Growing my little flock

[DonyaQuick]

This is Boots. She definitely had a bit of a rough time as a little chick earlier this year. In addition to the corrective shoe thing at hatching, there was another problem I never posted about: she managed to do a self-inflicted injury to one of her eyelids shortly after her feet were fixed, so she has a good side and kinda wonky side, but she's just fine otherwise. She is quite a bit smaller than her siblings at this point though. I eventually figured out this is because she is an extremely finicky eater. Not the first such chick I've raised, but certainly the most excentric in her tastes. Here's a list of things my other chickens love that Miss Boots strictly refuses:

• 20% feed crumbles that are too big
• Mealworms
• BSF larvae that are the size of mealworms
• Tuna or any any other kind of fish
• Sunflower seeds in any shape, form, or shelled-ness
• Most other whole grains
• Any kind of berry
• Any other kind of fruit
• Cold or room temp scrambled egg
• Most store-bought breads

So what snacks WILL Boots eat?

• 20% feed crumbles that are just the right small size
• More expensive, much harder to get organic feed crumbles that are significantly bigger in diameter than the biggest in the 20% feed...
• Home made bread
• Eggo blueberry waffle
• Cracked corn that has not been part of a scratch mix
• Suet-like treats
• BSF larvae that are big enough to definitely not be mealworms
• Dried beetles, the stinkier the better
• Warm scrambled egg

So guess which picky little gremlin is now getting a daily snack of those stinky dried beetles to try to catch up with her growth...If she's like my other birds that had similar patterns, then she will be quite stubborn in her pickiness for a while but will grow out of it eventually.