Can chickens eat cauliflower?
Yes, chickens can eat cauliflower in small amounts. The British Hen Welfare Trust and Colorado State both suggest hanging up a cauliflower as a treat. Your hens will peck at it and play with it.
How to serve it: whole, hung up
Kitchen scraps: The rules depend on where you live. US extension services allow small amounts of table scraps, no more than 10 percent of the daily diet (Oklahoma State). In the UK, it’s illegal to feed kitchen scraps to chickens, even pet hens (RSPCA, APHA). In the EU, Germany’s agriculture ministry (BMLEH) says kitchen and food waste must not be fed to laying hens.
Sources
- British Hen Welfare Trust – Feeding chickens kitchen scraps (2024)
- Colorado State University Extension, Boulder County – Backyard and Small Flock Poultry in Boulder County (2020)
- Oklahoma State University Extension – Backyard Flock Production (AFS-8202)
- RSPCA – Keeping chickens as pets: how to care for backyard hens
- APHA (GOV.UK) – APHA warns not to feed kitchen scraps to farm animals because of disease risk (2017)
- BMLEH (German Federal Ministry of Agriculture) – Animal feed: frequently asked questions (kitchen and food waste, in German)
Last checked: November 2026