Slugs, an acquired taste?

Say it isn't so!

One of the main reasons I got interested in raising chickens was to help me de-slug my heavily slugged garden.

My two chicks (a bo and a rir) are almost two weeks old. Yesterday they happily tore apart a worm we tossed onto the litter, and a few days before that, an ant met the same fate.

Moments ago, I found one the seasons first slugs, and happily ran with it (in a trowel, can't touch those things) to the brooder, tossed it in, and...NOTHING! They each pecked it once or twice, and walked away. I continued to watch, horrified, for the next 10 minutes, as they returned to eating their chick starter and paid no more attention to the slug, which had begun to climb the brooder wall. I got that slug out of there, flushed it, and immediately logged on to BYC!

So, can anyone tell me what's going on? Everything I've read says how much chickens love slugs!




(And BTW, contrary to the opinion of a poster on another thread, my garden is organic, so the slugs are not a symptom of chemical intervention.)

My chickens love slugs and have reduced the population in the garden. However, I did not give my chicks anything until they were about 8 weeks. It took a couple of slugs before they realized they were treats.....

Mine won't touch them at all, they think they are nasty. My ducks avidly hunt them and have drastically reduced the population to the point it's rare I find one.

Most slugs secrete a really goopy slimely yuck that the birds don't like. Some will eat it, but not all. Some of my birds eat them, but most of the time they just kill the slug and walk away.

Mine won't eat them either. Yuk!

Both my chickens and cats let the slugs eat their food. Everynight I have to clean slugs out of the layer pellets and the cat bowls. UGH!

Imp- Slugs are a major pet food predator.

PS- I think my chickens are afraid of them

You have to tell them they are "pre-shelled escargot"

My chickens are 6 weeks now and they gobble them up as long as they're not too big.

Quote:
Mine don't mind the taste, but they don't seem to appreciate it on their beaks. I don't appreciate it on my fingers either which is why I won't touch slugs if I can avoid it. Ugh.

My chicks weren't that interested in slugs at first though, but they warmed up to them. They still only eat the baby ones but my chicks are only 4 weeks old. Maybe yours will figure it out or acquire the taste too.

Quote:
Give us your address, I will send you more!

After reading those post the solution for slugs are ducks.

Ducks will eat any bug and any critter they can swallow.

Ducks are a treasure.