Chick "slops"

[Agilityscots]

My 3-week old girls have been sampling all sorts of new treats lately--they LOVED my Scottish oats and my steel-cut oats. I got tired of taking different stuff down to them in the basement every time I got a bright idea that something might make a good treat, so I decided to make a little slops container! I had a single egg yolk and mixed it with my container of plain yogurt; they've been loving that. This morning I scooped the canteloupe seeds from a new melon and then mixed that into their yogurt/egg mix. Voila--slops! They are such happy little girls now when I come downstairs! They flock to the edge of the pen to see what mama has brought, and if I'm down there to do laundry they cheep at me (I swear they're begging). I am already excited about all the food I won't have to throw out in the future that my girls can devour!! They are the ultimate recyclers!

Amy

 

[joanm]

I have steel cut oats. Do you cook them first?

 

[Agilityscots]

Nope, no cooking for the steel-cut oats; I just fed them straight from my hand. They liked those even better than the Scottish oats. I just sprinkled some sand in with the handful of oats and they were THRILLED! They ate the handful faster than anything I've ever seen. I should say that I'm not putting any oats into the slops mix...I keep them separate.

Amy

 

[Chill_Billy]

My chickens beg, cry, plead, whine,
and sometimes BI#@H at me!!

My sweet Roo just clucks.....

They run FULL TILT towards me when I have strawberries in my hand
( one actually jumped 4' straight up)

They can be a handfull.....BUT so worth it.

 

[joanm]

I'll try the oats then! I read on a thread here that some chicks are crazy over grapes. Mine don't care for them at all, nor do they like strawberries!

 

[GoodEgg]

Mine don't care much for grapes (except as prizes to tease everyone else with!) or strawberries, although they do eventually eat them both.

Mashed egg yolks .... THAT is their VERY MOST favorite. And they like raw oats too quite a bit.

I have to try yogurt ... almost everyone's chickens seem to love yogurt.

Cool idea on the slops bucket. Maybe I should re-think my compost bag ...

trish

 

[Agilityscots]

That's funny, Trish...mine think egg yolk is pretty tasty, but their favorites by far are yogurt and steel-cut oats. When I hold a hand filled with yogurt, Ruby, my BO, will open her mouth and "shovel" it in, making a long line as she keeps her open beak moving along my hand! It's hilarious!

Amy

 

[GoodEgg]

I have to try the yogurt then. I'm guessing it's just plain yogurt, not the flavored, fruited kind? I can't imagine them eating it (they are really funny about trying new things) but hopefully they will like it. I'll definitely try it. (And I had to laugh, I was trying to imagine how chickens eat yogurt but your description was pretty good. I can just see a chicken using her beak as a shovel!)

trish

 

[Agilityscots]

Well, some of them seem to eat it and then smack their beaks, like a little human smacking her lips. My Ruby is the only "shoveler." You'll just have to try it and see for yourself--it certainly is entertaining!

Amy