Tag: chicken health

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Why Your Chickens Choose Scraps Over Feed

Why Your Chickens Choose Scraps Over Feed

There’s a moment most backyard chicken owners notice sooner or later. You throw out a handful of scraps and the whole flock comes running, straight to your feet, full of energy and interest. But when it comes to their regular feed, they pick at it, wander off, and come back to it later. It can feel like they’re being fussy, or that something’s off with the feed itself. Most of the time, it’s just their natural behaviour showing through.

Chickens don’t look at food the way we do. They’re not weighing up what’s balanced or what will keep them productive over time. They’re wired to go for what’s easiest and most rewarding in the moment. Scraps tend to be softer, quicker to eat, and often higher in energy, which makes them more appealing straight away. It’s the same instinct that has them chasing insects or working over freshly turned soil. Given the choice, they’ll go for what gives them the quickest return, not what supports them long term.

Where It Starts to Catch Up

On its own, that behaviour isn’t a problem. It becomes one when it starts replacing what they actually need. A good layer feed, sitting around that 16–18% protein range, is balanced to carry birds properly. It supports egg production, feather condition, and overall health in a way scraps simply can’t match.

When that balance starts to shift, the changes don’t show up overnight. That’s why they’re easy to overlook. Egg production can feel inconsistent. Shell quality may drop slightly. Birds don’t quite hold their condition the same way they did a few weeks earlier. It’s not dramatic, just a gradual change building in the background.

It’s not dramatic, just a gradual change building in the background.

Most flocks will always have some scraps, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s part of keeping chickens. The difference comes down to how much influence those scraps have. When they stay as a small addition, everything tends to hold steady. When they begin to take over, even slowly, that’s when things start to drift. Chickens won’t balance this out for themselves. If they’re given the opportunity, they’ll always pick what they enjoy first.

What Usually Works Without Overthinking It

The simplest approach is usually the one that holds up. Let birds settle into their feed first, then bring scraps in afterwards. That keeps everything in balance without needing to constantly adjust or second guess things. It doesn’t need to be strict, just consistent. Over time, that consistency is what keeps birds in good condition and avoids the small issues that tend to build when feeding starts to drift.

A Simple Way to Look at It

If chickens had their way, they’d eat like kids at a birthday party, straight to the easiest and most rewarding food first, without much thought for what comes next. That’s not a flaw, it’s just how they’re wired. Their regular feed does the heavy lifting in the background, quietly supporting everything you don’t always see day to day.

Looking Ahead

As routines shift through the season, small habits like feeding tend to matter more than they first appear. Nothing stands out straight away, but over time, consistency in feed and access plays a big role in how birds settle and perform.

If you’ve noticed your flock favouring scraps or picking around their feed more than usual, it’s usually a good time to bring things back into balance before it starts to show up elsewhere. If your chickens seem to waste feed or pick around it more than they should, our next blog will cover a simple approach that can make feeding easier and more consistent.

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Why Avocado Is Bad for Chickens

Why Avocado Is Bad for Chickens

It’s One of the Few Foods to Avoid Completely. Most kitchen scraps are fine for chickens in moderation.

Vegetables, fruit, leftovers, even things you wouldn’t expect, chickens are generally very good at picking through what they need and leaving the rest. Avocado is one of the few exceptions. It’s not something they should have access to at all, not because it’s messy or hard to eat, but because it contains a compound that can be harmful to birds.

What Makes It a Problem?

Avocado contains a natural toxin called persin.

In small amounts, it doesn’t tend to affect humans, but birds are far more sensitive to it. For chickens, it can interfere with how their body functions, particularly affecting breathing and internal organs. The important thing to understand is that it’s not just one part of the fruit. Persin is present throughout the avocado, though some parts contain more than others.

The Parts to Avoid

The highest concentration sits in the skin and the pit, which is where most of the risk comes from. These parts should never be fed. The flesh itself is lower in persin, but it’s still not considered safe to offer, especially when there are plenty of better options available. As a general rule, it’s best treated as a complete avoid, rather than something to portion or manage.

What Happens If They Eat It?

In most cases, chickens won’t actively seek it out in large amounts, but if they do consume it, the effects can show up fairly quickly. The first signs are usually subtle. Birds may seem quieter than usual, less active, or slightly off their normal behaviour. As it progresses, you may notice breathing becoming more laboured, or a general drop in condition.

Severe cases are rare in backyard flocks, but the risk is there, particularly if larger amounts are consumed or if birds are exposed repeatedly.

Why It’s Easy to Miss

Avocado doesn’t stand out as a risky food. It’s soft, fresh, and seems similar to other scraps that are normally fine. Because chickens will peck at it out of curiosity, it can easily be offered without a second thought. That’s usually where the problem starts, not from overfeeding, but from assuming it’s just another harmless scrap.

