they don't eat the cracked corn!

[easttxchick]

I give mine scratch or poultry chops as a treat ONLY and they love it!
Corn and scratch should be a snack, not a diet.

 

[Nicole01]

Mine love it, but I throw it in their run with sunflower seeds.

I'm now deciding to sprout their sunflower seeds before throwing them in the run for oranger yolks and better nutrition since all the grass died for the winter.

If they don't like it, I wouldn't give it to them. It's not super healthy for them and it takes away from their protien.

 

[LizaBlue]

Chickens like what chickens like, I guess. Mine can't stand any type of sunflower seed - joke on me since I planted 5 different kinds of sunflowers just for them, lol. Didn't like store bought either. Don't like one of the millets either - can't remember if it's red or white - so I don't buy scratch, just cracked corn as a treat. Grew several rows of corn for them too. Another joke: didn't think about how I was gonna get it cracked! Well, at least the turkeys, and my glutton pup

, will eat the dry whole kernals.

Sometimes they remind me of kids: they go crazy about something for weeks, then all of a sudden, can't stand the stuff. We grew pumpkins, butternut squash, watermelon, and cucumbers, and boy did they love it! Then they started only eating the seeds...then they quit eating the squash altogether, then the pumpkin, then only ate the cucumber sporadically. The watermelon never lost its appeal, probably only because we could never get it to grow well. I finally started pureeing the cucumbers - after about 70 jars of pickles and I was still picking 2-3 5gal buckets a day, I had to do something to get rid of them! As for the rest of the veggies, well, it's a good thing that the new WeightWatchers program set vegetables at 0 points - I just took buckets of veggies to the meeting and dumped them. When they were younger, they hated cottage cheese. The other day, I put some out, opened the coop, went in to check for eggs, came out and it was all gone. Who knew chickens could "lick the platter clean"?

 

[yankeefan]

I have 7 young chickens (11 weeks) and I toss them just a handfull of cracked corn every few days. At first, they just looked at it. Then, after a week or so, they decided that it tastes good. But as others have stated, just a treat.

 

[Linn Bee]

What wonderful entrepreneurs you have! And there you go off and stifle their creativity.

You raise chickens = meat and eggs. Your chickens raise mice = meat and exercise. I see that as a win-win?

Seriously, your chickens don't need to be eating corn. Just don't buy scratch or make your own snacks from seeds that they do like. Just be prepared for a rebellion when they lose their harvest of mice!

Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening zone 5a - 4b in south-est, central-est Wisconsin

 

[Cindy in PA]

Quote:
I missed where they were discussing mice.

 

[gdplum]

I provide my girls with scratch...in the yard area...not in the house. Any they dont eat is consumed by doves and birds. It should be given as a treat. Mix grit (crushed marble or oyster shells) with the scratch...it makes good eggshells

 

[yomama]

My girls have 24/7 access to layer feed, and free range parts of the day. They love cracked corn, if they don't get it all the time. I will usually throw them some in the morning only. I've noticed in the past, that if I throw them some throughout the day, they are not as interested in it. Not sure why it is. Guess its the morning and they are more hungry? I don't know.

 

[pawsplus]

I make my own scratch out of stuff I know that like and that's really good for them. I just toss in a big container equal amounts of the following:

- BOSS
- rolled oats
- brown rice (dry)
- millet
- flax seeds

They LOVE it and they eat every single bite!