Anybody have any ideas for chicken entertainment?

[Noobie farmer]

When I was researching safe vs toxic plants Cilantro and Parsley were no-no's. Anyone have any input since chickens will eat just about anything including toxic plants - i.e. tomato vines and leaves are no-no's but some will stupidly indulge anyway.

Mine LOVE Yellow Woodsorrel and its good for them. Its often eaten as a salad green by people and its high in vitamin C. It grows in most yards as a weed in the Southern half of the US.
This stuff, especially when its fruiting:

Fruits look like this and taste a little like sweet and sour candies:

 

[Noobie farmer]

My chickens liked to dig for slugs. They like digging and scratching up stuff themselves. Don't worry about it. Chickens eat what their body needs. For 3 years I had a Silkie that wouldn't eat tomatoes until our new Ameraucana went for it and now she eats tomatoes 3 years later! Chickens are wary creatures and take time to adjust to a particular meal or food. After the slugs and snails were all pretty much eradicated by the hens they suddenly decided Earwigs were a good substitute and they never touched them before! Only one of our hens chases Japanese Beetles while the others ignore them. Who knows what makes chicken food tasty - a color, a texture, a taste, a smell, a shape ???

Texture is a BIG deal with mine.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well I give them cilantro and they love. Here were I live you can buy it everywhere. Maybe it's not the same cilantro. I don't know but my chicken love it.

Chickens will eat a lot of things we give them but not necessarily good for them. Like I stated before, tomato vines/leaves are toxic to humans and chickens yet I have a Leghorn that keeps wanting to eat the tomato leaves so we have to fence off the garden. I grow a LOT of cilantro for ourselves but do not feed it to the chickens since it is like tomato plants and is toxic to them. One lady in India was feeding garlic and onions to her chickens and couldn't figure out why they were getting ill - onions are toxic to most animals including dogs - it causes leukemia conditions. Just passing along info but you have the ultimate decision.

 

[Sylvester017]

How old should the little ladies be when starting treats and toys...my babies are 1 week....SO EXCITED...but don't want to hurt them ....thanks for all the info!!

We bought an 8-day-old chick and the feed store said chicks love strawberries. We bought strawberries and she ignored it. She preferred the juicy soft center seeds of cucumbers instead! I wouldn't overdo fruit/produce with chicks but tiny tidbits are fun to watch them explore.

 

[yoyoyouya]

really? huh i didi'nt know that i'll have to try it sometime

 

[tridentk9]

LOL- mine still don't want bluberries, they'll spit them out. If mixed in with their food, I'll find all the bluberries left behind. Not a drop of wetted down pellets but every single blueberry is still here. They will come running at first because they think I have raisins. Sigh and blueberries are in season.

 

[islandgirl82]

LOL- mine still don't want bluberries, they'll spit them out. If mixed in with their food, I'll find all the bluberries left behind. Not a drop of wetted down pellets but every single blueberry is still here. They will come running at first because they think I have raisins. Sigh and blueberries are in season.

Mine were like that with grapes...until I squished the grapes. Now they love them and I no longer have to squish them. I think they just didn't get that they could get to the delicious innards if they pinched a little harder.

 

[tridentk9]

 Mine were like that with grapes...until I squished the grapes.  Now they love them and I no longer have to squish them.  I think they just didn't get that they could get to the delicious innards if they pinched a little harder. 

Sigh, whole or pieces they don't currently want blueberries. But there was something else that they originally didn't want, but now eat. I still have hope for next season. For this year it just means more blueberries for me!

 

[Pretty Chickens]

My fixed chicken coop. Today my chickens were running free and they were taking dust bathes.

 

[Sylvester017]

LOL- mine still don't want bluberries, they'll spit them out. If mixed in with their food, I'll find all the bluberries left behind. Not a drop of wetted down pellets but every single blueberry is still here. They will come running at first because they think I have raisins. Sigh and blueberries are in season.

Keep at it. They'll discover the fruit is good eventually. We only feed the sweetest blueberries and set aside the hard or reddish ones to sweeten up before feeding those.

I had the opposite reaction with cranberries. Had an Ameraucana that loved them and now is bored with them.