They're not eating any of the feed I buy now

[KikiDeAnime]

I thought that maybe my birds were just being picky since I had to switch them back to Purina Flock Raiser crumbles since the place I usually bought X-Cel 18% crumble from had closed down.
I bought a bag of Nutrena Naturewise 16% crumble but they refused to touch it no matter how I gave it to them so I gave the opened bag away for free to someone who needed it.
I then bought a bag of Kalmbach Henhouse reserve but they also refused to eat that as well so I gave it away too.
And yes, I did inspect the feed but there was nothing wrong with either bag. I also made sure to try and give them time to see if they liked either.

They free range and I sometimes give them scraps or leftovers from the kitchen.
Their crops are full each night so they're not starving nor are they showing signs of anything being wrong.
They're currently, at the time of posting this, hanging out in a section of our yard that has overgrown grass.

What's wrong with my birds?

 

[Kiki]

Stop giving them treats and they will eat the feed.

 

[SkyAJK]

From my experience with my chickens, they do not like surprises! I did what you are doing before, I gave them completely new feed and they did not eat it. I learned that I need to introduce new food slowly in combination with the current feed they eat, after a few weeks, they are used to it and the old feed slowly disappear and they just not notice at all.

Do you have any of the old feed to mix with the new one?

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Stop giving them treats and they will eat the feed.

They only get treats once a week though

 

[KikiDeAnime]

From my experience with my chickens, they do not like surprises! I did what you are doing before, I gave them completely new feed and they did not eat it. I learned that I need to introduce new food slowly in combination with the current feed they eat, after a few weeks, they are used to it and the old feed slowly disappear and they just not notice at all.

Do you have any of the old feed to mix with the new one?

Nope, it ran out weeks ago right after I bought the first new bag of feed

 

[SkyAJK]

Nope, it ran out weeks ago right after I bought the first new bag of feed

Like Kiki says, stop give them treats and they will eat the feed.

Might be keep them in the run for a day or two so they don't have anything else to eat but the feed you give them.

My chickens get out of the run a few times a day and I found that the more they get out the less they eat their feed. When I was out all day and they were kept in the runs, they ate all their feed.

My chicken runs only have plain soil, earth so they dig and eat whatever, but that aren't enough so they eat the feed.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Like Kiki says, stop give them treats and they will eat the feed.

Might be keep them in the run for a day or two so they don't have anything else to eat but the feed you give them.

My chickens get out of the run a few times a day and I found that the more they get out the less they eat their feed. When I was out all day and they were kept in the runs, they ate all their feed.

My chicken runs only have plain soil, earth so they dig and eat whatever, but that aren't enough so they eat the feed.

Alright, I just locked them up with just the Purina feed and some water. I'll update in a few days

 

[SkyAJK]

All the best. Looking forward to your update.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Try feeding the food wet (mash), my chickens go bonkers for that. I’d swear they’d eat cardboard if I wet it down.

 

[SkyAJK]

Try feeding the food wet (mash), my chickens go bonkers for that. I’d swear they’d eat cardboard if I wet it down.

That is great idea, some chickens eat it in a different format.

My chickens eat cardboard wet or dry...grrrr