Oppositional/defiant chickens

[purpledonna]

Mine won't touch yogurt! They love grapes, frozen watermelon and brown rice with garlic.

 

[GardenWeasel]

Try at least partially cooking the pumpkins while you are making something in the oven. The cracked open raw my girls ignored but cooked they went crazy. I have one left, haven't looked since it got so cold. Uh Oh

 

[riftnreef]

I cracked the Halloween jack-o-lanteren in half...and at first nothing, but on day two one of them figured out it was edible....within a week my four 4month old comets had destroyed 3 20+ lb pumpkins! Just took them a minute to catch on. I haven't looked into much else, but I think they are getting ready to start laying, so I will be trying to provide them with a more varied diet.

 

[chicknjane]

I think chickens are just like children, each one is unique. Of course, my chickens are part pig. They eat anything and everything. I sometimes get the impression that if a stood still long enough they'd try eating me. I gave them a nice sandbox that my chilcren used to play in, they looked at it for the first day, then just ignored it after that they prefer the soil in my flower beds and gardens.

 

[bigstack]

Quote:
I read on a posted link that potato peels were supposed to be bad for them so I have avoided that. it was definitely listed in a group of things that were supposed to be no-no's for chooks. I also read that alfalfa hay is bad for them too. Might have been in the same post. My hatchery in Ohio (Meyers) is good about answering questions like this so I will follow up today with them.

Raw tater peels are very bad! Cooked are ok in moderation. Too much garlic can actually be tasted in the eggs. Same with too much cantalope. But with that being said. if your birds like it and you have been doing itwith out any problems, They are yours! Do as you please and enjoy your flock. Just remember evey action in life has a conciquence. (good or bad) Good Luck and God Bless!

 

[lauriruth]

my 19 wk-olds LLLLOOOVVVVEEE yogurt. they get a spoonful every evening before bed and let me tell you, they see that little custard cup coming from 50 feet away! and stand back when you set it down! RAISINS- OMG! the SLW is the food-hog of the bunch. she'll VIGOROUSLY try anything i put out there and the others will follow her lead (cautiously). a slice of melon of any kind is gone within minutes...it's like a magic trick...nothing left but a thin layer of rind!

gotta luv 'em!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:

 

[Amethyste]

Quote:
wow...yours LEAVE the rind?

the most I ever see left of the rind is a 1 cell thick layer that they were coming back for. Seriously! Hold it up to the light and it shines right thru....

 

[Amethyste]

Quote:

Pffft ya right....mine would be right there saying I want a wing!! I want a leg!! GIMMEE GIMMEE I LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVE CHIKKEN!!!

 

[mikki717]

I have a Conure (parrot type bird...) and read that they absolutely WILL NOT eat anything their parents didn't show them was edible. Considering I bought her at 6 weeks... from a breeder... that would have been tough, but now that she thinks I am her mommy, she will eat it if I either nibble it first, or put it between my lips to feed to her.

Now to chickens... I have 4 six month old RIR's, and they would not even look at the bucket of snails I hunted diligently for, one night! Worms? Heck NO... obviously poison!

I also now have a batch of 8 week olds, and I taught them to eat worms etc early. Then, when I moved them out next to the big girls, It was a MIRACLE!!... when the big girls saw the little girls were getting treats, they changed their minds and started munching!

My girls also like white food especially... maybe it is the contrast. Not thrilled with pasta, or pumpkin, but will kill for pomegranets, lettuce and wild mallow weeds.