Picky peckers, pick past corn?

[Al Capon]

It's the milo in the scratch that mine don't like. The wild birds usually clean up after the chickens.

That's interesting, mine suck up the milo first and leave the cracked corn till last. Chickens are weird..

 

[sylviethecochin]

Okay then, so who’s got the weirdo chickens then, you or I?

Seems a consensus has been reached. My chickens are weird.

 

[CindyinSD]

Is it a good idea to let/attract wild birds in with the chickens, etc.? I thought there were diseases they shared with one another? I have string over top of my poultry yard at present, but I’m thinking when it comes time to have them out of the yard, I’ll have to be more careful where I put the treats lest I invite in little unseeables on the backs of pretty songsters.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Is it a good idea to let/attract wild birds in with the chickens, etc.?

No.
I only toss out a small amount Scratch, what the chickens clean up in 15/20 minutes.
So all that's left is the corn.
Before I got chickens I used to feed the songbirds birdseed and suet year round. Now I only put out suet November till April. In the front yard. No birdseed. GC

 

[MROO]

It's the milo in the scratch that mine don't like. The wild birds usually clean up after the chickens. In ice/snow situations, the wild birds need some help so I put it out for them too, and scratch is cheaper than bird seed.

Great idea! I never thought about using scratch for my bird feeders! You just saved me a TON of money ... not to mention the extra storage space! Thanks!

 

[MROO]

Seems a consensus has been reached. My chickens are weird.

If yours are weird, mine are just plain piglets. They eat EVERYTHING ... super fast ... before they'll so much as look at their regular feed! Even with a full feeder, if I'm not paying close enough attention, one little hen will jump right onto my fist before the treats or scratch even leave my hand. There'a a reason her name is Miss Piggy!

 

[OhZark Biddies]

If yours are weird, mine are just plain piglets. They eat EVERYTHING ...

Do they eat carrot peels?

I gave mine some this morning, and they threw rocks at me and called me names.

 

[CindyinSD]

LOL Mine eat carrot peels and cracked corn and the white pith from orange peels, eggshells, hot peppers, leftover spaghetti, green (cooked) potatoes, bone marrow & spent veggies from making stock... if I were to fall over dead in the chicken yard I’m pretty sure no one would find the body. They act like they love me. It’s just the leftovers I am certain.

They don’t eat coffee grounds, though. I throw them in the chicken yard so I can pretend I’m composting, and the coffee grounds stay on the ground until it snows again. Then they mysteriously disappear.