Well not quite anything, but a chicken is a bird and birds eat a wide variety of foods. In nature birds eat everything from fish and other birds, to insect and even mammals. chicken feed is much simpler, but chickens can digest all sorts of treats.
Some birds can use a specialized body part that is known as the gullet. This is an area in above the stomach that holds bits of stone for grinding harder foods into smaller pieces. This allows for the birds to digest almost any kind of food imaginable.
Having a gullet is a major advantage of being a bird. Seeds and grains are quickly turned into nutrients. This is handy for turning hard foods into egg fodder. Another benefit of the gullet is the ability to get the nutrients out of almost anything to make hard and tasty eggs. Whatever they cannot digest is just used as more material for grinding their food up.
They Eat Bugs; That’s Nasty
Even the creepy crawling insects and bugs of all sorts are great food for any kind of poultry. Grubs and worms are great for protein even for people. To be honest almost anything that crawl and scurries is fair game. Jumpers like crickets and grasshoppers are a great deal of fun for chickens to chase and devour. Don’t ever try and prevent you chickens from eating bugs, it is a natural part of their diet and better left alone.
What is chicken Feed?
chicken feed is the primary source of nutrition for chickens of all types, ages, and breeds. The Feed is comprised of a variety of nutrients and energy sources; it provides a balanced diet enhanced with mineral and vitamin supplements. Although the composition varies from farm to farm and climate to climate, basic ingredients are found universally in approved chicken feed products.
There is nothing wrong with store bought feeds. They serve all sorts of functions to aide in egg production and shell strength. A variety of nutrients are important in making a strong and tasty egg.
Even free range livestock needs a little boost of some kind. Co-ops or great places to find grains of all kinds. Also make sure to supply plenty of water no matter what the feed of choice or selection of feeds. Eggs do not grow on trees and the healthier the bird the more delicious bounty they will produce.