoors during the winter, a block can keep them busy. Otherwise, I don’t think they’re a good idea.

But all of this doesn’t mean that you can’t spoil your hens. A piece of crumbled stale bread, a bowl of yogurt, a bruised tomato, will all cause a happy commotion in the chicken yard.

Water

The one most essential thing to provide your flock is fresh water. Even though it does seem as if chickens prefer muddy pools (rather like toddlers in a rain puddle) always have clean water for them. Put the water font up off the ground (a few bricks work for this) so that it stays clean. Scrub the water font weekly. In the winter, if you are located in an area with freezing temperatures, either use an electric heating stand under the waterer (these are designed for chicken waterers) or be prepared to swap frozen waterers for fresh several times a day. A chicken without water will die within a day. In the summer I put an extra waterer out in the pen near the shady area where the hens like to hang out. Chickens overheat easily and water will go a long way to keeping them healthy and alive.

To wrap it up, what your hens need are laying hen pellets, fresh water, greens, fresh air and exercise. Indulge them by giving them an interesting environment, compost to shred, and your delighted attention. Once in awhile, toss them something really special (but keep it special by doing this sparingly!) Your treat will be having healthy, active, laying, hens.

Feeding Chicks

For the first two days of life the chick makes use of the yolk that is still inside of it. After that, the chick needs food and water. Chicks should be given free-choice finely ground feed that is 18% protein. They shouldn’t eat laying hen pellets because it is too high in calcium and too low in protein. The easiest way to feed chicks is to purchase chick starter. Do not purchase chick finisher or special “grow” feeds, as those are for meat birds that are slaughtered before maturity. Chicks remain on the chick feed for the first 14 to 18 weeks, which is about when they are mature enough to lay. Some people use medicated feed to protect the chicks against a protozoan disease called coccidia. I don’t believe in using medicated feeds unless the chicks show symptoms of illness. So far, I’ve never had to use it.

Most chicks are kept in brooders, which are essentially heated boxes bedded with pine shavings. These are safe places for the chicks to grow but not ideal. I think it is essential to give the chicks a clod of dirt with some greens attached the first week. The clump of earth is beneficial to the chicks in many ways. It exposes them to small amounts of local microbes so that they develop natural immunity. It gives them something to do, as even chicks get bored! It gets a bit of grit into their gizzards. Most importantly, it teaches the chicks to peck the ground and not each other. Providing that clod of dirt will greatly reduce aggression and pecking issues later. Do make sure, though, that there isn’t fine grass clinging to it. The greens should be sturdy so that the chicks peck little bits off. Dandelions are perfect for this. You don’t want them getting impacted crop from fine blades of grass. It is tempting to give the chicks other treats as well, everything from sunflower seeds to strawberries. But, remember that if the chicks were outside with a mamma, that they’d be moving and eating tiny bits of things and not standing still and gorging. You can give them treats, but in very small amounts, and make sure that they fill up on chick feed first. As soon as it is warm enough the chicks can go outside and peck and eat whatever they want. Just make sure that the bulk of their diet is a balanced chick feed that they get free choice.

For more about feeding chickens for the first 20 weeks, go here.

Unlike some wild birds that you might see splashing in puddles, chickens do not, on their own, take water baths. They prefer dust baths (see the FAQ about lice to find out why dust bathing is essential to their well-being.) But, there might come a time when you want to get your chicken clean. Perhaps you’re going to a poultry show, or taking your hen to a public appearance, or maybe you’re tired of seeing a manure-crusted butt and you want to clean it off. Whatever the reason, not only is it fairly easy to give a chicken a soap-and-water bath, but it seems to be an enjoyable experience for the bird!

A large utility sink makes the chore easy, but you can use tubs of water outside as well. There are four steps: get the hen wet, get her soapy and clean, rinse her off, and finally, dry her. During all steps take care to be gentle and calm. Don’t ruffle the outer, sleek, feathers, but keep them lying smooth. The fluffy down can be swished and handled a bit more. If your hen is especially mucky, you’ll want a few changes of water, which should be warm but not hot.

This video shows how bathing a chicken is done.

One of the joys of chicken keeping is calling one’s hens and having them come running to you in that flapping, rolling, comical way that they have (like toddlers with full diapers.) Not only is it amusing to see chickens hurrying to you, but it is behavior that is essential to a well-managed poultry yard. There are many situations when it is essential to be able to have your flock hasten home, and to be easily closed up into a secure pen.

The key to teaching your chickens to come is for them to see you as the font of all good things. First, they have to have no fear of you. Always work around them in a calm and confident manner. Take the time to sit on a low stool and be amongst them. Not all chickens like to be held, but most like to be around people, after all, they are curious animals, always looking for amusement. Just wearing a shirt with a bright pattern is enough to occupy their minds!  They’ll see you caring for them daily, filling their feeder and waterer. They’ll know that a compost pail means good things to rummage through in their pen. When I garden, I save unearthed grubs and buckets of weeds for them. Soon enough, your hens will always be watching out to see if you have something good for them.

