Treats for Backyard Chickens

Chickens will take scratch grain, dried insects, leafy greens and kitchen scraps as treats, provided the feed in the feeder stays the main meal. Everything else is an extra, and extras are easy to overdo with a flock that comes running every time you walk outside.

Feed first, treats second

The feeder holds the dinner. A treat is what you carry in your hand. The bagged feed is made to be the whole meal for a hen, and scratch and scraps are extras on top of it, which is why they stay small.

The reason is simple to see at the run. A hen that has filled up on corn at three in the afternoon walks past the feeder at dusk. Whatever the feeder was meant to give her, she has skipped, and she has skipped it because the treat was more interesting.

Scratch grains, insects and kitchen scraps

Scratch is a mix of cracked or whole grains, usually corn with some other seeds, thrown on the ground so the flock can scratch for it. It is cheap, it keeps, and hens love it, which is the problem. USDA FoodData Central lists raw yellow sweet corn at about 76 grams of water per 100 grams, so a handful of fresh kernels is mostly water, while scratch is grain that has already been dried. A scoop of dry scratch packs far more into the same space, and that is the trade off.

Dried insects are the other classic. Mealworms are the familiar ones, and black soldier fly larvae are the plumper alternative; the two are compared in mealworms versus black soldier fly larvae. Both come in bags, rattle when shaken and are gone in seconds when tossed on the ground.

Kitchen scraps cover the rest: lettuce and cabbage leaves, cucumber ends, melon rinds, cooked pasta, the middle of a squash. Hang a cabbage from a string at beak height and a flock will spend half an hour on it. Scraps that are plain, whole and clean are the easiest to give. Chop up anything long and stringy so it does not wrap around a beak or a foot.

How much a flock gets

There is no number here that holds for every flock, and no source we trust gives one. What works is a routine that you can see. Put treats down in the late afternoon, after the feeder has done its work, and give what the flock clears up in a few minutes. If food is still on the ground when the hens wander off, you gave too much, and tomorrow's portion shrinks.

A flock is a small crowd, and crowds have a pecking order. The top hens eat first and fast. Scatter treats across a wide patch so the lower hens get a share, not in one pile at one spot.

To put a number on it for your own flock, scoop the scratch into a cup, throw it, and count how many scoops the hens clear in about five minutes. That count is the ceiling for that flock on that day, and it shrinks when the weather is hot or the feeder has just been filled.

Treats as a way to call the flock

A shaken can is the best tool in the run. Put a few scratch grains in an old coffee can, rattle it at the gate and drop a pinch on the ground, and do it every time you want the flock to come. Within a few days the sound alone brings them in from the far end of the yard. It is useful on the day a hen is out of the run and has to be gathered, and it costs a tablespoon of grain.

The same trick has a downside. A flock that has learned the can will also come to the gate every time you step out, and a rattling can at the wrong moment draws the entire crowd around your feet. Keep the can in a pocket or on a hook, and shake it only when you mean it.

The same pinch of scratch settles the last hen at dusk. Drop a little at the coop door in the evening and the stragglers walk in on their own, which beats chasing a hen around the yard in the dark with a flashlight.

Treats can also move a flock. A line of mealworms scattered along a fence leads hens from one part of a yard to another.

Foods to keep out of the run

A treat should come from a clean kitchen and a fresh bag. Moldy or spoiled food goes in the trash, not the run, and that includes the bread that went blue at the back of the cupboard. Take away any wet scraps that are left by evening, so they are not sitting in the run overnight.

For a specific food you are unsure of, look it up in the Merck Veterinary Manual's poultry pages before the food goes in the run. A list of foods to avoid belongs to the source that can stand behind it, and this guide does not try to copy one.

A farm that keeps chickens often keeps a dog too. Sniff and Shift freeze dries and air dries its treats in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, for dogs and cats, and none of it is meant for the flock. The chicken treats collection lists what is in stock for the run, and treats for every animal in the house covers the rest of the farm.

Common questions

Do chickens need scratch grain?

No, scratch is a treat and not a requirement. The feed in the feeder is the meal. Scratch is what you throw on the ground so the flock has something to hunt for.

What time of day should I give chickens treats?

Late afternoon works well, after the feeder has had a full day of use. Treats given earlier can fill hens up before they eat their feed. Scatter them widely so every hen gets some.

Can chickens eat bread?

Plain bread is a small, occasional treat, and it fills a hen up quickly. Stale bread can go out in small pieces. Anything with mold on it goes in the trash instead.

How do I train chickens to come when called?

Rattle the same can of treats each time, then drop a pinch of grain on the ground. Within a few days the sound alone brings the flock. Use it only when you want them, or they will mob you.