Can chickens actually taste what they are eating?

[ShrekDawg]

I have a hen raising a brood that are about 3 weeks old now... they are confined to a covered run for their protection.... but she does hunt for anything that looks edible and then ‘tid bits’ at them to come check it out...

...but at this age already they’re hunting any bug that enters the run... or anything I throw to them...

... chicks come with a pretty sophisticated “firmware” preinstalled for this kinda thing...

... chicken in general do... this hen for instance, was raised in a plastic tub brooder and has never seen a chicken older than herself... but she’s preprogrammed to be a chicken momma ...

It is pretty amazing!! Mine were starting to scratch around/forage and even trying to dust bathe at like a week, week and a half old. And they’re entirely brooder raised, never seen a mother, and at this point they had never even seen another chicken because I hadn’t moved them to the outside brooder yet. So they didn’t learn from the bigs. Just instinct. The instincts sure are amazing.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Oh and mine loveeeee grapes too. They are big fruit lovers as you can tell.

Mine too! And is there anything funnier then watching chickens literally vacuum up whole grapes?! My Buff Orp, Henrietta, hoovered too many blueberries and blackberries and her poop was purple for a solid 24 hours

 

[ShrekDawg]

Mine too! And is there anything funnier then watching chickens literally vacuum up whole grapes?! My Buff Orp, Henrietta, hoovered too many blueberries and blackberries and her poop was purple for a solid 24 hours

It is so hilarious when they do that!! Although one of mine scared me last year when I thought she was choking

And OMG!! Lol that is hilarious!! My chickens sometimes turn green from kale, broccoli, spinach, cucumber, etc, greens that I give them, and sometimes I get worried till I remember “oh yeah, I gave them a ton of greens”

 

[Henriettamom919]

It was a hard learned lesson where "how much is too much?" is concerned as far as fruits and veggies are concerned. I didn't understand that even healthy treats should be given in smaller amounts until they just about stopped eating their feed.

I had to cut out treats for a few days and started fermenting their feed which they LOVED and it got them back on track. But we had a lot of rainbow poops before I figured it out

 

[ShrekDawg]

It was a hard learned lesson where "how much is too much?" is concerned as far as fruits and veggies are concerned. I didn't understand that even healthy treats should be given in smaller amounts until they just about stopped eating their feed.

I had to cut out treats for a few days and started fermenting their feed which they LOVED and it got them back on track. But we had a lot of rainbow poops before I figured it out

Yeah I don’t normally give mine too many scraps. I mostly just give them the watery fruits in the summer on really hot days to help keep them cool. And sometimes let them free range. Although I will say I have been really bad with the scratch lately.

The littles I haven’t given any treats yet except some dirt ha they’re 3 1/2 weeks old now

And rainbow poops OMG

 

[Chickassan]

Tip from one who knows. Don't give them spanish rice and forget you did.
The next morning you'll be convinced everybody has coccidosis and you'll freak out for a couple hours desperately trying to find medicine.
Then an Uncle Ben's commercial will come on, you'll remember and.you WILL feel like an idiot for quite a while.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Tip from one who knows. Don't give them spanish rice and forget you did.
The next morning you'll be convinced everybody has coccidosis and you'll freak out for a couple hours desperately trying to find medicine.
Then an Uncle Ben's commercial will come on, you'll remember and.you WILL feel like an idiot for quite a while.

OMG

 

[Henriettamom919]

Yeah I don’t normally give mine too many scraps. I mostly just give them the watery fruits in the summer on really hot days to help keep them cool. And sometimes let them free range. Although I will say I have been really bad with the scratch lately.

The littles I haven’t given any treats yet except some dirt ha they’re 3 1/2 weeks old now

And rainbow poops OMG

Have yours started doing they're dust baths yet? My Easter egger was dragging herself up and down the compacted dirt path in our garden yesterday and I about died laughing.

I finally took pity and plopped a pile of dry-ish (this is Seattle, nothing's ever totally dry) down and she went to town. So adorable!

 

[Chickassan]

I forget what I did an hour ago, The spanish rice was a dinner treat by morning i'm in that "what spanish rice?" mode.
I do however have a brand new, pristine bottle of corid in my fridge just.waiting for impending doom now.

OMG

 

[PirateGirl]

You would give them something like a meal worm because it's a high protein treat and healthy for them, not because it tastes good.