is there any way to help chickens to develop taste for bell peppers?

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Facts and opinions are not interchangeable. I may of the opinion that a glass of bleach is a great way to start my day. The fact is that I’m likely going to be dead by lunchtime if I drink a glass.

 

[CanadaEh]

Can I ask why you want your chickens to eat peppers?

as I said:
1) lots of bell peppers go to waste (compost) and none of them touched by our chickens
2) lots of people reporting their chickens love bell peppers, so I assume bell peppers are good for them

 

[The Happster]

My birds are allowed whatever plant matter they will eat.
They are pretty smart, and with the exception of polystyrene and other similar materials, I trust them to eat what's safe.

I've caught them tucking into many types of plants in the past and it has done no harm. And the types I know to be poisonous, they have never shown any interest in whatsoever.
They won't eat foxgloves, but they love munching on the hollyhocks.

I would have no problem giving them bell peppers, in moderation.

 

[CanadaEh]

I feed mine discarded peppers, root vegetables and other such produce that they can't normally manage to eat, by running it through the food processor first. It chops everything up small and they are better able to fit it in their mouths. If it fits, they eat it; if it doesn't, they often won't bother. I either dump the chopped pile in the run straight, or if it's too wet, I mix it with some feed crumbles to make a mash. They LOVE it that way! It's not too much work for me because I only have 5 chickens, and this is one of our rituals. I enjoy making it for them, and they enjoy eating it. My kids often get involved and do the preparation and the feeding themselves, too, and enjoy it themselves as well.

I rather not to process their scrap fruit/veg because of:
1) me being lazy and they already eat a lot of whole veg by themselves
2) being afraid to mix something rotten/moldy/poisonous that they would not eat by themselves when whole, but not being to tell in the mix

 

[CanadaEh]

I realize that you have your opinion and I respect it but I have done a great deal of research on the topic as well because I have a large garden with nightshades and I wanted to feed mine out of it as much as possible and had to stop myself after finding information on here BYC that stopped me. Even about the sunflower seeds. So I would just encourage you to possibly do some more before you fed them piles of peppers. But I respect your opinion and you have a right to it and like I said they are your chickens and I wish you the very best with them and hope they remain happy and healthy at all times no matter what they eat from peppers to tomatoes to sunflower seeds of all types.

a lot of things on "not to feed" list on BYC and other website is some theoretical BS. We have had chickens for couple of years now. Every scrap other than raw poultry goes into their composting run, and gets eaten or rots, stinks and grows moldy there. Have not had one chicken hurt from eating something they were not supposed to,

 

[K0k0shka]

2) being afraid to mix something rotten/moldy/poisonous that they would not eat by themselves when whole, but not being to tell in the mix

That's a good point. For large quantities where something may slip through, it makes sense. But we only have 5 chickens, and a small amount of scraps that I save from the day's salads and cooking, store in the fridge and feed on the following day. So there's nothing bad that can end up in there. It's a bit of extra work, yeah, but I enjoy it, because the chickens love their scrap mash so much

 

[thepick4uchicks]

That's a good point. For large quantities where something may slip through, it makes sense. But we only have 5 chickens, and a small amount of scraps that I save from the day's salads and cooking, store in the fridge and feed on the following day. So there's nothing bad that can end up in there. It's a bit of extra work, yeah, but I enjoy it, because the chickens love their scrap mash so much

Do you eat your eggs? If so and you are happy with their taste and again ... your chickens are healthy then all the more reason to follow your own path and opinion and eat them.

 

[K0k0shka]

Do you eat your eggs? If so and you are happy with their taste and again ... your chickens are healthy then all the more reason to follow your own path and opinion and eat them.

These 5 haven't started laying yet, but I've had chickens before and fed them kitchen scraps, and the eggs tasted great. The 5 I have now (5 months old) have been eating these scraps all summer and are doing fine, big and fluffy and full of character

 

[Foxinthehenhouse]

Why not can them or something instead of trying to get your chickens to eat something they don’t want to??

 

[SHeld]

Our chickens never eat or peck bell peppers and we are getting lots of them (both red and green) in discarded produce - they all become worm food. Bell peppers and root veg are about only things they won't touch. There are plenty of people at BYC who say their chickens love bell peppers. Is there a way to help chickens to develop taste for certain produce such as bell peppers?

And mine don’t eat cucumbers or onions