Chickens Fav Treats!!!!

Not sure if it's my chickens age (roughly 3.5 months) but they seem to care very little for most treats. They love Kale and mealworms but turn their noses up to pasta, grapes and even watermelon.

Is itan age thing or is it because they're in a large tractor and get new grass and bugs almost daily?


.....when they have an older chicken That Shows them that the other things taste good then they'd be willing to try it but because they haven't tried it before and not sure if they like it yet. That's been my experience and I have now up to birds 13 in my flock. when they were by themselves they wouldn't try anything but when they watched the older ones eat from me, then they decided they were interested.
 
Watermelon, well all melon, corn all corn, tomatoes, string beans, worms all kinds, grapes and almost anything we give them. But what should we not give them????
 
Watermelon, well all melon, corn all corn, tomatoes, string beans, worms all kinds, grapes and almost anything we give them. But what should we not give them????

Raw potatoes and Dried beans.

The raw potatoes i take of faith I don't really know the medical reason.

Dried Beans (like kidney beans not Legumes like mung beans) have a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin, also known as kidney bean lectin, That is found in many types of beans. Phytohaemagglutinin causes severe gastric distress. To get rid of it you have to soak the beans for 5+ hours, discard the soaking water, and make sure the beans boil at a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes. It is unsafe to sprout kidney type beans it intensifies the kidney bean lectin enough to send people to the hospital.
 
I don't give my girls raw potatoes. While some people say it's safe if the potatoes are not greenish it's just not worth the risk for me...JMHO
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I am getting a shipment of wheaten Marans eggs this week, so this was interesting. Found this. Apparently a gourmet bird.
:thumbsupThe Marans originated in Marans, France, and were imported into the United Kingdom in the 1930s.

During 1929, Lord Greenway was attracted by the particular fleshing qualities of the Marans he saw at the Paris exhibition. (The birds having a fine textured white flesh with gourmet flavour, and at the time fast growing) Unfortunately at that time there was an import restriction on livestock, but some eggs were smuggled into the county that same year in a luncheon basket as hard-boiled eggs.

J S Parkin, Lord Greenway’s Poultry Manager hatched stock from these eggs and found the brown egg factor – he was so impressed that as soon as the restrictions were lifted he imported 60 day-old chicks. These early birds had both Silver or Dark Cuckoo markings and feathered shanks. Black, Cuckoo, & White birds were derived from these birds. Lord Greenway first showed Marans at The Crystal Palace in 1934. They were subsequently shown at the World Poultry Congress in Rome & London.

In England there was difficulty differentiating between the Cuckoo Marans and other Continental Cuckoo breeds, especially the North Holland Blue unless the eggs could be seen, so after some years he concentrated his efforts on the selection of the Cuckoo variety exclusively. At that time both clean & feathered shanks were common and he decided to breed clean shanked birds. Due to the instability of the plumage of this variety, he subdivided it into two sub-varieties: Dark Cuckoo and Silver Cuckoo. These English Marans were developed with clean shanks, as breeders had difficulty differentiating them from other feathered shanked European breeds that laid cream/tinted eggs, some Barred Plymouth Rock & Light Sussex being used in their makeup. Interestingly whilst breeding out the shank feathers of Marans the British breeders bred them on to the clean shanked North Holland Blues.

Marans were accepted into the British Standard in 1935, the Standard having been drawn up by J S Parkin and W Powell-Green, Gold Cuckoos followed in 1944, together with the Blacks in 1952, unfortunately the Whites died out. Black Copper-necks were also imported from France in the 1930s but were never accepted into the British Standard. The popularity for the dark egg lead to indiscriminate breeding over the next 20 years to try and improve the identification of pullets and cockerels as day old. Good pure Marans can be difficult to sex when young, and the cockerels eat a lot.

Day old sexing meant the breeders didn't have to rear the cockerels so they could rear more pullets at reduced costs. This was done by using other breeds such as the Light Sussex - their offspring were then put to a pure Marans and the resulting Marans-looking young were sold as Marans. The cockerels were much lighter at day old so it was easier to cull them out. Successive years of breeding from these stocks produced a paler egg, poorer productivity and more white in the feathering (from the Light Sussex).

Pure Marans are now very difficult to find as a result, as it can be very difficult to distinguish between these birds and the mongrelised version which has become incorporated into some stocks.

Recent importations from France into the UK have resulted in both clean shanked and feathered shanked birds being available. The Poultry Club of Great Britain currently refuses to recognise the feathered birds, though they are accepted by The Marans Club of Great Britain.[4] Internationally however. the Australian Poultry Standard recognises both feathered and clean legged[5] and the Maran Club of America only recognises feather legged birds.
 
Here's a good idea that I just discovered today, and wanted to share!

With fresh corn season coming to a close go to your local produce stand or farmers market and make a 'deal' with them...I did and it paid off big-time!

I asked if they had any corn that wasn't all that good left and he said "sure...follow me to the back. He sold me perfectly good full ears of corn 8 for $2.00!!!! YAY! I bought 16 ears!!!

Came home and shucked them all, cut them into thirds and froze them in baggies 2 pieces each. Now this winter when it's freezing outside and snow on the ground when my girls are out in the run I can give them a real treat of some fresh corn for the suet feeder!

Just an idea, thought someone could take advantage!!
 
How do you keep them from pooping everywhere when you have them inside?


They usually are only in the house for a few minutes, and they haven't pooped while being held yet. They like to wander in through our open kitchen door and check out the dog's dish and I have had to clean a few messes on the kitchen floor. One time I caught them trying to sneak up the stairs to our bedrooms, I shooed them right back down to the kitchen.
 
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