First grapes

[okiechick57]

I am just trying so hard to find something, anything...my finicky hens will like as a treat............ geesh....they are worse than I , in trying new things........

 

[imloulou]

We have been "throwing things at our chicks" since they were about 2 or 3 weeks old. For the record...they are only 5 1/2 weeks old right now...lol! So maybe we are lucky but they LOVE treats...every last one of them!

Our treats:

(DISCLAIMER...I do not know if these things fall under the blanket of "proper things to feed chickens" but we love our chicks, spend lots of time with them and toss things to them often....we raise our chicks like we raise our kids I guess

....toss new things at them (within reason) but keep an eye out and see what happens...lol!)

-half grapes (they loved them and they lived)
-wet food (take their chick food and add water...they FREAK over this) (they loved and they lived)
-peaches are in season right now...we eat peaches and toss the pit (with lots of extras still on the pit) to the chickens (they loved and they lived)
-watermelon (did not eat as much as the above but they lived)
-Ham-we fed them a little ham one night...I do not recommend it...they had wet poo the next day (they loved it, they lived, but not a good thing...we will not feed them this again...at least anytime soon)
-birdfood (they loved and they lived)-this is the birdfood I toss to them as I fill the birdfeeders
-cornbread (they loved and they lived)
-cherry tomatoes-cut in half (they did not love it as much as grapes but they still played chicken football!LOL!)
-Celery (they did not like it)

I know there are more things we have fed our chicks in their short life...I will post when I think of more treats.

Lisa

 

[magikchick]

It's uncooked old fashion oat meal, the whole oats. They love it, so do my dogs for some reason.

Marsha

 

[dlhunicorn]

I only feed treats I know will be a useful addition to their basic commercial formulation (which includes grains... I live in holland where animal protein is forbidden in poultry feed formulations so I add protein supplements to their basic diet in the form of insect crumble (Universal softbill Feed for non-seed eating cage birds bought at petshop) and (farmed) mealworms from the bait shop... I also regularly add (cooked) human oatmeal >just enough to make their feed "clumpy" as this not only prevents waste but it also aids in digestion and nutrient uptake... I avoid brassica family and spinach and red grapes due to the high amount of oxalate acid in it and do not give table scraps because of the high salt content. I give daily free choice biogaarde (live culture) yogurt and regularly grate zucchinis and apples (without peel or seeds) and cucumbers on occasion for them which they love. In the summer when watermelon is affordable I scoop out the center half making a "bowl" and put their feed in that or the yogurt... they will often go for this on hot days and this helps them from becoming dehydrated. I also set out frozen fruit in the middle of the hottest days.

 

[okiechick57]

Quote:
WOW.....why is animal protein illegal? and thanks for the tip on "frozen" treats....great idea........and out of curiousity....what do you pay for watermelons there?

 

[imloulou]

Quote:
Good ideas...I think ours would love yogurt! I am not sure if the biogaarde yogurt is the same as what I get. I get ours from our healthfood store (for my family)...It says live cultures on the package.

And the frozen fruit!! I'm going to cut some up this morning to try this afternoon. It's hot out there.

 

[magikchick]

imloulou I love your signiture

 

[dlhunicorn]

watermelons (in my view) are rather expensive here as they are usually imported... the small round ones cost (cheapest) 3 dollars... half we eat and the other half goes to the birds (and they "clean" up our rinds) ... many times I can get little hoeny melons for 50 cents apiece and I will use those if the watermelons are too expensive... I do not know the particulars of why animal protein is forbidden here but I am kindof pleased with that... this way I control the source of their (non-vegetable) protein which is insect... they have recently also banned the use of cocci meds in the starter too

however I have successfully managed this problem by applying competitive exclusion principles and keeping all scrupulously "clean" (note I use " ..." ) but I still have cocci meds in my emergency kit...