Cucumbers?

We have quite an excess of cucumbers this year. I did cut up a few to give to the chickens and ducks, the duck especially liked them.
I am thinking its okay to give the cukes in moderation? (Not the vines)
If I am wrong, please let me know.

Yes I believe the cukes are fine to give them. They are on the Chicken Treats list as good to feed. Let me see if I can find the link for you...

Couldn't find the link, but I copy and pasted from my copy that I kept:





Treat Type
General Opinions

Apples
Raw and applesauce
Apple seeds contain cyanide, but not in sufficient quantities to kill.



Asparagus
Raw or cooked
Okay to feed, but not a favorite.

Bananas Without the peel High in potassium, a good treat.
Beans
Well-cooked only, never dry
Also, greenbeans.


Beets
Greens also.
.

Berries
All kinds
A treat, especially strawberries.

Breads
.
Feed starches in moderation.

Broccoli & Cauliflower
.
Tuck into a suet cage and they will pick at it all day.

Cabbage & Brussels Sprouts
Whole head -
Hang a whole cabbage from their coop ceiling in winter so they have something to play with and greens to eat.

Carrots
Raw and cooked
They like carrot foliage too.

Catfood * (see bottom of page) Wet and dry
Feed in strict moderation, perhaps only during moulting * (see bottom of page)
Cereal
Cheerios, etc.
Avoid highly sugared cereal such as Cocopuffs, etc.

Cheese
Including cottage cheese
Feed in moderation, fatty but a good source of protein and calcium

Cooked Chicken
.
They may like it and it won’t kill them, but it just seems so….. ummm………… wrong.

Corn
On cob and canned, raw and cooked
.

Crickets (alive)
Can be bought at bait or pet-supply stores.
Great treat – provides protein and it’s fun to watch the chickens catch them.

Cucumbers

Let mature for yummy seeds and flesh.

Eggs
Hardcooked and scrambled are a good source of protein, and a favorite treat.
Feed cooked eggs only because you don’t want your chickens to start eating their own raw eggs.

Eggplant
.
.

Fish / Seafood
Raw or cooked


Flowers Make sure they haven't been treated with pesticides, such as florist flowers might be. Marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies, etc.
Fruit
Pears, peaches, cherries, apples


Grains
Bulgar, flax, niger, wheatberries,etc.
.

Grapes
Seedless only.

For chicks, cutting them in half makes it easier for them to swallow.

Great fun - the cause of many entertaining "chicken keepaway" games.
Grits Cooked
"Leftovers"
Only feed your chickens that which is still considered edible by humans, don't feed anything spoiled, moldy, oily, salty or unidentifiable.

Lettuce / Kale
Any leafy greens, spinach collards, chickweed included.
A big treat, depending on how much other greenery they have access to.

Mealworms

(see photo after the chart)

Available at pet supply stores.
A huge(!) favorite treat, probably the most foolproof treat on the books.

Meat scraps
Not too fatty.
In moderation, a good source of protein

Melon
Cantelope, etc.
Both seeds and flesh are good chicken treats.

Oatmeal
Raw or cooked
Cooked is nutritionally better.

Pasta / Macaroni
Cooked spaghetti, etc.
A favorite treat, fun to watch them eat it, but not much nutrition.

Peas
.
.

Peppers (bell)
.
.

Pomegranates
Raw
Seeds are a big treat.

Popcorn
Popped, no butter, no salt.

Potatos
Cooked only
Starchy, not much nutrition

Pumpkins / Winter Squash
Raw or cooked
Both seeds and flesh are a nutritious treat.

Raisins .
Rice
Cooked only
Pilaf mixes are okay too, plain white rice has little nutrition.

Scratch
Scratch is cracked corn with grains (such as wheat, oats and rye) mixed in.
Scratch is a treat for cold weather, not a complete feed. Toss it on the ground and let them scratch for it for something to do. Never feed scratch during hot weather because it raises the chickens’ body temperature.

Sprouts What and oat sprouts are great!
Good for greens in mid-winter.

Summer Squash
Yellow squash and zucchini
Yellow squash not a huge favorite, but okay to feed.

Sunflower Seeds Sunflower seeds with the shell still on is fine to feed, as well as with the shell off.
A good treat, helps hens lay eggs and grow healthy feathers.

Tomatos
Raw and cooked.


Turnips
Cooked.
Not a huge favorite

Watermelon
Served cold, it can keep chickens cool and hydrated during hot summers.
Seeds and flesh are both okay to feed.

Yogurt
Plain or flavored
A big favorite and good for their digestive systems. Plain is better.




Don’t feed the following things to your chickens:

(I'm sure people have experienced exceptions to this list, but if we want to raise our birds the best way possible, "better safe than sorry".)


Here’s why:

Raw green potato peels
Toxic substance called Solanine.

Anything real salty Can cause salt poisoning in small bodies such as chickens.
Citrus
.

Dried or undercooked Beans Raw, or dry beans, contain a poison called hemaglutin which is toxic to birds.
Avocado Skin and Pit
Skin and pit have low levels of toxicity.

Raw eggs
You don’t want to introduce your chickens to the tastiness of eggs which may be waiting to be collected in the nestboxes.

Candy, Chocolate, Sugar
Their teeth will rot… No, it’s just bad for their systems, and chocolate can be poisonous to most pets.

A quote from Nifty-Chicken, the Administrator of BYC:
"I gave up on my birds knowing what was best for them when I caught them all eating a block of Styrofoam pellets."

Ditto to the above and here is what my girls love.

I feed mine, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Beet tops, Lettuce, bread, any table scraps except meat (DH doesn't think we should feed them meat cooked or uncooked). We haven't had any problems and I know my grandma fed her hens and meat birds all her scraps.

my ducks just about live on cukes once they come in, they love the yellow ones, when the frost hits and we don't have more they still look for them, very sad ducks when that happens, the chickens love them too

I appreciate the info. LOL, I cant believe how crazy my ducks went over them! Though the chickens like them too.(There are still many left over even after sending bags of them home with friends and family!)
We also have TONS of string beans and zucchini, soon tomatoes.(From my parents huge garden)
In mine the thing that is doing the best is the pumpkins.
I will have to try them with a little bit of everything!

Mine chickens love Cucumbers. I give them the ones that are bigger than we want to eat. I slice them into slices 2 - 3 inches thick.

I am feeding excess and too big zucchini the same way.

Most garden scraps, including weeds go into the chicken run. Our birds get excited when they see the wheelbarrow coming.

Cukes are the only things that mine turn their combs up at.

My birds love cucumbers. I give them almost everything.

Here is the link to BYC Chicken Treat Chart.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

Mine LOVE cucumbers!!! In fact I don't think there is anything I have given them that they haven't eaten!!!