The Amish feed their chickens a natural and varied diet, which includes the Amish's own grains that are homegrown like oats and corn as well as bugs and grass that are foraged and even kitchen scraps such as stale bread and vegetable peels.
Some Amish also supplement their chickens feed with fermented feed for better digestion and provide the chickens with minerals like from oyster shells to help ensure the chickens have proper calcium for eggshell and egg production.
Locally grown wheat, corn and oats are staples in the Amish chickens diets.
The Amish's chickens are also allowed to roam and find their own natural protein sources, which include plants, worms and insects.
Some good superfoods for chickens are leafy greens, oyster shells, kelp, black soldier fly larvae or even pumpkin seeds for zinc and protein and flax seeds which provide omega-3s.
Black soldier fly larvae are a high protein powerhouse superfood for chickens that help to support egg production and molting also contains calcium to form strong eggshells.
Kelp also known as seaweed is a rich source of calcium, trace minerals and iodine that help to improve eggshell quality as well as yolk color.
Oyster shells are great sources of calcium, which helps prevent thin eggshells and improve the nutrition of the egg yolk.
Leafy greens, like spinach and kale provide the chickens with essential vitamins, protein and calcium to strengthen the eggshells and reduce breakage.
Pumpkin seeds are rich in protein, healthy fats and zinc, which boosts the chickens immunity recovery during molting.
And you can also add some apple cider vinegar to your chickens water to stop the spread of illnesses and improve the chickens digestive health.
A cheap source of protein for chickens are cooked eggs, meat scraps, crushed eggshells, mealworms and black soldier fly larvae, sprouted lentils, and sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
You can raise mealworms or black soldier fly larvae in a bin at home for a cheap protein source for chickens, with minimal cost effort to supply your chickens with a continuous supply of high protein treats.
Alfalfa is also a good cheap source of protein for chickens as Alfalfa is usually a 16 % minimum of protein.
If you feed chickens too much protein, the excess protein that the chicken consumes will lead to strain on the chickens kidneys, ammonia buildup and even respiratory issues, as a result of nitrogen excretion and excess uric acid.
Other issues that can result from a chicken being fed too much protein are increased water consumption, which leads to wetter litter which can also cause foot and leg problems in the chicken and also it can lead to a nutritional imbalance if the protein rich foods or treats replace the chickens balanced diet.
The chickens kidneys must harder to excrete the excess nitrogen, when fed too much protein which can lead to kidney strain and possible kidney failure.
The excess uric acid also breaks down into ammonia gas, which can also result in respiratory issues and respiratory distress and damage the eyes and trachea.
A chickens diet that is excessively high in protein can result in a nutritional imbalance and deficiency in other essential nutrients like minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins, which causes a form of malnutrition.
The protein itself is not the main cause of obesity in chickens, although an imbalanced diet that includes too many high protein treats and too much protein based feeds can result in weight gain.
The signs of excessive protein intake in chickens include, a strong ammonia smell in the chicken coop, more frequent drinking and wet, soggy bedding, watery eyes and lameness or difficulty moving, especially in young chicks.
Chickens will also stop eating when fully or satisfied as chickens know when they are full and will eat until they are full and once the chickens are satisfied instead of just being truly full, the chickens will stop eating.
Chickens also self regulate to an extent, but chickens can still overeat and become obese f they are many treats or the wrong diet as a chickens body can fill up on "junk food".
When chickens have a nutritionally complete diet of food that is in constant supply, such as balanced layer feed, the chickens will naturally stop eating when they've had enough to sustain their body and meet their needs.
Chickens will also act like they are starving for treats and scraps, even when the chickens main source of food is plentiful.
Although chickens will also regulate their consumption of their main feed based on how many treats they have.
So in this case, chickens are unlikely to overeat on the balanced feed itself if the treats are limited to 10 percent of the chickens diet.
Overeating in chickens can also become a problem if the chickens diet is not balanced, with too much junk food for an excessive amount of treats, which can lead to health issues in chickens like obesity.
For broiler chickens, a different situation applies, as broiler chickens are bred for rapid growth and can also eat themselves to death if they are not managed carefully.
Providing your chickens with a constant supply of food is very important for the health and egg production of the chickens.
And sometimes people use 2 chicken feeders to ensure less dominant chickens get their share of the chicken food.
Chickens do self regulate and will stop eating once they have had enough food to eat and are satisfied.
Although chickens are not like some other animals, like dogs and cats, which might overeat to the point of becoming fat if they are given an unlimited access to their food.