Farm & Flock— presented by Chicken Whisperer Magazine Scraps-giving Feast

By Alexandra Doss, Stellar Game Birds, Poultry, Waterfowl LLC

While we are inside piling our plates with turkey, vegetables, potatoes, and all the traditional fixings, the flock is usually outside wondering why nobody invited them to dinner. My chickens absolutely know when food is involved, and they are not shy about reminding me that they want a plate, too.

The good news is that several foods from the Thanksgiving kitchen can safely be shared with your flock. Appropriate kitchen scraps can provide enrichment, encourage natural scratching and foraging behaviors, and help reduce food waste.

Before carrying an entire plate of leftovers to the coop, however, there are a few important things to consider.

Treats Are Treats

The most important thing to remember is that Thanksgiving leftovers should never replace your flock’ s normal balanced feed. A quality poultry ration is formulated to provide the protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients chickens need. Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced simply because they contain vegetables or protein.

I prefer to think of scraps as enrichment rather than dinner. A small Thanksgiving treat scattered around the pasture gives the birds something new to investigate and enjoy without significantly changing their diet.

Moderation is especially important during the holidays because many of our favorite dishes contain a lot of salt, sugar, butter, sauces, and seasonings.

Sometimes the individual food is not the problem. It is everything we added to it.

Save Some Vegetables Before Dinner

One of the easiest ways to include your flock in Thanksgiving is to think about the chickens while preparing the meal instead of waiting until you are scraping plates afterward. Making green beans? Set aside a few plain ones. Chopping carrots? Save the ends and small pieces. Preparing pumpkin or winter squash? Your flock can enjoy some of that, too. Plain vegetables such as green beans, peas, carrots, pumpkin, winter squash, leafy greens, and cooked sweet potatoes can make wonderful flock treats. Cut larger pieces into manageable sizes, particularly when feeding birds that are not accustomed to receiving kitchen scraps.

Pumpkins and winter squash are especially fun because you do not have to make things complicated. Cut one open and let the chickens do the rest. Pecking and scratching at a pumpkin can keep a flock occupied much longer than dumping a pile of soft leftovers into a feeder.

This is also a great use for produce that is still safe to eat but perhaps is not pretty enough for the Thanksgiving table.

Just remember that spoiled or moldy food belongs in

6 AcreageLife November 2026 AcreageLife. com