do your chickens get bored with their food?

[bellydancer]

I got a huge box of damaged apples (well they weren't damaged much-- my husband and I are eating half of them)at Kroger last week for $2.00 (YAY!) and my chickens have been getting 2-3 apples a day along with whatever they can scrape up out of the yard and a supply of pellets in the coop. They are not nearly as excited about the apples now as they were a few days ago. I think they're bored-- what do you think?

They ate the heck out of the McMuffin that found its way into the pen the other day and the half of a tomato.

But, the apple quarters are just pushed away, now, and not attacked with the initial relish.

Do your chickens get finicky?

 

[MissPrissy]

Mine will eat anything at anytime.

My goats love apples! Our little food bank in our county is only open one day a week. Any fresh veggies that are left over and won't make it to the following week are left for me to give to my goats and chickens. I divide it up so that every other day they get something different. They never know what to expect each afternoon when I go out with my buckets and pans.

Perhaps you could hold off with the apples a day or so (put the scraps in the frig to keep them from fermenting or souring) and give them as a treat after a couple days.

 

[JaciesCoop]

Mine loved spegg. Now they won't touch it. Loved apple, now they won't touch it. Moved on to other things. So it must be that they do get tired of stuff. Or so it would seem.

 

[LindaN]

Perhaps it depends on what else is available, or perhaps it's a matter of preparation or presentation. The first time I tried to give my hens the stalks of swiss chard, they ignored them. Same thing with an apple that I hung on a string in their run. They ignored it, too.

The next day I took the apple out of the run, smashed it up on a nearby rock, and they ate it.

A couple days ago I had more swiss chard stems from my dinner prep. I chopped up the stems and popped them in the microwave for a bit to soften and cook them. The next morning, I dumped them in the run for them to snack on and when I came home later that day the stems were all gone.

My hens came from a hatchery so they all have clipped beaks. I know that makes it difficult for them to peck apart food at times. I've found that if I chop things up a bit, it's much easier for them to eat them. Greens like dandelion and leftover lettuce typically don't need chopping, though.

 

[redstar]

now my chickens all 2 of them has never had scraps, should i intoduce them to scraps ? since i`ve had them from a week old just gets their feed and cracked corn, and of course their water.

:yiipchick

 

[thndrdancr]

Yup, mine get tired of a lot of different foods. Bout the only thing they DONT get tired of is grapes, but I never gave them so many they got sick of them, never had enough for that.

 

[devora]

Quote:
Ditto. What is it w/ the grapes?

Eventually they do seem to come back around to things (oats were great, then not, now great...go figure).

 

[JaciesCoop]

Ditto on the grapes!! Mine just LOVE them!! oh and rose petals. They will fight over those anytime.

 

[bellydancer]

Mine love grapes, too! Go stark raving attack-chicken about them!

 

[ozark hen]

welcome redstar

yes, definitely give scraps they will absolutely love you for it! I just started giving chops (corn) in the mornings as soon it will be cold outside. You don't want to give them corn when it is hot outside as it causes them to produce heat in their bodies...like quit the corn in the late spring but just use it in very small amounts as a treat if you want to still give it to them. I think you could get a chicken to do tricks for grapes or watermelon!!