My chickens won't eat table scraps or treats!

[firsthouse_mp]

Somehow my chickens don't seem normal....they forage around the yard and eat weeds and scratch up things all over the yard yet when I put cut up apples, watermelons, potato rinds or raisins in their feed dish, they ignore them. Isn't this weird? It's like they prefer their pellets! When their store bought chicken feed is gone they will peck at the scraps but don't seem very thrilled by them.

I started mixing the two feeds together. I thought they were going to help me with my biomass reduction and my compost jar!!!

Any suggestions or should I just leave them alone??

 

[SunnyDawn]

How old are they? When my girls were young they were very picky but at 9-10 months they are less picky now (still don't like watermelon or carrots much though). Don't feed apple seeds to them (toxic) and if the raisins are cured with sulfer they will probably never eat them. Chickens are pretty smart about avoiding stuff that's bad for them. At least mine always have been.

 

[Dora'smom]

Uncooked potato skins can be toxic to chickens, as well.

 

[Mahonri]

I've given uncooked potato skins to my chickens for years (as long as they don't have any green in them) and they are just fine... and they gobble them right up and lay eggs everyday.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Dora'smom :

Uncooked potato skins can be toxic to chickens, as well.

Yep, I missed that one. Green in skins (caused by too much exposure to sunlight) is toxic to humans and chickens, so is the above ground part of a potato plant (can cause cardiac arrest in children). You might need to do some more research on what is ok to feed chickens. Of course it sounds like your chickens already know better.

 

[Tala]

Mine were slow to figure out treats. They are still a bit picky. I honestly think that they like whatever is in the yard better than most things I give them.
Watermelon was always a smash hit though. They don't seem to care for apples at all, but other people say their birds rave about them so

Potato peels don't seem that appealing to me, maybe they just don't like them? As others said, maybe there is something about the rasins.

Try grapes, mealworms, BOSS, birdseed, scratch, etc.
I just recently found out that mine love uncooked popcorn kernels.
Rememer, everything in moderation. You WANT them to eat their pellets!!! Laying pellets have the stuff that they need to make sure that they lay eggs every day. You don't want them becoming junk food addicted!



I'm raising some youngsters, they're oh....nearly 3 months now and they are catching on SOOOOO much faster because they have the older birds as examples! Plus maybe just the added competition. I used to have a cat that would eat lettuce just to keep the rabbit from getting it

 

[Bantimna]

Excuse me but what is BOSS?
ETA: Never mind found the answer.

 

[felidaet]

Mine hesitated to eat treats for awhile. Then I started giving them all the table scraps in the same container (a flat metal pan). At first they were afraid but this only lasted a couple of days. Now when they see me coming with the pan they get very excited. They usually spot me when I am just a couple of steps out the door, which is about 100 feet away from the run. If they act afraid of the treats just leave them in the run. Come back an hour or two later and they will likely be gone. It took mine nearly 1/2 day to get over the fear the first time I gave them a pumpkin (cut in half).

 

[dianer29]

My SILKIES are 19 weeks old . They refuse to eat some food offered after awhile as they probably got tired of them. I stopped chick parfaits due to they got real annoyed at their face getting messed up ,could be the fact that they are SILKIES and vision due to fluffy face can be an hinderance .One I have, Pacifica , is fluffy all over and will tilt her head at times to look at treats,but she could also be a fusspot as I notice she prefers to dine alone..lol
My girls will not get excited when I bring their organic feed to them ,however shredded cabbage,carrots ,sprouts,salmon,grated paple and forget bananas a,s it sounds like some are growling and cannot contain themselves!Brown rice with grated garlic is now spat on floor and they turn in a huff................gotta love em!

 

[snowflake]

I didn't find the answer and have been reading about BOSS all day. excuse my ignorance , but what is it?