My chickens don't like Chicken Scratch!

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Umm, pardon my sayin' so, but it if they were raised wearin' diapers . . . well . . . dunno what else to say. They may have special needs the rest of their lives.
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What else do you feed them?

Chicken scratch by itself is not a thorough diet.

They need lots of protein and other minerals.

Before chickens were domesticated they had access to lots of bugs, vegetation and calcium.

With domestication they are dependent on us to meet their nutritional needs. Even free range chickens will
eventually decimate an area they frequent often.

If you have laying chickens they especially need a diet contained in a decent Layer feed. You can augment it with
a limited amount of treats.

Also you should have a bowl of oyster shell or some other calcium product they can eat when they need to.

Too much calcium is not good. Layers know when they need it and they will eat it on their own.

Feeding only scratch is like feeding them pancakes every day.

I mix a small amount of scratch in with laying pellets. This way scratch is a treat.
 
I always give them crumbles, but I would try to be nice and get a bag of scratch, but the chickens stick their beaks up to it. Snotty little chickens I just knew they would love the stuff. They eat every thing else too. They eat potato skins to snakes. And they love every bit of it. But I try to be a nice Pappy for them and they don't even take it as a treat. Uggh!!....
 
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Well thank you very much, but that was only one chicken, and I think it is a special needs chicken. I finally have him introduced into the flock and he is doing really well. I need to change my avatar though. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME!
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It may just take a while for them to warm up to something new. Mine are a little wary of new things too. A couple of mine even stick their noses up at bugs.
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My chickens love bugs, I have to admit though I didn't realize that a hen could get a cicada and swallow the thing whole, and I didn't think that I would come across a hen with half a snake out of her beak like a ramen noodle.
 
Maybe you could try just some single grains. Lots of chickens like plain oats or wheat. I make a scratch out of racehorse oats, red wheat and BOSS that they eat in the evening and they really love it. It gives them something to digest at night.

In the morning they get a mix of safflower seeds and sunflower seed pieces. It's not much, just a mouthful for them. Just enough to let them know I love them.

Then they eat their food.

Mary
 
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My chickens are the same way---- Chickens are supposed to LOVE scratch, right? The bag that a friend shared with me is from a reputable feed supplier around here...but as far as my chickens think, it may as well be cardboard. They don't even like the corn in it. I wonder if somehow it is old scratch?

Anyway -- you are not alone.......
 

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