What Can Chickens Eat?
Chickens are omnivores and will try almost anything — but a handful of common foods are genuinely toxic. Here's a sourced verdict on 32 foods people ask about most.
Reviewed against extension and veterinary guidance · Last reviewed July 2026
Never feed these
chocolate, avocado, onions, rhubarb — plus anything mouldy, alcoholic, caffeinated, or heavily salted.
These aren't "probably fine in small amounts" foods. Avocado and chocolate in particular can kill a bird outright.
Safe to feed
- Can chickens eat tomatoes?
Yes — ripe tomato flesh is a healthy treat, but never the leaves, stems, or unripe green fruit.
- Can chickens eat watermelon?
Yes — watermelon is one of the best hot-weather treats, flesh, seeds, and rind all included.
- Can chickens eat strawberries?
Yes — strawberries are a safe, vitamin-rich treat chickens go wild for.
- Can chickens eat blueberries?
Yes — blueberries are a nutrient-dense, chicken-safe favorite.
- Can chickens eat apples?
Yes — apple flesh is a great treat; just skip the seeds.
- Can chickens eat cherries?
Yes — cherry flesh is a safe treat once you remove the pits.
- Can chickens eat lettuce?
Yes — leafy lettuce is a healthy green, though skip watery iceberg in quantity.
- Can chickens eat kale?
Yes — kale is one of the most nutritious greens you can offer a flock.
- Can chickens eat broccoli?
Yes — broccoli, raw or cooked, is a safe and vitamin-rich treat.
- Can chickens eat carrots?
Yes — carrots and their tops are both safe and healthy.
- Can chickens eat cucumber?
Yes — cucumber is a hydrating, low-calorie treat, seeds and all.
- Can chickens eat pumpkin?
Yes — pumpkin flesh and seeds are a nutritious autumn favorite.
- Can chickens eat cabbage?
Yes — cabbage is safe and doubles as a winter boredom-buster.
- Can chickens eat sweet potatoes?
Yes — sweet potatoes are safe raw or cooked, unlike regular potatoes.
- Can chickens eat rice?
Yes — cooked or uncooked rice is safe; the "raw rice kills birds" claim is a myth.
- Can chickens eat oats?
Yes — oats and plain oatmeal are a wholesome, warming treat.
- Can chickens eat popcorn?
Yes — plain popped popcorn is a fun treat; skip the salt and butter.
- Can chickens eat corn?
Yes — corn is a flock favorite, best fed as an energy treat rather than a staple.
- Can chickens eat mealworms?
Yes — mealworms are a protein-packed treat chickens treat like candy.
- Can chickens eat eggs?
Yes — cooked eggs are an excellent protein treat; just cook them first.
In moderation
- Can chickens eat bananas?
In moderation — banana flesh is safe and nutritious but high in sugar.
- Can chickens eat grapes?
In moderation — grapes are a beloved treat but sugary and a choking risk whole.
- Can chickens eat oranges?
In moderation — oranges are not toxic despite the folklore, but the acidity means small amounts only.
- Can chickens eat spinach?
In moderation — spinach is nutritious but its oxalic acid can interfere with calcium.
- Can chickens eat bread?
In moderation — a little bread is a harmless treat, but it is empty calories and moldy bread is dangerous.
- Can chickens eat cheese?
In moderation — small amounts of cheese are fine, but chickens digest dairy poorly.
Only when prepared
- Can chickens eat potatoes?
Only cooked — plain cooked potato is fine, but raw, green, or sprouted potato and peels are toxic.
- Can chickens eat dried or raw beans?
Only fully cooked — raw and dried beans contain a toxin that is deadly, but thorough cooking destroys it.
Do not feed
- Can chickens eat chocolate?
No — chocolate is toxic to chickens and should never be fed.
- Can chickens eat avocado?
No — avocado contains persin and is one of the most dangerous foods for chickens.
- Can chickens eat onions?
Best avoided — onions contain thiosulphate, which in any real quantity can cause anemia.
- Can chickens eat rhubarb?
No — rhubarb, especially the leaves, contains oxalic acid at toxic levels.
How treats fit into a chicken's diet
The single most useful rule is the 90/10 rule: at least 90% of what your flock eats should be balanced layer feed, with treats and kitchen scraps capped at roughly 10%. Layer feed is engineered to deliver the protein, calcium, and micronutrients that eggshells and feathers are made of. Treats are fun and useful for taming and boredom relief, but every handful of corn or bread displaces the feed doing the actual work — and that shows up as thinner shells and fewer eggs.
Ten percent is less than most people picture. A dozen hens eat about 3 lb of feed a day, so their entire treat budget is roughly 4.8 oz between them — not each. The chicken treat calculator turns the rule into a number for your flock size.
Chickens have no teeth. They grind everything in the gizzard using grit — small stones they swallow deliberately. Free-ranging birds find their own; a flock confined to a run needs insoluble grit on offer whenever they're eating anything other than feed. Skip it and even a perfectly safe treat can back up a crop.
Introduce anything new in small amounts and check the droppings the next day — that's the fastest signal something disagreed with them. And two rules that beat every list on this page:never feed mouldy food (some moulds produce mycotoxins that kill birds), and skip anything heavily salted, sugary, or processed. Chickens are small; a portion of salt that's trivial for you is not trivial for a 5 lb bird.
Related calculators
Sources
Verdicts follow established poultry nutrition and veterinary toxicology — the toxic compounds named here (persin, theobromine, solanine, thiosulphate, phytohaemagglutinin, oxalic acid) are documented, not folklore. Last reviewed July 2026.
- University of Florida IFAS Extension — Raising Backyard Chickens for Eggs (AN239)
- Merck Veterinary Manual — Poultry — health, nutrition & toxicology