Food
Can Chickens Eat Bitter Melon? Yes, but Not the Seeds
Yes, chickens can eat bitter melon, but only some of it. The green fruit is fine as a small treat, and so are the leaves and…
Backyard flock keeping · 253 guides
Is that safe to feed your chickens? Find out before you throw it in the run.
Straight answers on feeding, breeds, coops and the strange things chickens do, with the dangerous ones said plainly.
- Safe a fine treat
- In moderation the amount is the answer
- Never keep it out of the run
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Quick answers
Can chickens eat…?
Type what is in your hand. Every food we have looked into, with the honest answer — safe, fine in moderation, or keep it well away from them.
- Acorn Squash Seeds? Yes, Raw and Unsalted Food
- Black-Eyed Peas? Yes, if They're Cooked and Plain Food
- Frozen Peas? Yes, Plain and a Little at a Time Food
- Ferns? Not as a Treat, and Never Bracken Food
- Aloe Vera? What the Research Fed Them Food
- Frogs? Yes, and Toads Were Tested Too Food
- Flax Seeds? What the Omega-3 Egg Trials Fed Food
- Dried Peas and Lentils? Cook Them First Food
- Bitter Melon? Yes, but Not the Seeds Food
- Oats for Horses? Yes, but Read the Tag Food
- Sweet Potato Skins? Yes, Cooked and Never Moldy Food
- Cheese? Better Not: The Salt and Fat Math Food
- Watermelon? Yes, but It's a Treat, Not Their Water Food
- Graham Crackers? Better Not — Here's Why Food
- Chocolate Cake? No, Not Even the Crumbs Food
- Hot Dogs? No — It's the Salt and the Fat Food
- Strawberries With Mold? No — Toss Them Food
- Oranges or Grapefruit? Better Not Food
- Onions & Tomatoes? Tomatoes Yes, Onions No Food
- Honey Roasted Peanuts Food
- Honey Locust Pods Food
- Coconut Food
- Seasoned Potatoes Food
- Locusts Food
- Their Own Egg Shells? A Shell-Shocking Truth Food
- Black Rice Food
- Basil Leaves Food
- Beet Tops Food
- Artichoke Leaves Food
- Barley Grass? My Funny Story Finding Out Food
- Arrowroot Powder Food
- Honey Mushrooms? A Forager's Guide Food
- Honey Nut Cheerios Food
- Honeydew Food
- Medjool Dates Food
- Honey Food
- Dried Dates Food
- Dried Alfalfa Food
- Date Seeds Food
- Alfalfa Cubes Food
- Horse Alfalfa Pellets Food
- Alfalfa Food
- Alfalfa Sprouts Food
- Dubia Roaches Food
- Buckwheat Food
- Coconut Rice Food
- Coconut Flour Food
- Coconut Milk Food
- Coconut Yogurt Food
- Rabbit Alfalfa Pellets Food
- Tofu Food
- Rabbit Food Food
- Crab Shells? My Funny Story Finding Out Food
- Crab Apples Food
- Minnows? My Hilarious Experience Finding Out Food
- Goldenrod? My Zany Experience Finding Out Food
- Pancakes Food
- Durian? This Tater Tot Has the Whole Story Food
- Loofah Seeds Food
- Purslane Food
- Comfrey Food
- Fresh Yarrow Food
- Goosefoot Food
- Lovage? The Surprising Truth! Food
- Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms Food
- Chicken Salad? Feeding Chicken to Chickens Food
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Food
- Beetroot Leaves and Stalks Food
- Cantaloupe and Seeds Food
- Prawn Heads and Shells Food
- Hamster & Gerbil Food Food
- Oats and Honey Granola Food
- Bell Peppers and Their Seeds Food
- Apple Cores and Seeds Food
- Bananas and Banana Peels Food
- Spaghetti Squash Seeds Food
- Broccoli and Cauliflower Food
- Zucchini and Cucumbers Food
- Strawberries and Blueberries Food
- Canned Peas and Carrots Food
- Old Carrots? Garden Scraps to Chicken Treats Food
- The Cake Debate: Can Chickens Eat Carrot Cake Food
- Too Much Greens Food
- Honeysuckle? A Sweet Treat Your Flock Will Love Food
- Hummus? The Tasty Truth Food
- Flies? A Bug Bounty Your Hens Will Love Food
- Hamburger? The Juicy Truth Revealed Food
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Fresh
Latest from the run
Newest posts first.
How a guide is made
How we decide what to tell you
Feeding advice for chickens is full of confident nonsense copied from one blog to the next. This is the filter everything here goes through.
Is it actually dangerous?
Toxic, or just untidy? Those get very different answers, and most lists online muddle them.
How much, and how often?
Almost nothing is poison in a peck and safe in a bucket. The dose is the whole answer.
What does the vet literature say?
Where a real source exists we follow it, and where one does not we say so instead of inventing confidence.
Where did the answer come from?
Veterinary sources, extension services or what keepers report. Each answer says which, because it matters.
What goes wrong in practice?
The failure mode is usually the useful part — the mud, the rats, the hen who eats none of it.
Who writes it
Tanner Barnsley, writes our backyard chicken guides
Tanner Barnsley writes Chicken Rise's guides for people who keep a few hens in the back yard: what is safe to feed them and in what amount, which breed suits your climate and your patience, how to keep a coop dry and the rats out, and what the strange things chickens do actually mean.
When something is genuinely dangerous for chickens, the guide says so plainly and doesn't hedge it, because a hedge is what gets a bird killed. Where an answer comes from veterinary sources it says so, and where nobody has a good answer it says that too.
A note on our names: Chicken Rise is written by a small team under pen names, one name for each job, and Tanner Barnsley is the name on our chicken guides. We are not vets: if a bird is unwell, call an avian vet.
- Toxic or just untidy: said plainly
- Safety answers checked against veterinary sources
- Paid posts labeled
- Says when to call an avian vet