Chickens are omnivores and do require a balanced diet of all types of foods. In the wild chickens would forage for greens (grasses or weeds), seeds, fruits, vegetables, and -yes- meat (usually in the form of bugs and small rodents or reptiles). A diverse diet will lead to happier, healthier chickens. Always remember treats should be given in moderation alongside their normal diet of layer feed for best results and better tasting eggs!
Here is a comprehensive list of treats that are safe to give your flock:
- Apples – Raw or cooked. Applesauce is also a flock favorite. I recommend removing all seeds to avoid any cyanide poisoning.
- Asparagus – Our chickens are not very interested in asparagus but it is quite a healthy snack if your flock will eat it. But be warned it could change the taste of the eggs.
- Bananas – Without the peel. Great source of different vitamins and a delicacy among our flock. Don’t throw out those mushy, brown-spotted bananas anymore!
- Beans – Must be cooked! Dried beans are toxic to chickens! Green Beans are the favorite around here.
- Beets – Another one that my flock won’t eat but could be very nutritious.
- Berries – All kinds. The flock favorite on our farm is strawberries and blueberries.
- Bread – In moderation. A stale dinner roll here and there is fine.
- Broccoli – Raw or cooked.
- Brussels Sprouts – Raw or cooked.
- Cabbage – Really, any leafy green is popular amongst our birds.
- Cantaloupe
- Carrots – raw and cooked. They can also have the carrot tops/foliage.
- Cheese – Mostly cottage cheese. But should be fed in strict moderation as chickens can’t digest dairy products very well.
- Cherries – Remove pits.
- Corn – On the cob or canned. Raw or cooked.
- Crickets – You can buy live crickets at the pet store or bait shop. They are a great source of protein and can also provide enrichment to your chickens as they have to ‘hunt’ and catch them.
- Cucumbers – Always a crowd favorite.
- Earthworms
- Eggs – Ideally cooked. You don’t want your chickens to develop a taste for raw eggs and start breaking open eggs in the nesting boxes intentionally.
- Eggplant
- Fish/Seafood – Cooked. Great source of protein.
- Grapes – Ideally seedless.
- Grubs
- Kale/Lettuce/Collards
- Mealworms – Live
or Dried
.
- Meat scraps – In moderation and not too fatty. Yes, they can also eat cooked chicken but it just seems…wrong.
- Mint (herb) – We have Lemon Balm growing around our yard and the chickens love it. It is also great for digestion.
- Nuts – Unsalted and ideally chopped.
- Oatmeal – Raw or cooked.
- Pasta – Cooked only. Not terribly high in nutrition but definitely a fun snack.
- Peaches – Remove pit.
- Pears
- Peas – Raw or cooked.
- Peppers (Bell)
- Plums – Remove pit
- Pomegranate
- Pumpkin – Our flock’s favorite Autumn snack! Don’t throw away your pumpkin guts after carving them. Your chickens will gobble them up for you.
- Quinoa
- Raisins
- Rice – Cooked only.
- Scratch – Scratch is cracked corn and grains that will encourage your chickens to scratch at the ground and keep occupied. Great in the Winter months.
- Sprouts – Wheat and oat sprouts are a great treat in the Winter when they aren’t getting as many greens in their diet.
- Summer Squash – Yellow squash and zucchini mainly.
- Sunflower seeds/Flower – We throw the whole sunflower head into the chicken run at the end of the season and they love to pick out the seeds. They will also eat the fibrous flower head and leaves.
- Tomatoes – Cooked or raw. Tomatoes are our flock’s all time favorite.
- Watermelon – A great summertime treat.
- Yogurt – Plain is best for their digestion.
or 
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Next time you have kitchen or garden scraps consider feeding them to your beloved backyard chickens! Always remember to avoid anything moldy or rotten to avoid illness. Stale or wilted foods are fine.
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