Pasta noodles as a treat? What do u give your hens for treats????

[Phillies Chicks]

we think we had one of our girls almost choke on a pasta noodle. they seems to love them but i don't think i will be giving anymore...any suggestions to other great treats? we only give cracked corn, scrambled eggs (didn't like) , toasted oat cereal, mealworms, crickets, raisins (love) and hot air popcorn (love - no salt no butter)

 

[Eggs4Sale]

I give mine hard-boiled eggs, and they come running up every time I come outside, hoping I have some. I feel like Jon Bon Jovi getting off the tour bus. Well, except for the money and singing ability. And cool hair. And male DNA. Same thing, other than all that.

 

[gryeyes]

A cabbage head on a string, like a tether ball, is something mine love to peck at throughout a day or two. But for hand-held treats, nothing beats shredded mozzarella cheese! Or jack... they like cheddar, too, but I try not to give them anything with too strong a flavor. Don't ask me why; it just seemed like a good idea.

 

[edselpdx]

Well, I just found a bit of pot roast at the back of the fridge that I wasn't going to eat, but was still probably fine. I chopped the meat up fine, along with a wilted leaf of chard from the fridge and some juice from the roast, and microwaved it until the fridge chill was off of the whole thing. Mixed in a bit of plain yogurt and the girls sucked it down. They were playing keep away for 5 minutes over one slightly too-large piece of beef they couldn't swallow in one chunk even though there was a bowlful of chopped juicy leftovers. It was ripped to bits slowly and passed from lady to lady as they competed for that bit which was somehow suddenly all-important.

They were thrilled when I burned some lentil stew last week, and they got bits of that every day since we weren't going to eat it with that charred flavor throughout. Mostly, they get kitchen scraps (any fruit/veggie scraps, the occasional old bread heel--which they actually don't like but will pick at, organic meat scraps), a handful or so of scratch when I let them out in the morning, and the occasional yogurt treat. I tend to give scraps midafternoon/dinnertime, and whatever they don't finish by bedtime gets tossed in the compost pile (except meat/bread). In summer, they get overripe tomatoes and garden weeds, grapes (their absolute favorite, which I won't buy from South America in winter), smoothie leftovers, and greens.

I'm spoiling them with protein right now because everyone's still either just started or just finished molting (can't they do it all at once?). I think Demeter is going to start laying again soon, because her comb is reddening up again, as I noticed tonight when I was out communing with the girls and teasing them with pot roast. Haven't had a single egg since before Christmas, and finally had to break down and buy eggs for the first time since they started laying last summer. Can't wait to hear the egg song again.

Be imaginative. Leftovers are what domestic chickens were made for. Keep trying the eggs if you have too many. They'll figure that out. Scrambled eggs are people or chicken hospital food around here. Everyone loves them.

 

[Phillies Chicks]

ok...all sound great..i am a newbie and was just worried what to give them after the pasta fiasco. I tried cabbage once and they didn't like at all. The mozzarella shredded cheese and hard boiled eggs sound like it might go over well. But do you guys worry about the choking thing.

 

[edselpdx]

I just make sure things are either really big (whole leaf of chard, whole pumpkin,etc) or chopped small like the beef tonight. My girls are almost a year old. I don't worry about choking, as they seem to be able to tear up whatever they really want to eat and I've watched them eat whole earthworms, slugs and small chunks of meat. They do have free access to granite grit, even though they free range round the backyard. I also try not to give too much low-nutrient treat foods such as noodles, bread, or scratch. I also don't give them stringy things like cut grass or leaves of weeds without the roots attached. Certainly their primary food source is their organic layer feed.

They still hit my partner Bill up for grapes every time he goes to leave because all fall there were grapes on the grapevine by the gate where his parks his bike, and he would shake the vine for them on his way out of the house all fall. It's been a couple of months since the grapes were gone, but they still come running when they hear him unlock the bike by the garage.

 

[snowflake]

have not noticed any chocking , haven't tried noodles. My hens are not picky, they love oatmeal cooked or plain, grapes banana meat scraps cottage cheese yogurt all veggies but I think peas are there favorite If I go out with a can in my hand the jump up and try to get the can. I have switched to thawed frozen peas though, because I was worried about the salt in caned veggies. squash they seem to prefer cooked. I fix them a bowel of what ever I can find (I buy extra oat meal just for them) every AM My DH gives it to them as soon as it gets light as I am already at work. then I give them a little treat at night when I close the coop door.

 

[M To The Maxx]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

mine LOVE corn tortilla's broken up, and cooked leftover rice. They also get any scraps and leftovers. Free pick of the compost pile- fresh stuff anyways(free range birds) I dump the bucket and they all come running! corn tortilla's are always my first grab though.