chicken feed

noun

, Slang.

1. an insignificant sum of money:

   He's so rich that $1000 is chicken feed to him.

2. small change, as pennies and nickels.

chicken feed

noun

1. slang.
   a trifling amount of money

Word History and Origins

Origin of chicken feed¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Idioms and Phrases

Trifling amount of money, as in I'm not going to mow lawns for $5 an hour—that's chicken feed . This expression alludes to the fact that chickens can be fed corn and wheat grains too small for other uses. [ Slang ; early 1800s]

Example Sentences

Mr Da Conceicao said that Mozambique has banned the importation of chickens and their derivatives from South Africa, including eggs and chicken feed.

From BBC

Costco even built its own chicken plant in Nebraska to combat rising chicken feed prices.

From Salon

That’s chicken feed compared with the 350 million tons of meat consumed around the world — a number that is only expected to grow.

From New York Times

The animal rights group said its investigator also found instances of bugs in some of the chicken feed and rats in the barns where the chickens were housed.

From Seattle Times

“There is no food, bird food, chicken feed or anything in any pet shop at the moment. Because everywhere is either closed or collapsed,” Tekinbas said.

From Seattle Times