9 Summer Treats for Chickens- Beat the Heat

Chickens can handle cool weather way better than warm weather. High temperatures can cause a drop in laying or cause the hens to lay soft eggs. Chickens can also suffer from heat exhaustion and heat stroke very rapidly in hot weather. There are several ways you can help your flock beat the heat on the homestead, one way is by feeding them nutritious, hydrating treats! I use these 9 summer treats for chickens to help my flock cope with the high temperatures! This list also includes four helpful summer supplements for chickens!

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Importance of Summer Treats

In general, chickens eat less during hot weather. That also means that the foods they do consume are very important nutritionally. Treats should be limited during the summer months when hot weather makes chickens consume less of their daily feed and when digestion contributes to internal heat. Whatever foods a chicken does consume during hot weather should be providing it with essential nutrition to keep the chicken healthy.

However, certain summer treats can be extremely beneficial for helping your flock deal with the hot weather. Summer treats should consist of foods that are hydrating, nutritious, and easily digested. Treats that have a high moisture content and are cool will help chickens cool down internally and keep them hydrated. Treats that are highly nutritious will contribute to meeting the daily nutritional needs of the chicken.

Here are some tips to follow when offering your flock the following 9 helpful summer treats!

• Feed your chickens in the morning and/or evening when the temperatures are cooler (digestion is a process that creates internal heat), this includes regular feed and treats.
• Don’t feed high protein treats (oats, meat, etc..) because protein requires a lot of digestion which creates internal heat.
• Always have cool water available at all times for your flock. The water should be in a shaded, easy to access spot.
• Treats should consist of no more than 5-10% of your flock’s daily diet.
• Summer treats do not need to be provided on a daily basis.

By keeping your chickens cool you can prevent heat related problems such as heat stroke, heat stress, thin shelled eggs, dehydration, and even death.

Summer Treats

These summer treats will help your flock stay cool, hydrated, and nourished on hot summer days! When offered in moderation, summer treats will benefit your flock and keep them healthy all summer long.

#1. Melons

Benefits: Cold melons are a great treat for chickens during the summer and they absolutely love them! Watermelon is mostly water, which will help a chicken stay hydrated. It also helps prevent heat stroke and is full of antioxidants. Cousins to the watermelon can also be offered such as cantaloupe or honeydew melons. Cantaloupe has one of the highest nutrient contents of any of the melons.

Use: More than likely your chickens will love melons however you serve it, cut in half or slices. They won’t even mind if you just provide them with the rind after you have removed the flesh for yourself!

Recipe: Watermelon Soup:

• Cut a watermelon in half and scoop out the flesh.
• Puree the watermelon flesh in a blender with some mint leaves and ice cubes.
• Pour the soup back into the watermelon rinds and serve to your flock in the shade!

#2. Berries

Benefits: My chickens love berries, all kinds, including blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Berries are very nutritious and are good sources of fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants.

Anti-oxidants are especially important during times of high heat because heat stress can actually damage cell membranes, which then creates a need for more antioxidants. The most nutritious berries are ones that have not been treated with chemicals and are labeled as organic. An even better option is to grow some berry bushes yourself, just try and keep the chickens out of them!

Use: Chickens will eat berries right off the bush, so you don’t have to do too much convincing to get this nutritious snack into your chickens! I give my chickens any berries that I don’t eat after I go berry picking. Frozen berries are a great summer treat and my chickens will eat the frozen berries right out of a dish! I also use them as berry ‘ice cubes’ in their water.

Recipe: Fill an empty plastic suet container with berries and water. Freeze and than give it to your chickens in a dish or hang it up!

#3. Apples

Benefits: Apples make a great summer flock snack as they are mostly made up of water. They are also another fruit that is packed with antioxidants. Apples help keep the immune system healthy and even detoxify the liver!

You may have heard of people saying to not feed your chicken’s apple seeds. This is because they contain cyanide, which can be toxic if consumed in a great enough quantity. As long as apples are fed only on a treat basis, they are perfectly safe for your flock.

Use: Chickens love pecking at whole apples and will happily consume the whole fruit. During the summer though, when you are trying to discourage a lot of activity, you may want to cut up the apple or even blend it into apple juice. I would avoid hanging apples on a string for your chickens to peck at because string can easily break and get entangled around a chicken’s tongue.

A better option would be to stick the apple on a dowel or a pointed stick, kind of like a rotisserie. If you really want to make a delicacy for your flock, you could mix up a fruit salad with apple slices, watermelon, and berries!

Recipe: Flock Applesauce:

• Cut up 2 or three apples and place them in a high power blender or food processor.
• Blend until they become mush.
• Serve to your flock in dishes in the shade.

#4. Cucumbers

Benefits: Another water laden snack, cucumbers can also provide a host of important vitamins like A, B, and C! It is 96% water so it is a great food to keep your flock hydrated! Cucumber also helps detoxify the body and improves feather quality! Contrary to what some people think, cucumbers do not contain deworming properties.

Zucchini and summer squash also make great summer snacks for your flock!

Use: You can serve up a cucumber much like an apple, on a rotisserie stick or cut up into slices. My flock also like it when I cut the cucumber in half lengthways so that they can easily pick out the seeds and flesh. During the hottest days though, you will want to keep work to a minimum.

Recipe: Cucumber Garland:

• Cut up a cucumber into circle slices and stick them onto a skewer.
• Place the skewer in an easy to access spot in the shade.

#5. Leafy Greens

Benefits: Just like leafy greens are beneficial for us, they are also nutritious for your chickens! Leafy greens are packed with nutritious vitamins, especially vitamins A and K. They are also a good source of magnesium and potassium. Some great leafy greens to offer your flock include dandelion, clover, lettuce (not iceburg lettuce), and collard greens.

