Can Chickens Eat Broccoli?
Safe Yes, chickens can eat broccoli, florets, stalks and leaves, raw or cooked, and it is one of the more nutritious treats a flock can have.
How much broccoli can chickens have?
Treats of every kind put together should stay under about 10 percent of what a hen eats in a day. An adult laying hen eats roughly 113 g of complete feed, so that comes out around 11 g per bird per day. That is a planning figure rather than a measured limit, and it is the budget for everything the flock gets besides its feed, not an extra allowance for broccoli on its own. Six hens share about 66 g a day. Enter your own flock size:
Per bird per day11 g (0.4 oz), about 1 floret
Whole flock per day66 g (2.3 oz)
Which parts are safe
Fine to feed
- Florets
- Stalks and stems
- Leaves
- Cooked broccoli with no salt or butter
- Frozen broccoli
Keep out of the run
- Broccoli in cheese sauce or seasoned dishes
- Mouldy or slimy broccoli
How to serve it
Hang a whole head by the stalk at chest height and the flock will strip it over an afternoon. Chop stalks for younger birds. Cooked leftovers are fine if they were steamed plain.
A treat with something in it
Most fruit treats are sugar and water. Broccoli is different: nearly 3 g of protein per 100 g, real amounts of vitamin C and vitamin K, calcium, and fibre, with almost no sugar. If you are going to give greens, brassicas like broccoli, kale and cabbage are the ones that justify the space in a hen's crop.
Every part is edible. The florets go first, then the leaves, then the stalk once it has been pecked soft. Whole heads that have gone yellow in the fridge, the thick stalks you would otherwise bin, and the leaves from a garden plant are all fair game.
The goitrogen question
Brassicas contain goitrogens, compounds that can interfere with iodine uptake and thyroid function if they make up a large share of the diet. This is a real effect in livestock fed mostly kale or rapeseed. It is not a concern for a backyard hen eating a floret a day alongside a complete layer feed, which contains iodine. Keep broccoli as a treat and the goitrogens are irrelevant.
Raw, cooked and frozen
Raw is the easiest and the most entertaining for the flock. Steamed or boiled broccoli is also fine, and softer for older birds, as long as nothing was added. Frozen broccoli can go in the run straight from the bag on a hot day. Broccoli that has turned slimy or smells sour has started to rot and should go to the compost instead.
If your flock ignores broccoli at first, that is normal. Chickens are wary of new foods and a hanging head that swings when pecked can put them off for a day. Leave it up; once one hen starts, the rest follow, and by the second head it will be gone within the hour.
Broccoli: nutrition per 100 g
| Nutrient | Per 100 g, raw |
|---|---|
| Calories | 34 kcal |
| Protein | 2.8 g |
| Water | 89% |
| Sugars | 1.7 g |
For comparison, layer feed is about 16 percent protein and is formulated to be the whole diet. Whatever broccoli adds, the feed still has to do the work: see the chicken feed calculator for how much a flock eats and the water calculator for how much it drinks.
How we calculate it
Planning estimate, not a measured threshold. The published guideline is that treats, scratch and scraps together stay under 10% of the daily diet; applying that to an adult laying hen's roughly 113 g of feed gives about 11 g per bird per day for all treats combined. Item counts divide that by an estimated 11 g per floret and round DOWN, so a shown portion never exceeds the allowance.
Based on:
- Nutrition per 100 g, raw (USDA FoodData Central)
- Scratch, grains and kitchen scraps should be provided at no more than 10 percent of the daily diet (Oklahoma State University Extension)
- Excess table scraps and greens reduce egg production; keep supplements to a small share of the diet (Poultry Extension)
- A laying hen eats about a quarter pound of feed a day; avoid high levels of human food or scraps (Penn State Extension)
Figures are typical guidelines for planning. Your birds, breed, climate, and feed will vary.
Frequently asked questions
Can chickens eat broccoli stalks and leaves?
Yes. Stalks, stems and leaves are all safe. Hens peck the stalk soft over time; chop it for younger birds.
Can chickens eat cooked broccoli?
Yes, if it was cooked plain. Skip anything with cheese sauce, butter or salt.
How much broccoli can a chicken have?
About one floret per bird a day under the 10 percent treat limit. Because it is nutritious rather than sugary, a whole head shared by a flock now and then is fine.