my chickens hate treats!

[pinksky]

I want to be able to train my girls to come when called and the only way I can think of doing that is with treats. I've offered cheerios, millet, sunflower seeds, broccoli, carrot, tomato, grapes, strawberries, oats...the list goes on and on. My girls are around 5 weeks old and they simply refuse my treats! I've even tried touching their beaks with certain foods to give them a taste, but no go. What am I doing wrong? I thought chickens ate everything!

Thanks in advance!

 

[SurprisingWoman]

They are just too young. After they grow up a little more they will be interested.

Mine are 22 weeks and they LOVE cheese, but they are so spoiled they won't eat everything.

Just be patient.

 

[ich-knut]

My chicks are the opposite, they expect treats all the time! They love yogurt and today they had tofu. Also they love pecking at corn on the cob with or without BBQ sauce and they like to eat cooked rice. They love whole grain cracker crushed into small pieces. For hard treats like cheerios and carrots, maybe they prefer it to be broken down into bite size pieces. I try to do the same for fruits with choking hazard potential like blueberries and grapes.

 

[hrmalexandra]

I tricked mine into trying treats by sticking food pellets on them - any juicy treat like melon or strawberry will be sticky enough to entice them with the regular food, then they discover they like what's underneath!

 

[pinksky]

thanks guys!

 

[gritsar]

Your chicks don't hate treats, they're scared of them. They don't call them chickens for nothing, ya know.

Leave the treat with them for awhile. Soon the bravest of them will get up the nerve to try them. Once the others see that treats are not an evil thing out to choke the life outta them, they'll try them too.
It helps to use the same bowl to serve their treats in every time. They'll come to recognize that bowl and it'll be a free for all.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
I totally agree with Mz. Grits! Chickens are horribly curious and sooner or later the bravest one will try.

 

[digitS']

About the only thing that my chicks would eat before about 8 weeks of age was lettuce, other than their starter feed, of course. Now, lettuce must be too boring and they don't seem to care much about it.

As adolescents, they begin to experiment. One of the best "lures" is something that moves (or seems to move). If one bird gets it, they all want it

!!

String cheese is a good choice. I have trouble with my old hens trying to take it away from me when I show up with string cheese

! Really, they'll eat just about anything now. Sometimes, things that they shouldn't . . .

Steve

 

[elmo]

Yes, I remember the first time I offered a strawberry on a plate. My chicks looked at it as though it was the Fruit Salad of Death or something.

You could try mealworms. I think there's some chicken instinct to go after those. Another thing you could try is sweet corn cut off the cob.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Mine got a nice mixture of earthworms, grubs, beetles and slugs today. Gobbled everything except the 3 slugs. They stood there staring at them until one finally got brave enough to peck at one. I don't know if they ever ate them but the one that pecked it instantly started wiping her beak on the ground.

The first treat I ever gave my chicks last year was leftover Spaghetti-O's. It is still a favorite treat, see...