Got watermelon for my SPOILED ROTTEN girls

[JennsPeeps]

I asked the local produce stand for any old produce they wanted to throw away. The second I said, "I have chickens" they led me out back to a stack of boxes and said "take what you want"!

WOOHOO!

I got a whole (cut-up) watermelon and about 15 tomatoes. My girls eat better than I do, I swear.

I brought out the watermelon with much fanfare and gave it to them. They didn't know what to do with it, so I dug my hand into it and gave them little pieces by hand. Even my timid cochin and skittish RIR were leaning against me for more hand-fed nibbles. I finally broke up a whole bunch of little pieces and put them in the shell to show them where those tasty morsels were coming from.

But would they eat them? NOOOOOOoooo. They wanted to be HAND FED.

The second I held out a chunk, it was nibbled to death. But if the chunk was on the ground or in the watermelon half, they wanted nothing to do with it.

DBF sat by and commented, "You've created monsters, I keep telling you!"

 

[sadieH5836]

What a great idea to ask for old stuff for your chickens. I'm going to do that too!
My girls love watermellon and tomatoes and many other treats I give them.
Try freezing the watermellon for really hot days even cantalope frozen they go crazy for it!

 

[rooster0209]

Mine go nuts just over the rinds

 

[cherrychicken]

Awsome! there's a great fresh produce place down the street (sort of) that throws out all sorts of produce every day. sometimes i even eat some of the food because they set them out in boxes even if they're shaped weird or something! the chickens are sooooo spoiled

 

[Must Be Losing It]

I gave my babies a half watermelon one morning, when I got home at night from work they had cleaned it out down to the skin. I'm sure it was some sight. Wish I had been there. Regardless, it seems to be a favorite of theirs.

 

[gumpsgirl]

That's funny! Mine also LOVE watermelon, but I don't have to hand feed it to them! LOL! We cut the melon in half, scoop most of the insides out for us to eat (not all), and I refrigerate the water melon "shells". When it gets to the hottest point of the day I take that shell (with some water melon left in it mind you!) out to the girls and they go crazy! It makes for a nice cool treat on a hot summer day.

 

[dixiechick]

Mine too....LOVE watermelon.....funny all three breed attack theirs differently....

Elvis (cochin) eats it like a typewriter, one row at the time not missing any red pulp

Zorro (black rosecomb) eat the seeds first, then the red pulp

Bonnie (old english) is a random (but voracious) eater....



,,,at the end of the day, we have empty rinds....and HAPPY CHICKENS

 

[kinnip]

Mine'll work that melon till there's nothing left but a curled up paper thin skin. They also suck down tomatoes. I just toss them the stuff from the garden that something else got to first. Even my 1 week old EEs will devour a tomato, if it's red. I tried putting some green zebras in there and they acted like it was a bomb. The big ones also seem to enjoy the fading blossoms from the end of the zucchinis.

 

[Dar]

thats a really good idea about asking for the "day olds" I dont know why I never thought about that for the chickens...duhhh ...lol....I do that for the reptiles i have but the thought never crodssed my mind for my girls...

I do have a question tho...I have hens for eggs I have them on a layer food...If i start giving them treats like the water melon and tomatoes ect...how do I know they are getting a balanced diet so that I dont have issues with the eggs like soft shells? or binding...let me tell ya ever since I have started following the thread about an egg bound hen I am so worried about egg binding..

 

[JennsPeeps]

I undersatnd that hens will seek out clacium when they need it. Make sure to leave out some oyster shells for them.