Do I have lazy chickens or what?

[AKsmama]

I bought some BOSS for a treat for my flock. They won't eat it. None of them. Whenever I feed tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, squash, anything else with seeds, the seeds are the first thing they go for. But they act like they don't know what the heck to do with the BOSS. Are they too lazy to crack them open or am I supposed to feed unshelled BOSS and give the shelled to the wild birds? Maybe they really don't know what to do with it. . .

They're ravenous otherwise and eat pretty much anything else.

 

[BC Gal]

I just started my girls on BOSS and had to crack them open and feed it to them at first. After a couple, they started eating them shell and all. Crazy chookies

 

[AKsmama]

I've cracked a few open and they do like the seed inside. . . I love my chickies, but not enough to stand there and do that all day

I know most chickens aren't considered Einsteins, but I hope mine aren't THAT dumb!

 

[MakNugget]

How old are your chooks? When I first gave them BOSS I was so excited to give them something so good and they were like _meh_... they would try it but I don't recall them trying to eat anything that big before.

Then I split it in half with my thumbnail and that's when they went crazy for them. Lulu was a beast as her aim isn't the best when it comes to treats as my hand can attest...

Now they don't have problems, but I do occasionally pick some up off the ground and offer them split. If there's anything I've learned about my chickens is that they believe EVERYTHING tastes better if I feed them by hand.

 

[AKsmama]

They're 7 weeks old. Goodness knows their beaks are certainly sharp enough to crack them open if they wanted. I suppose I'll hold off for another few weeks.

I know what you mean about the hand-feeding. I've always told my daughters that they would eat poop if I handed it to them. After I fed them some scraps tonight, I picked up the plate they had eaten out of and a smushed poop was on the bottom. I brushed it off and yep! One grabbed it and ran cheeping while a few others chased her. I guess all she saw was that it fell off the plate I was holding and that was enough for her

She was disappointed that it was poop!