What to Do Instead

There’s no shortage of better options. Leafy greens, vegetable offcuts, and fruit that’s safe for poultry all give the same benefits without the risk. Chickens will still show the same interest and behaviour, just without the downside. Keeping scraps simple and familiar tends to avoid most issues.

Final Thought

Most foods are fine in moderation. Avocado isn’t one of them. It’s one of the few scraps that’s best left out completely, not because it’s likely to cause immediate problems every time, but because there’s no real benefit to taking the risk.

We’ll be covering more common foods like this in upcoming posts, what’s safe, what’s not, and what’s worth thinking twice about before it ends up in the coop.

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Autumn Chicken Care: What Changes When the Season Turns


There’s always a moment out here where things just feel different. The first proper rain settles the dust, softens the ground, and changes how everything moves. After a long dry stretch, it’s not just the paddock that shifts, the whole environment does.

The chickens usually pick up on it first. They’re well equipped for the weather, their feathers shed water better than most people realise, but it’s not the rain itself that causes issues. It’s when moisture lingers, when the ground stays wet, bedding holds damp, and conditions don’t get a chance to dry out properly. That’s when things start to matter.

Chickens Notice Before We Do

Chickens are far more in tune with their environment than we often give them credit for. Before you’ve changed anything on your end, they’ve already adjusted how they move through the day.

You’ll see it in the small things. They take longer to leave the coop in the morning, spend more time working certain patches, and naturally drift toward areas that offer a bit more shelter or drier ground. It’s not dramatic, just a steady shift in how they use the space around them.

That behaviour is usually worth paying attention to. More often than not, they’re showing you where conditions are working, and where they’re starting to fall short.

Feed Matters More Than You Think

What they’re doing through the day usually shows up in how they’re feeding. You’ll often notice they’re less eager first thing in the morning, then settle into it later on. Intake tends to spread out differently, not reduced, just less rushed and more gradual as the day warms.

Try adding a bit of their regular feed to a bowl with hot water before roosting, it’s like a bowl of warm porridge.

Nothing drastic needs to change here, but quality starts to matter more. A good layer feed sitting around that 16–18% protein range tends to carry birds better through this period, helping them hold condition and maintain production without needing constant adjustment. Keeping feed consistent and easy to access will usually do more than trying to tweak things too often.

Where it can slip is with small disruptions. Missed feeds, sudden changes, or inconsistent access tend to show up more in these conditions, not immediately, but over time in weight, behaviour, and eventually production.

The Moisture You Don’t Notice

After the rain, everything looks refreshed. The dust disappears, the paddock comes back to life, and it feels like conditions have improved almost instantly. But what’s happening underneath tells a different story. Moisture works its way into bedding, especially in corners and under perches where airflow is limited. Once it’s there, it doesn’t dry as quickly as expected. Bedding loses its structure, becomes heavier, and starts holding damp instead of shedding it. That’s usually where things begin to turn, not from obvious mess, but from material that’s quietly holding more moisture than it should.

Around drinkers, the ground tends to compact with regular use. Instead of draining, water sits in place, creating patches that stay wet well after everything else has dried. Add in droppings and feed, and those areas can quickly head in the wrong direction if they’re left alone. A quick reset early makes all the difference. Turning bedding, removing damp sections, or shifting drinkers onto fresh ground gives those areas a chance to recover before they become ongoing problems. It’s simple work, but it keeps things from building in the background.

Why Egg Production Feels “Off”

This is usually when questions about egg production start to come up. It can feel like it drops off suddenly, even though nothing obvious has changed day to day. What’s often missed is that production doesn’t reflect what’s happening right now, it reflects what’s been building over the past few weeks. Light, intake, and overall condition all feed into it gradually, so when numbers shift, they’re usually catching up to earlier conditions rather than reacting to the current ones.

That lag is what throws people off. It makes it easy to look for a quick fix, when in most cases, the better approach is to keep things steady and let it level out again.

Why Autumn Is Great to Start

If you’ve been thinking about getting chickens, this is one of the easier times to begin. Not because it’s the most productive season, but because birds can settle in without dealing with extremes straight away. The heat has eased, conditions are more manageable, and there’s time for them to establish properly before winter sets in. It gives both the birds and your setup a chance to find a rhythm without pressure.

If you’re looking to get started, you can view our available pullets here:

View Available Pullets

The Farm Finds Its Rhythm

There’s a point where the pressure lifts. Through summer, a lot of time is spent working around the heat, managing conditions, and avoiding unnecessary stress on the flock. Jobs get pushed back, and progress tends to happen in short windows rather than steady runs.

