I have extremely picky girls that only eat grapes for treats! What are some treats y'all feed picky

[mamahenjess]

Hi everyone! I am new to raising chickens but have always heard and read they will eat almost anything. I've researched treats for them and tried the following with them: blackberries, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, blackberries, yogurt, cracked corn, meal worms, scrambled eggs, sunflower seeds... The only thing thing they like as a treat Ive tried besides what I listed so far are grapes! I really need to find a treat they like because I'm planning on beginning free ranging them soon but want to be able to call them to return to the coop and want to train them to do so with treats. They are 8 weeks old, I give them very few treats a day becsuse they are young and still on starter feed, but I want to find some kind of treat they like. Does anyone else have picky chickens? If you do, what do yours like besides just grapes??

 

[DanEP]

Chickens will eat a wide variety of things but are nervous about new things. Try stopping the grapes and just leave a small pile of bird seed or scratch in the run and ignore it. They will watch it for a while but sooner or later one of the girls will get brave and try it then the others will follow suite Just be aware that with treats they will need grit. I use construction sand for grit and it works well and is cheap. Its the same sand you use for mixing concrete and you get 50lbs for about 4 bucks.
As far as training them just call them and give them scratch in the run only and they will go into the run by themselves. As far as other treats go you can introduce other things to them over time it will just take time for them to get used to new things. Just remember treats should not be over 10% of their diet

 

[Adalida]

Mine didn't care about treats until they were older. I wish I could remember what age, but I know that at 8 weeks old like yours are, they weren't that adventurous with food. They grew out of that though and are total foodies now.

 

[chickenzooo]

I have ducks and chickens... I always give my ducks peas for a treat but my chickens always run up and steal them. I'm not sure if it's just because they think they are ducks or if it's because chickens like peas.

 

[mamahenjess]

Thanks for the help y'all! They have been picky since they were young so maybe they will grow out of it, they used to not respond even to the grapes. They get very few treats a day, I only use them for training purposes and give them grit as well We have been thinking of growing peas up the coop, hopefully they will like them and we can eat them as well! We are probably going to get a few ducks in the near future as well. Do y'all mind sharing what you use and how often you worm your chickens? I've read so many different things about it.. They are now outside In the coop and are eating worms and bugs they find so should I go ahead and do it to be safe?

 

[mamahenjess]

 

[mamahenjess]

Is 8 weeks old too young?? I can't find any good information online about when to start treating them for worms and at what age to start

 

[pdirt]

In my experience, they don't act like real chickens until they are about 12-16 weeks old. At 8 weeks, they are still pretty skittish, regardless of breed. And yes, make sure they have access to grit.

 

[pdirt]

As for treating for worms, find someone near who has been raising chickens for years as to what they do. But in general, many drier climates like in the Southwest have fewer worms. Humid climates like much of the South tend to have more worms. Personally, I've never wormed them, but I've never seen evidence nor symptoms of worm overload.

 

[St Pete Chick]

Mine are 4 months old and are absolutely crazy for spaghetti. I can get them to do tricks for it already. But that's mainly for my entertainment. To help beat the heat in Florida, I put out slices of frozen watermelon for them. The love it. As for when to de-worm them, I sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth in their food and their bedding to help with internal and external parasites naturally.