Can chickens actually taste what they are eating?

[Henriettamom919]

Doing very well, staying indoors trying not to melt.
I'm lucky enough to have record heat today.

First of all, do you have AC and sweet tea? Secondly, how are your chickens (see? Priorities!)

 

[Henriettamom919]

Hi!
Our chickens are complete opposites! LOL! Mine will fight over a strawberry. but won't eat other fruits. Just berries. It's strange how chickens have such different taste preferences!

Maybe it's an East coast chicken vs West coast chicken thing

What kind of chickens do you have?

 

[Chickassan]

A.C is a necessity in the south you might survive without one but you won't enjoy it one bit.
Sweet tea and lemonade, are always in the fridge.
Chickens have better shade trees than I do, plus about.a quarter acre of hardwood trees. Cool as a cellar out there.
I fry every summer, but iv'e learned to do it wonderfully well.

First of all, do you have AC and sweet tea? Secondly, how are your chickens (see? Priorities!)

 

[CaramelKittey]

Maybe it's an East coast chicken vs West coast chicken thing

What kind of chickens do you have?

Hi!

We have all sorts of chickens from RIR, Black Sex Links, Millie Fluer D’uccles, an EE, a Columbian Wyandotte, some RIR/Black Sex Link mixes (6), a full-sized silkie, two evil Barred Rock twins and two Plymouth rocks.

 

[WELDON99]

Mine love table scraps, mealworms, cabbage, watermelon, rice, just about any veggies and fruit (n0 citrus though!) Also, any kind of bread! I will get heads of cabbage (on sale or, if I'm lucky, they are throwing them out!!) and hang them in the coop. They will consume an entire head in less than 24 hours. I spread em out so that there are about 8 chickens per head! It all helps to cut feed costs as I still keep em supplied with feed and scratch! They know when I'm bringing them something extra and wait by the door for me to go in and pass out the goodies!
Just one thing to remember, no moldy or rotten pieces!!

 

[gtaus]

I just gave my chickens some watermelon, and they loved it. Well, at least the red part, because they left the green rind. I have also given my chicks some old, but not moldy, bread and they ate that up fast. Also, have been mowing with the bagger and give them fresh grass clippings. Don't know how much they eat, but a big stack of grass clippings is leveled down to the bedding in less than an hour. Since I am using a deep litter bedding, lots of stuff just gets scratched down into the litter.

Does anybody know if chickens will eat the rind of watermelons, honeydew melon, etc... if you slice or chop them up into smaller pieces? I have been taking out the rinds after a few hours and just throwing them in the compost pile. But I would prefer the chickens to eat as much of the rinds as possible if it is good for them. If not, I'll just let them pick off what part of the melon they want and compost the remainder.