Now there’s room to move again. The days are easier to work through, the ground is more forgiving, and the jobs that have been waiting can finally be tackled properly. It becomes less about reacting and more about improving things. Small changes start to stack, coops get refreshed, setups get adjusted, and everything begins moving forward again instead of just holding steady.

It’s not about slowing down. It’s about getting back to proper progress.

Looking Ahead

This is where the smaller things start to have more influence. Moisture, feed consistency, and general coop conditions tend to shape how the flock settles in over the coming weeks. None of it stands out immediately, but it builds gradually if it’s left unchecked. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more around common wet weather issues, simple ways to keep coops dry, and how to manage conditions as temperatures continue to drop.

If you’ve started to notice subtle changes in behaviour or routine, it’s usually a sign to start paying a little closer attention now, rather than later. Nothing stands out straight away, but what’s left unattended has a way of building in the background, whether it’s ground condition, bedding, or how consistently birds are feeding.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more around managing wet conditions, keeping coops dry, and what to watch as temperatures continue to drop. If you’ve already started noticing small shifts in behaviour or routine, it’s usually a good time to stay a step ahead of the

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Coccidiosis: What It Is, How It Spreads, and How to Protect Your Flock


Summer on the farm means long evenings, busy dust baths and plenty of time for the flock to scratch around. It also happens to be prime time for one of the most common health issues in chickens, coccidiosis. If you’ve noticed damp patches in the coop, messy waterers or younger birds looking a bit flat, this is the post to bookmark. Let’s walk through what coccidiosis is, why it shows up more in warm, damp weather and what you can do to help protect your flock.

What Is Coccidiosis?

Coccidiosis is a disease caused by tiny gut parasites called coccidia. These parasites live in the soil and in droppings and are picked up when chickens peck at contaminated ground, feed or water. Once inside the bird, coccidia damage the lining of the intestines. This makes it harder for chickens to absorb nutrients and can leave them weak, dehydrated and very unwell if it isn’t treated early. Most older hens build up some natural immunity over time, but younger birds, especially pullets between 6–14 weeks of age, are much more vulnerable.

Why Summer Increases the Risk

Coccidia love the same conditions we try to avoid in the coop: warmth and moisture. Summer tends to tick both boxes:

Warm temperatures speed up the parasite’s life cycle, so numbers can climb quickly.
Extra moisture from sprinklers, misters, leaking drinkers or shaded damp patches creates perfect breeding pockets.
Increased drinking means more wet areas around waterers and more droppings in a small space.

Even a small, soggy corner of the run can turn into a trouble spot if it stays damp and birds use it often.

Common Signs of Coccidiosis

It’s easy to miss the early stages, so it helps to know what you’re looking for. Keep an eye out for:
– Lethargy – birds sitting fluffed up, not interested in foraging
– Hunched posture and tucked-in neck
– Pale or droopy comb
– Reduced appetite or birds standing at the feeder but not eating much
– Watery, orange or bloody droppings
– Weight loss or a sudden drop-off in growth in younger birds

One bird showing a few of these signs is a red flag. Several birds showing them at once is a strong sign that something is going on and needs attention quickly.

How to Help Prevent It

You can’t completely remove coccidia from the environment, they’re almost everywhere, but you can make it much harder for them to cause trouble. Small, consistent routines make the biggest difference.

Keep bedding dry. Remove wet patches daily and top up with fresh, dry material. Pay special attention to corners and underneath perches.
Raise and stabilise waterers. Keeping drinkers up off the floor helps reduce spills and droppings in the water.
Clean waterers often. In hot weather, a quick scrub every day keeps slime and droppings under control.
Watch your sprinkler use. Try not to soak the same shaded patch of ground where birds spend most of their time.
Give younger birds extra care. Pullets haven’t built strong immunity yet, so keep their housing as dry and clean as possible.

These are simple jobs, but they go a long way towards keeping the flock healthy through the hotter months.

What to Do If You’re Worried

If you suspect coccidiosis, don’t wait and see. Acting early gives your birds the best chance of bouncing back.

– Contact a poultry-friendly vet as soon as you can. Contact Josie from South West Vets for advice.
– Keep the coop as dry and clean as possible, remove any soaked bedding straight away.
– Make sure sick birds can easily reach fresh water and feed. Electrolytes can help support hydration.

This blog is general information only and isn’t a substitute for veterinary advice, but it can help you recognise when something isn’t right and when to reach out for help.

Want to Learn More?

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We’ll keep adding practical chicken care guides here on the Farm Journal so you’ve always got a friendly reference to come back to when questions pop up.