Check 74 common foods for chickens: which are usually safe, which need care and which can be poisonous.
Berries make a good treat. Scatter a few to encourage foraging.
In the UK it is illegal to feed kitchen scraps, catering waste, meat or meat products to poultry, even birds kept as pets, and that includes leftovers from vegan kitchens. Treats should be fresh, raw food bought or grown for your birds, and no more than about a tenth of what they eat.
| Food | Answer | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Call a vet | Alcohol is poisonous to animals even in small amounts. Raw bread dough also produces alcohol as it rises. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Apples | Usually safe | Chop it up and remove the core and pips. |
| Apricots | Usually safe | Remove the stone and offer the flesh. Fallen fruit is fine if it isn’t mouldy. |
| Avocado | Call a vet | Avocado contains persin, which is toxic to birds. Keep every part away from them, including the flesh, skin and stone. Call a vet if any may have been eaten. |
| Bananas | Usually safe | Peel it and offer small slices or mash as an occasional treat. |
| Blackberries | Usually safe | Berries make a good treat. Scatter a few to encourage foraging. |
| Blueberries | Usually safe | Berries make a good treat. Scatter a few to encourage foraging. |
| Bread | Avoid | Bread fills hens up without much nutrition, and bread or toast from your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry. Offer greens, sweetcorn or mixed corn instead. |
| Broccoli | Usually safe | Raw broccoli, chopped or hung up whole, is fine. |
| Butter and cream | Avoid | Birds can’t digest lactose well, and dairy can cause diarrhoea. |
| Cabbage | Usually safe | A whole cabbage hung in the run gives birds something to peck at for hours. |
| Carrots | Usually safe | Grated or chopped raw carrot is fine. |
| Cauliflower | Usually safe | Raw cauliflower, including the leaves, is fine. |
| Celery | Usually safe | Chop it finely. |
| Cherries | Usually safe | Remove the stones first. Pitted cherries make a good treat. |
| Chocolate | Call a vet | The theobromine and caffeine in chocolate are poisonous to birds. |
| Coffee, tea and caffeine | Call a vet | Caffeine from coffee, tea bags, coffee grounds, energy drinks or tablets can cause restlessness, a racing heart and seizures. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Cooked bones | Avoid | Meat and bones can’t legally be fed to poultry in the UK. |
| Cooked chicken and meat | Avoid | It is illegal in the UK to feed meat or meat products to poultry, including pet birds, because of the risk of spreading disease. |
| Cooked rice | Avoid | Rice cooked in your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry in the UK. Plain uncooked rice is fine. |
| Corn on the cob | Usually safe | A fresh raw cob, bought or grown for the birds, is a good boredom-buster to peck at. Remove what’s left at the end of the day. |
| Courgette | Usually safe | Raw courgette, chopped or halved, is fine. |
| Cranberries | Usually safe | Fresh cranberries are fine. |
| Crisps and salty snacks | Avoid | Too salty and fatty. A large amount of salt can be dangerous, so call your vet if a lot has been eaten. |
| Cucumber | Usually safe | A good cooling treat in hot weather. |
| Dandelions | Usually safe | A good natural forage food, leaves and flowers alike. |
| Dried cranberries | Use caution | Sugary, so only a few now and then. |
| Eggs | Avoid | Cooked egg from your kitchen counts as kitchen scraps, which can’t legally be fed to poultry in the UK. It can also encourage birds to eat their own eggs. |
| Fish and tuna | Avoid | Fish and other animal products from your kitchen can’t legally be fed to poultry in the UK. |
| Garlic | Avoid | Garlic is an allium, and large amounts can cause anaemia in birds. Don’t feed it as a food. |
| Grapes | Usually safe | Grapes are fine as a treat. Cut them in half or quarters so they can’t cause choking, and keep portions small. |
| Ham, bacon and sausages | Avoid | It is illegal in the UK to feed meat or meat products to poultry, including pet birds, because of the risk of spreading disease. |
| Ice cream | Avoid | Not a suitable food for birds. |
| Iceberg lettuce | Usually safe | Fine, but darker leaves are more nutritious. |
| Lemons, limes and grapefruit | Avoid | Citrus can upset digestion and may affect how birds absorb calcium, which matters for egg-laying. |
| Lettuce | Usually safe | Fine, especially darker leaves. Hang it up or scatter it to encourage foraging. |
| Macadamia nuts | Avoid | Fatty and not suitable for birds. |
| Mango | Usually safe | Remove the stone and chop the flesh. Mango is sugary, so offer small amounts. |
| Mealworms | Avoid | UK rules don’t allow dried insects, including mealworms, in feed or treats for poultry, even hens kept as pets. |
| Melon | Usually safe | Melon is hydrating and popular. Cut it into chunks and remove large seeds; birds often enjoy pecking the rind too. |
| Milk and cheese | Avoid | Birds can’t digest lactose well, and dairy can cause diarrhoea. |
| Mouldy food | Avoid | Mouldy food, feed and bedding can make birds seriously ill. Throw it away. |
| Oats | Usually safe | Rolled or porridge oats are a good treat, scattered on the ground or on water. |
| Onions | Avoid | Large amounts can cause anaemia in birds and can taint eggs. Don’t feed onions. |
| Oranges and other citrus | Avoid | Citrus can upset digestion and may affect how birds absorb calcium, which matters for egg-laying. A small accidental amount is unlikely to harm. |
| Parsnips | Usually safe | Raw grated parsnip is fine. |
| Pasta | Avoid | Cooked pasta from your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry, and it has little nutritional value. |
