The easiest, safest, yummiest chicken treat ever!

Want to know what’s the easiest, healthiest, and yummiest chicken treat ever?

It’s layer crumble with water in it. Sounds a little strange, I know. But the crumble absorbs the water and turns it into a soft mush, which for some reason, delights chickens.

My chickens go nuts over it! They like it just as much or more than any other treat.

Learn more about it in my video below.

The best chicken treat ever

In the winter, I fill the crumble with warm water and in the summer I fill the crumble with very cold water. The chickens love it!

My chickens love this even more than mealworms and many other popular treats.

And you really can’t go wrong with this treat—you don’t have to worry about overfeeding your chickens as you do with other treats and scraps.

Why is this chicken treat so much better than any others?

Too many treats and scraps can lead to nutritional imbalances.

Maybe you’ve never thought much about this before, but there’s nothing natural about hens laying an egg a day. That’s something that humans have bred into them.

In the wild, chickens typically lay only 6-12 eggs per clutch, and they only lay 1-2 clutches a year. Think about that. They lay a clutch in the spring and sometimes in the fall.

Because our domestic chickens are such avid layers, they need a feed specially formulated to support them. And commercial chicken feed is the result.

Commercial chicken feed has been formulated mainly for factory farm laying hens. Although our backyard chickens are a bit different—they may not lay as many eggs and they get way more exercise—layer feed is the best thing we’ve got for them.

Every time you feed your chickens scraps or treats, you’re messing with that “perfectly” (remember, it’s the best we’ve got) balanced diet. This is why the old rule of thumb is to never feed your chickens more than 10% of their diet as scraps or treats.

The other thing you need to worry about is feeding your chickens too many high-energy treats and scraps, as this increases their risk for Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome. Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome is one of the most common causes of death in backyard chickens.

Death by liver hemorrhage is sudden and unexpected. Although none of my hens have ever died from Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome, I have had several die from liver hemorrhages. More often than not, your hen will be happy and lively, and then the next time you see her, she’ll just be dead.

This is just another reason I love giving wet feed as a treat. It’s so much healthier than other treats and doesn’t dilute the nutrition they need. And your chickens don’t know the difference. They love it just the same or more!