Can Chickens Eat Bread?

Most of us know that ducks can’t eat bread, right? Well, they can. However, they shouldn’t really be eating it in the quantities that are given to them. It causes all sorts of issues. Of course, this leads to many people wondering ‘can chickens eat bread?’, and that is what we are going to be talking about on this page.

Can Chickens Eat Bread?

Long story short; chickens can absolutely have bread. Although, this is going to be dependent on the reason that you have the chicken. If you are expecting your child to grow nice and old rather gracefully, then you will probably want to keep their bread consumption to the absolute minimum.

There is a chance that the consumption of bread can have an impact on their long term health. However, if the chicken is destined for the dinner table after they have stopped producing eggs, then it should be fine for them to have a bit of bread here and there.

Honestly, the question isn’t so much ‘can chickens eat bread’, it is more ‘how much bread should a chicken be eating?‘. That is a completely different story, which we are going to cover on the rest of this page.

can chickens eat bread
Chickens Can Eat Bread

How Much Bread Should Chickens Eat?

Not that much.

Obviously, bread is unlikely going to be a ‘treat’ for the chickens. It isn’t the most amazing food in the world. However, it is basically pure carbohydrates. There are not that many nutrients in bread. It is going to do nothing more than fill up the chicken’s stomach which, ultimately, will result in them avoiding other food that they do need for nutrients.

At the most, you should probably be feeding a small amount of bread to your chickens once per week. Anything more than that, and the chickens will probably fill up on bread before they are able to sink their beaks into the rest of the buffet that you have prepared for them.

Chickens eating bread

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How to Serve the Bread to Your Chicken

As long as the bread isn’t moldy, then the chickens should be able to eat any bread that you throw in their direction. Even the hardest of bread. Although, they will probably have an easier time eating that bread if you have soaked it in the water a little bit beforehand.

While some backyard chicken owners have seen a bit of success with their chickens munching down on a whole slice of bread, you should probably cut it up into chunks. You can then mix it into the rest of their feed. They will then just be able to eat it normally.

It is vital that your chicken does not eat moldy bread. We can’t stress this enough. This is going to make them very sick. Therefore, you will want to remove any bread that they do not eat from their coop rather quickly. Do not let it linger inside of their feed. If you do, then the chicken will inevitably eat it and, ultimately, you are going to end up with a sick chicken.

See also:
Can Chickens Eat Tomatoes?
Can Chickens Eat Bananas?

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