| Peaches and nectarines | Usually safe | Remove the stone and offer the flesh. Fallen fruit is fine if it isn’t mouldy. |
| Peanut butter | Avoid | Too fatty and sticky for birds. |
| Pears | Usually safe | Chop it up and remove the core and pips. The skin is fine. |
| Peas | Usually safe | Defrosted frozen peas are a good treat. Ducks and geese enjoy them floated in water. |
| Peppers | Usually safe | Bell peppers, seeds included, are fine. |
| Pineapple | Usually safe | Remove the tough skin and chop the flesh finely. It is acidic and sugary, so feed it sparingly. |
| Plums | Usually safe | Remove the stone and offer the flesh. Fallen fruit is fine if it isn’t mouldy. |
| Porridge | Avoid | Porridge cooked in your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry in the UK. Dry rolled oats are fine. |
| Potatoes | Avoid | Raw and green potatoes, peelings and sprouts contain solanine, and cooked potato from your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry. |
| Pumpkin | Usually safe | Raw pumpkin, flesh and seeds, makes a good autumn treat. |
| Pumpkin seeds | Usually safe | Raw seeds from a pumpkin bought or grown for the birds are a good treat. |
| Raisins and sultanas | Use caution | Dried fruit is concentrated sugar. A few as an occasional treat at most; fresh fruit is better. |
| Raspberries | Usually safe | Berries make a good treat. Scatter a few to encourage foraging. |
| Raw bread dough | Call a vet | Raw yeast dough keeps rising in the warm stomach, which can cause a dangerous swelling or blockage, and the yeast makes alcohol as it ferments. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Rhubarb | Call a vet | Rhubarb leaves are poisonous to birds. Keep poultry out of the rhubarb patch and call a vet if they have eaten some. |
| Rice | Usually safe | Plain uncooked rice is fine; the idea that it swells inside birds is a myth. Cooked rice from your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry. |
| Shop-bought mushrooms | Avoid | Not a suitable food for birds. |
| Spinach | Use caution | Small amounts are fine. Large amounts can interfere with calcium uptake and eggshell quality. |
| Strawberries | Usually safe | Wash them and offer a few, whole or halved. |
| Sunflower seeds | Usually safe | Black sunflower seeds are a popular treat, especially during the moult. |
| Swede and turnip | Usually safe | Raw swede is fine. A halved swede gives birds something to peck. |
| Sweetcorn | Usually safe | A favourite treat. Offer frozen kernels once defrosted, or a raw cob for birds to peck. |
| Tomatoes | Use caution | Ripe tomatoes are fine. Keep birds away from the leaves, stems and green fruit, which contain solanine. |
| Uncooked rice | Usually safe | Plain uncooked rice is fine; the idea that it swells inside birds is a myth. |
| Watermelon | Usually safe | A good treat on hot days. Let birds peck the flesh from a slice of rind. |
| Wild or unidentified mushrooms | Call a vet | Some wild mushrooms can be deadly, some only cause signs hours later, and they are hard to identify. Unless you know it was a shop-bought mushroom, call your vet straight away and take a photo or a sample with you. |
| Xylitol (birch sugar) | Avoid | Keep sugar-free products away from birds. |
How to use it
Choose an animal and type a food. The checker gives one of four answers for that species: usually safe, use caution, avoid or call a vet. Each answer comes with a note on how to prepare it, how much is reasonable, or why it is risky.
The same food can be fine for one animal and poisonous to another. Grapes are a good treat for ducks but can cause kidney failure in dogs, and avocado that a dog might get away with can kill a rabbit or a hen. Always check for the animal you keep rather than borrowing advice for another species.
If your animal may have eaten something toxic, a human medicine, mouldy food or packaging, call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away. Don’t wait for symptoms or try to make your animal sick. Keep the packaging and have their weight, the amount eaten and the time it happened to hand.
Of the foods we cover, these can poison chickens: alcohol, avocado, chocolate, coffee, tea and caffeine, raw bread dough, rhubarb and wild or unidentified mushrooms. If your chicken may have eaten any of them, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away.
Yes, in small, plain portions. Grapes are fine as a treat. Cut them in half or quarters so they can’t cause choking, and keep portions small.
No, it’s best avoided. Bread fills hens up without much nutrition, and bread or toast from your kitchen counts as kitchen waste, which can’t legally be fed to poultry. Offer greens, sweetcorn or mixed corn instead.
In the UK it is illegal to feed kitchen scraps, catering waste, meat or meat products to poultry, even birds kept as pets, and that includes leftovers from vegan kitchens. Treats should be fresh, raw food bought or grown for your birds, and no more than about a tenth of what they eat.
No. Animals digest foods differently. Something tolerated by a dog may be unsuitable or poisonous to a cat, rabbit or bird.
Preparation changes the risk. A plain food can be very different once it contains onion, garlic, xylitol, chocolate, alcohol, or lots of salt or fat.
Not in the UK. It is illegal to feed kitchen scraps, catering waste, meat or meat products to poultry, even birds kept as pets, because of the risk of spreading animal diseases. That includes leftovers from vegan kitchens. Offer raw fruit and vegetables bought or grown for your birds instead.
It means we haven’t assessed it yet, not that it is safe. If it has been eaten, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine for advice.
These tools are planning aids, not a diagnosis or a replacement for veterinary advice. If a pet is unwell, has eaten something risky, or you are unsure what to do next, contact a vet.