But, to have them come in an excited horde when called takes a tad of training. Put something extra-special, like cracked corn or hulled sunflower seeds into a small container. Stand near the hens, shake the treats loudly and say, “here girls” (or “ladies” if that’s what you call them.) Toss a few treats at your feet. They’ll get the idea, quickly. Do this a few times. Then, you can try it a bit further away. In short order, when the hens hear you say, “here girls” they’ll come running, just as enthusiastically as mine do, as you can see in this video.

Some people like to sit with their hens in their laps, others would prefer that the birds stay at their feet. But, regardless of how you like to hang with your hens, being able to pick them up easily is essential for their care. You’ll need to check them for lice, or injury. You might need to move a hen from one pen to another, or pick it up when it gets in your flower bed. Chickens that are used to being handled and held are easier to care for.

Some chickens are innately friendly and fearless, but most of them respond to arms swooping down to scoop them up as any prey animal would, with fear. So, the first thing to do is to spend time with your chickens so that they can get to know and trust you. If you get your birds as chicks handle them, but be careful to be very gentle, and don’t fuss with them so much that you annoy them. Adult hens will respond positively to a person sitting on a low stool in the midst who is tossing delicious treats or simply sitting in quiet companionship. Your chickens should recognize that you are the bearer of good things, like water, food and entertainment. If your chickens run away when they see you, then rethink how you interact with them.

Picking up a chicken is a learned skill. You need to do it quickly and firmly. Hold their wings at their sides so that they can’t flap. Always talk quietly and calmly.

I’ve made a video so you can see how I pick up my hens. I hope that it helps in your daily care and interaction with your flock.

When a respiratory disease shows up in a flock, it hits hard and fast. Within days of one hen showing symptoms, many of your other chickens will, too. There are a variety of respiratory ailments caused by numerous bacteria and viruses, but the tell-tale signs are similar for all of them. Eyes bubble with mucus, or blink shut with exhaustion, chickens struggle to breathe, and they hunch up, listless. and weak. Left untreated, many of your chickens will die. It’s no wonder that farmers who make their living from their animals cull at the first hint of illness. No one wants to see death rampage through their flock. However, for the backyard chicken keeper, there are other ways to deal with respiratory disease.

I once brought home a lovely Rhode Island Red pullet. Within days, all of my other hens came down with a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, (MG.) The bacteria which causes MG is an odd creature; it lacks a cell wall. That means that it is fragile when it is outside of the birds and can be killed with heat, sunlight, disinfectants, or simply time – after 3 days, it dies. But, inside the birds, it is virulent and can lead to severe respiratory disease. My chickens became so sick, and their eyes so crusted, that they couldn’t see to eat. Meanwhile, my new Rhode Island Red looked fine – a hen can look perfectly healthy, but still be carrier of MG (which is another reason why for many farmers it’s and economic necessity to destroy an entire flock when the first hint of illness appears.)

Fortunately, there are drugs that work. Three days on Tylan (an antibiotic), and some terramycin squirted in the eyes, and all were back to normal. Although these hens might now be carriers, I’ve never had another attack of MG, even when new birds have joined the flock.

My hens have suffered from other bouts with other forms of respiratory illness, too. The symptoms vary, but all have similarities showing raspy, tired breathing. Unless you do a blood test, you’ll never know exactly what your birds have, but, that doesn’t matter, since treatment remains the same for any respiratory disease.

The first line of defense is that when you see a hen that you suspect is ill, isolate her and observe. If she has respiratory symptoms, then you might want to medicate. If only one hen is showing symptoms, isolate her and treat. If any of the other hens look even a tad off, I’d put antibiotics in their water, too.

Avian antibiotics are available at feed stores and on-line.Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotics and usually knocks out any bug that your flock has. It can be bought on-line or in your local feed store. It’s good to have some on hand. Follow the dosage directions carefully. The drugs are packaged for huge flocks, so to get the dose right for a few hens, I use a digital kitchen scale. Usually, you’ll dilute it in water and dose them through their water font. However, your sickest hens might not be drinking. Use an eye dropper or a syringe to pour the medicated water down the hen’s throat. Tylan is a powerful drug, and more specific for severe cases and MG. Tylan might come in pill form, which makes it easy to give to an individual hen, but not so nice when you have a dozen or more hens to medicate!

Continue to medicate according to package directions. The ailment will return if you stop dosing before the advised number of days. You’ll have to discard eggs that were laid while the hens were on antibiotics. I’ve read recommendations to throw out eggs up to ten days after the last dose.

I buy meat from farms that raise animals without antibiotics. I’m against feeding sub-therapeutic drugs just so that animals can survive in stressful housing. But, I’m grateful that I can use these drugs when my animals are ill!