A lot of leafy greens are a good source of calcium, which is important for laying hens during the summer when calcium absorption may be hindered due to the heat.

Use: My chickens will help themselves to clover and dandelion leaves while they are free-ranging. I also give them pieces of lettuce, spinach, and kale that I don’t want to eat. One of their favorite leafy greens is kale! Hanging a clean bird suet cage in their pen and filling it with leafy greens is a great interactive toy for chickens.

I also like to give my flock the sprouts that get pulled when I’m thinning out the kale, lettuce, radish, or spinach in my garden.

Recipe: Leafy Green Salad:

• Fill a bowl with a variety of leafy greens (leftover lettuce, dandelion leaves, clover, etc…).
• If you have any vegetables available, top the salad with veggies like cucumber slices, ripe tomatoes, or carrot peelings.
• No need to add seeds to the salad during the summer (too much protein), but you could add some fruits such as berries.

Summer Supplements

Supplements are foods that you add to your flock’s diet for a specific purpose. These summer supplements are ones that will help your flock get the nutrition they need and will help them handle the heat. Supplements should be administered on an as-needed basis.

#1. Electrolytes

Benefits: Electrolytes are always present in a chicken’s body and they help regulate body systems, retain water, and balance pH levels in a chicken’s body. Healthy chickens do not need electrolytes, in fact, giving healthy chickens electrolytes can actually upset the electrolyte balance in their body!

However, during the summer supplemental electrolytes can be beneficial on occasion. Chickens suffering from heat stress will benefit from electrolytes, as will any chicken who has diarrhea or loose, watery droppings. Electrolytes help keep a chicken hydrated by ensuring the water that a chicken consumes is delivered to the body’s cells.

Uses: Any time a chicken may be dehydrated, either from diarrhea or heat stress, is a good time to offer some electrolytes. If the whole flock is showing signs of heat stress or if they are having a hard time handling hot weather, you can provide them with a drinker full of electrolyte water. Individual chickens who have diarrhea or loose droppings can also be offered electrolytes.

Like most supplements, electrolytes do not need to be offered on a regular basis. Make up a batch of electrolytes for your chickens on an as-needed basis.

Recipe: Homemade Electrolytes:

• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• a gallon of fresh water
• 1 T. sugar/raw honey

Combine all of the electrolyte ingredients and offer the drinking mixture to your flock.

#2. Kelp

Benefits: Kelp is an excellent supplement to offer free choice or mix into your flock’s feed during the summer. It is jam packed with vitamins and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, and zinc. Seaweed meal is thought to have up to 30% of the nutritional value of grains.

Uses: Kelp can consist of up to 5-10% of your chickens’ diet. It can be offered free choice in a small dish or you can mix it into your flock’s feed. Buy kelp that is being specifically sold for poultry. Follow the instructions on the bag as to how much you should mix into your flock’s feed. Lisa Steele from Fresh Eggs Daily now has a kelp product available through Amazon that I highly recommend you try (click here to buy it)!

Kelp can be mixed into your flock’s feed for a daily dosage or offered on a weekly basis free-choice or sprinkled over treats.

Recipe: Use kelp as a seasoning for treats that you bring them out to your flock! Sprinkle it on fermented feed, salads, or berries!

#3. Tea

Benefits: While tea may not sound especially appealing on a hot, summer day, it can actually be very beneficial for your chickens! Ice tea made out of herbs such as mint, dandelion, or violets contain important vitamins and minerals that are helpful for your flock. The tea should, of course, be served when it is completely cool (even add a few ice cubes to it).

Use: Offer your flock tea periodically to give them a nutritious summer beverage. Because chickens have such limited taste buds, they will probably not even notice the different flavored water. Still make sure that they are drinking it though, you don’t want your chickens getting dehydrated because they don’t like the flavor of the water!

Chilled herbal teas can be offered on a weekly or as-needed basis. Your flock does not need herbal teas every day, but one or two throughout the week, especially during hot spells, can give them extra nutrition and keep them hydrated.

Recipe: Homemade Tea:

• handful of herb of choice
• 1 gallon of water

Instructions: Bring the water to a boil. Add the herbs and allow them to simmer in the water for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain the herbs out, and allow the water to cool. Add a few ice cubes and serve to your flock!

#4. Herbs

Benefits: Certain herbs are better for chickens during the summer than others. Herbs that are high in vitamins and minerals are especially helpful as well as herbs that contain a lot of calcium. Some of my favorite summer time herbs include:

• parsley
• basil
• dandelions
• plantain
• violets
• mints

Most of these herbs I offer as free choice treats in the morning or the chickens eat them while they are free ranging. To learn more about the proper way to offer your chickens herbs, check out my post on How to Use Herbs for Backyard Chickens.

Use: Herbs can be offered free choice, mixed into weed scraps from the garden, or made into tea. Mild herbs, such as parsley, can be sprinkled into your flock’s feed occasionally. Fresh sprigs of mint can be placed in your flock’s water for a refreshing, beneficial beverage. Mint stimulates oral mucosa sensory cold receptors which in turn activates a nerve that creates a refreshing, cooling sensation.

Recipe: Minty Ice Cubes:

• Place small sprigs of mint into an ice cube tray and fill it with water
• Freeze the ice cubes and periodically place them in your flock’s water during hot, summer days.

These summer treats for chickens are sure to keep your flock happy, healthy, and hydrated throughout the summer! I know my flock loves it when I bring out special treats for them during the summer mornings. It’s also great to know that I am giving my flock a treat that will help them handle the heat better. Have some summer fun providing nutritious, beneficial snacks for your homestead flock!

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by Alexa