Baby chicks love carrots, but not spinach?

[MedChicken]

Hi all! I just have a question about feeding my month-old silkie babies. I gave them some ground-up fresh carrots (put through a garlic press) and they gobbled them down. Next they got carrots and spinach crushed to a similar consistency in the food processor and they haven't touched them. Am I missing something, or do my babies just not like spinach (like most baby humans, I suppose!)

Thanks!

 

[SteveBaz]

First off keep in mind they have 30 day old tummies just like a human baby the introduction of new foods need to be slow. 2nd just because they did not like it the first time doesn't mean they will not like it the second time. It could be the odor it could be they wanted just carrot. Introduce cooked and soft foods. You got it by food processing but there was something in it today they did not like, right? so try again another day and do not mix it. Bland things are the trick in foods for newbie chix. Try hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, plain boiled long grain rice, chopped up spaghetti.. NO CITRUS!!!!!

 

[MedChicken]

Thanks so much for the info!! I'll try again tomorrow with carrots only. I tried hard-boiled egg (also put through the food processor) and it disappeared almost immediately. Ground-up dry oatmeal with some washed sand for grit was less of a hit, but it's disappearing slowly. I'll also give the rice a try - we buy it in bulk, so we've got a ton of it!

 

[Frost Homestead]

I've found that my chickens don't really care for raw spinach, I think it's because it loaded with oxalic acid

 

[SteveBaz]

Quote:
I feed the girls spinach in leaf form and they do like it. Cooking it you are right it has a bitter taste I dont even like.

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

My girls love spinach when it is just spinach leaves--never thought about cooking it for them. They also love different lettuce (butter, romaine...) -no need to cut it up they do that themselves.