perhaps a silly question?

[carol-ann]

do you think that chickens taste anything, or do they just 'gob' it down?

 

[Tanith BHH]

Hi,
in answer to your question, then I don't believe that chickens can taste very much. A parrot, which is one of the birds that have the most amount of taste buds only has 350 and they can only taste sweet, sour and salty (that's why they can eat chillies) . We have 10,000. So I think chickens can taste, just not much. They can see much better than humans can, though, so they tell what they're eating etc by that.

 

[carol-ann]

so i wonder what makes a food become a favourite?

 

[OnceAroundTheBlock]

so i wonder what makes a food become a favourite?

Good question. Wish I knew. Then I wouldn't have to crawl in their run picking up all their uneaten scraps.

 

[carol-ann]

wow!

the only things that mine wont eat so for is fresh rosemary and fresh fennel.

everything else getes hoovered up. some things get eaten more quickly and with more enthousiasm than others - which made me wonder what do they taste , and what makes something become a favourite

for example, if i give them melon, grapes and lettuce leaves the lettuce leaves are always left till last and the melon goes first

the other thing i am finding now is that they are eating more pellets. do they seem to eat more in the summer? or is it because they are getting older (think they around 6 months now)?

have decided that my 4 are just eating machines!!!!

 

[jak2002003]

I know all the scientific facts about birds not having a good sense of taste, but I can not believe it.

I keep chickens, doves, and finches and I can tell you they have a very good sense of taste.

If I feed my finches some seed that is fresh in one cup, and some older seed in another, the birds will prefer to eat the fresh seed. To us the seed looks and feels the same - so how do they know which bag is the freshest?

If I use 2 brands of egg food, one will be preferred to the other, even if they look and smell the same to me.

My chickens will love some vegetables and greens, but only eat others begrudgingly or not at all, even if they look the same colour and have the save texture.

Once I offered my ringneck doves some chick starter that was left over from the chickens. They would not eat it. I then noticed it had gone off slightly and smelled a bit strange. I gave them fresh chick started and they ate the lot!

Also if I add vitamins to the water, some of my doves will hold off drinking it, even if the liquid is still clear.

 

[jpcode]

They may not have many taste buds, but what is their sense of smell? Texture? At first mine would not eat snails or slugs but after I cut them up they started eating them, and now there is a spontaneous race around the yard every time a snail is found. And I don't have a snail problem in my garden anymore.

 

[carol-ann]

interesting about snails ........... mine cant seem to break the shells if they are whole, so my son smashes the shell and chucks them into the run, and boy oh boy is there a fight. Highly entertaining to watch

but i still cant work out if they can taste!

but i do know that some foods are more favourite than others.

good point about smell and texture, wonder if that is what they are attracted too?