What Do Chickens Eat? 107 Foods to Feed Your Flock, Save Money & Build Sustainability

"What do chickens eat?"

Here is your guide to feeding chickens. With 107 kinds of food to feed your backyard hens and roosters. A great DIY list of ideas to have for beginners or the more advanced. 

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You Don't Have to Be Commercial Feed Bound 

Some people want to make you think that the only "right" feed for chickens comes from the scientifically prepared bags you can buy at your local feed store. Although you can do that, the truth of the matter is that there are many more options open to you. That being the case you need to have a fair amount of variety and enough of it before you ditch the commercial feed. Learn more here.

In the mean time though, you can add in as much of these alternative feeds to help cut back on how much commercial feed they consume.

"What do chickens eat?" can be a simple question and yet there are many factors in that if you want to do a great job at it and get your flock to thrive. 

11 Things Not to Feed Chickens

There are not many things that chickens cannot eat, but it is good to know what they are and what to do with them. Read: 11 things not to feed chickens and how to dispose of them on the homestead to learn more. 

What Do Chickens Eat?

Here's your list of 107 foods you can feed your chickens. 

Conventional Feeds

• 1 — Pre-made store bought feed
• 2 — Fish meal
• 3 — Oyster shells

Learn how to get more out of your commercial feed by fermenting it here. 

Grains & Seeds

• 4 — Corn
• 5 — Sorghum
• 6 — Sunflower Seeds
• 7 — Amaranth
• 8 — Buckwheat
• 9 — Wheat
• 10 — Barley
• 11 — Peas
• 12 — Sesame seeds
• 13 — Flaxseeds 
• 14 — Millet
• 15 — Oats
• 16 — Quinoa
  

Vegetables & Greens

• 17 — Winter squash
• 18 — Pumpkins
• 19 — Summer squash
• 20 — Lettuce
• 21 — Musk melon
• 22 — Watermelon
• 23 — Spinach
• 24 — Cauliflower
• 25 — Broccoli
• 26 — Beans
• 27 — Moringa
• 28 — Pasture (AKA grass)
• 29 — Clover
• 30 — Alfalfa
• 31 — Yellow mustard
• 32 — Burdock
• 33 — Comfrey
• 34 — Stinging Nettle
• 35 — Dandelion
• 36 — Egyptian spinach
• 37 — Daikon radish
• 38 — Beets
  
• 39 — Carrots
• 40 — Swiss chard
  
• 41 — Cucumber
  
• 42 — Turnip
  
• 43 — Kale
• 44 — Radish (root and green tops)
• 45 — Lamb’s quarter
• 46 — Yellow dock
• 47 — Siberian pea shrub
  
• 48 — Forage Plantain
  
• 49 — Bok Choy
  
• 50 — Lentils
  
• 51 — Chickweed
  
• 52 — Silverbeet

Learn how to start a chicken garden here.

Fruits & Berries

• 53 — Elderberries
  
• 54 — Mulberries
• 55 — Blackberries
• 56 — Raspberries
• 57 — Figs
• 58 — Apples
• 59 — Pears
• 60 — Peaches
• 61 — Apricots
• 62 — Nectarines 
• 63 — Crabapple
• 64 — Beeches
  
• 65 — Black walnuts
  
• 66 — Pecans
  
• 67 — Hickories
  
• 68 — Oaks
  
• 69 — Almonds

Learn more about layers in a chicken garden here.

Milk & Farm Products

• 70 — Milk (cow or goat)
• 71 — Clabbered milk
• 72 — Kefir
• 73 — Yogurt
• 74 — Compost
• 75 — Manure
• 76 — Food scraps
• 77 — Free-ranging bugs
• 78 — Egg shells
• 79 — A small amount of butchering scraps or meat
• 80 — Eggs (Scramble so they don't start eating their own eggs)

Insects & Bugs

• 81 — Earthworms
• 82 — Roaches
• 83 — Scorpions 
• 84 — Grasshoppers
• 85 — Crickets 
• 86 — Mealworms
• 87 — Black solider flies
• 88 — Maggots

Learn more about bugs you can raise for your chickens here.

Herbs

"What do chickens eat?" The answer to that also includes herbs. They may not seem like much, but they are amazing for the health and therefore the productivity of your chickens. 

• 89 — Rosemary
• 90 — Mint
• 91 — Basil
• 92 — Thyme
• 93 — Parsley
• 94 — Lavender
• 95 — Oregano
• 96 — Garlic
• 97 — Dill
• 98 — Chives
• 99 — Chamomile
• 100 — Cilantro
• 101 — Lemon balm
• 102 — Nasturtium
• 103 — Wormwood
• 104 — Fennel seed
• 105 — Marjoram
• 106 — Rose petals
• 107 — Sage 

Learn more about growing herbs for chickens here.

Enjoy your list on "What do chickens eat?" 

11 things not to feed chickens and how to dispose of them on the homestead. 

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