Garden scraps

[PimsGarden]

Ours love the following from the garden...
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Strawberry
Blueberry
Corn
Pears
Kale
Peas
Blackberries

 

[Possum-Pie]

It's probably partially flock mentality, part "grass is greener" mentality - if another bird is eating a different slice of watermelon, clearly that's the better one. They'd rather give up their position at the one they're at, to get a bite of something better.

LOL, yeah, both make sense, but they sure waste energy running from one piece to the next.

 

[paintedChix]

Here is a question for the group...I find it strange that when I put out something that they all enjoy eating, they jump from piece to piece rather than staying in one spot. I have 6 hens and a rooster, so today I chopped up a hunk of watermelon for them. I always put at least 7-8 pieces of anything I give them so the dominant hens can't keep the others away. Yet every time a hen will run to a piece of watermelon, eat several bites, see a hen at a different piece, and run to that one. The hen who was eating that piece will then have to go find another piece. Why not each choose a piece, stay at it until satisfied, then walk away? Even my three cats are smart enough to know that if they are eating a treat, stay with it!

All i can say is that any time we feed "free choice", all animals switch back & forth, sometimes moving the original off & sometimes not. My experience w/ this is horses & ponies, dogs, cats, chickens & ducks.

We got to the point w/ the ponies that they had feed stations - a bucket hooked to post or a feed tub at base of post that they were tied to. This kept the slower eaters or ones who got way less feed able to eat in peace & patience. Some had individual pen or stall only inside to eat.





Sneaky Sami found the bird feeder on
outside of fence. He LOVED chasing off the birds & he would round up wild turkeys in any pen, paddock or pasture - especially if he saw them near feed buckets or individual piles of hay...



Dogs (4 smalls - 1 has specific drugs/additives) are all currently kenneled to eat. Cats can be kenneled or are fed loose on top of other kennels.





Outdoor cats sometimes have free range chickens join them on top of the 2 rabbit hutches they are fed on.

Chickens & ducks sometimes eat the rabbits feed - they moved the rabbits off, never the other way around...



& yes, chickens run from one "pile" of treat or feed to another. Happens alla time!! No pics of this, yet, ROFLMAO!!

 

[paintedChix]

As to garden scraps - different birds have different tastes.

We've put kitchen scraps including things that are considered toxic. They won't eat the "bad stuff" but will scratch & manure it for the compost that the run & pen litter becomes. Garden scraps & waste have also gone into the runs & pens.

In 2025, I plan on planting raised beds, next to coops & runs specifically for the chickens. We will see how that goes!

 

[Possum-Pie]

Even with the cracked corn I give as a treat each day, they spend energy and time eating 4-5 kernals then moving to a different area to eat 4-5 more. If they stayed in one spot, they could eat all they wanted without moving so much...The only explanation I can come up with is that perhaps they think it is "different" at the other area, and they are trying to get variety in their diet. I throw it over a fairly large area b/c the dominant hens push the weak one away and they get none. By spreading it, they all get a chance.