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Treat ideas for picky eaters.

post #1 of 9
7/12/12 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 

My chickens have always been pretty picky.  The things they like are meal worms, watermelon, and corn on the cob. Things they wont touch are lettuce, cantalope, berries almost all veggies. They always mall me whever I come to the gate thinking I must have something delicious but are always let down if its not meal worms corn or watermelon.. Are there treats I'm forgetting to try? Will their taste buds change over time? They are 18 weeks at this time. I thought chickens ate almost anything but they barely eat any scraps so far. hmm.png

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post #2 of 9
7/12/12 at 2:25pm

Huh.  My chickens are real pigs.  They eat just about anything.  I've got six lovely ladies who are about 14 weeks old.  We've tried all sorts of weeds, grasses, flowers, worms (meal and other), bugs of every shape and size (including this huge hissing beetle thing, which they really enjoyed!), rice, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, breads, crackers, slugs, pea shells, lettuce, spinach - you name it!  There hasn't been anything they won't eat yet. 

 

Maybe your chickens have more sophisticated palettes than mine.

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post #3 of 9
7/13/12 at 3:01pm

I don't know, but my 10 week old chicks will NOT eat earthworms. Dried mealworms they love. Actual worms, not so much.

There are apparently other odd birds out there.

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post #4 of 9
7/13/12 at 3:12pm

Mine actually love the seeds and scraps from bell peppers. Red is their favorite. Mine also like watermelon and corn, but they enjoy cantalope, too.

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post #5 of 9
7/13/12 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 

That's funny you say that I threw a perfectly good 1/2 of green pepper for them 2 days ago and they tried it but it mostly still sitting there today. I tried cucumber today at noon.. It's still out there.. Little snots. If it's green they won't go for it. As chicks they loved meal worms so I bought a bag of freeze dried.. They could care less for the freeze dried.  They are so weird.. hu.gif

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post #6 of 9
7/13/12 at 6:38pm

Some people may disagree with this but it has never hurt mine and my 12 year old cochin rooster is a fairly good testament. As a treat which I mainly do for my young chicks, chopped boiled egg and chopped brocoli heads is an excellent treat. I get attacked when I enter with the  particular bowl they now this arrives in.They love it.

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post #7 of 9
7/13/12 at 6:51pm

If you break it up they will eat it. They don't carry a knife or have teeth. It has to be small pieces that they can swallow. A half of a pepper they will eat the seeds out of it but they can't break it down small enough to eat the pepper. Put mulched up grass clippings in there and watch them go to work

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post #8 of 9
7/13/12 at 8:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by okallthis4eggs View Post

If you break it up they will eat it. They don't carry a knife or have teeth. It has to be small pieces that they can swallow. A half of a pepper they will eat the seeds out of it but they can't break it down small enough to eat the pepper. Put mulched up grass clippings in there and watch them go to work

Interestingly enough they didn't go after the seeds and can eat an entire apple with no help. They didn't even peck at it anyway. I'm not wasting my time cuttting it up. I'm mean, I want them to work at their treats, it lasts longer. wink.png

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post #9 of 9
7/14/12 at 5:33am

Ours free range in our large yard.  I havent found anything they will eat from the house yet!  No spaghetti, melons, carrots, cheese...

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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Feeding & Watering Your Flock › Treat ideas for picky eaters.