Treats that are NOT treats

[Dragonfroggy]

Thanks Hetachick that makes sense about the superworms.
What about Greek yogurt plain?

 

[HeatherEmme]

My chicks go nuts over a boiled mashed up egg. It's been the only way I could get them to bond with me. They were 2 weeks old when I got them and a bit flighty. I'd tried bananas and strawberries but they weren't as crazy about those. I heard about chicks loving hard boiled eggs and tried it. Voila...it works like a charm. They'll now sit comfortably in the palm of my hand and peck out pieces of yolk!

Next on our list is meal worms...I'm wondering if chicks like the dried kind? The live ones just give me the heebee jeebees

 

[debid]

There is a good bit of nonsense in the "treat list". Citrus is fine unless that's as all you feed them. Potatoes are fine (it's the occasional green skins that are mildly toxic). Uncooked rice and oats don't explode birds. Avocado flesh is fine but there is a toxin in the seed coating so don't give them the seed.

It's easy enough to find misinformation and outright nonsense online so it's always wise to consider the source and double-check when something doesn't make sense.

 

[chickety-chick]

My chickens love apples, especially, but also really liked pieces of asparagus that I cut up in fine pieces. The adore broccoli, especially if the head has started to flower. They are new to me, so it is good to read about other ideas for treats for them.

 

[WhitneyMarie13]

I fed my older chicks asparagus and at first they kind of looked at me as if they were saying, "you want me to eat THAT?!" Then after a few minutes of them not going for it I mushed it up a bit and they went crazy over it! I ended up wedging the ends that I cut off into their suet feeder and they went at it for a solid hour...when I came back the next day, there wasn't a trace of the asparagus left!

I just tried grapes the other day and nearly lost a finger because I couldn't seem to feed it to them fast enough! I ended up going inside and picking off the softer grapes (the grapes I don't care for) and mushing them up and dropping it on the coop floor. In a blink of an eye it was GONE!

I have tried grains with my chicks and so far they really seem to like cooked quinoa.

The girls also like cheerios mashed up, plain yogurt (both regular and greek), wet or stale bread (I usually save them the end piece that no one likes and spilt it up into 2-3 pieces that they get throughout the week), strawberries as long as they are mushed up and on the riper side, corn tortillas, most greens, corn and of course good ol' mealworms!

I haven't tried boiled egg yet, but I have some eggs that I'm thinking about boiling up today and giving to both my older chicks and my lil babies.

On a side note, I found it interesting that our desert tortoise Lola shouldn't be fed any citrus, avocados or green potato peelings due to their toxicity. I know many people are saying that they have fed these things to their chickens with no ill effect, but I just thought it was interesting to see that animals can have the same [potential] types of foods that are toxic to them!

 

[cmom]

My birds love collard greens, lettuce. any greens. When I feed my birds boiled eggs, I chop them up shells and all in my food processor and put them in a big feed pan. They gobble them up.

 

[chickety-chick]

Tried tomato with the chickens last night. They ignored it for 2 shakes, and then went after it like it was the best treat in the world. I had one little horder, but the roo didn't tolerate that for long. Haha.

 

[Dragonfroggy]

Quote:
I feed mine the dried ones and as soon as they see me coming with the container , i can barely get through the door without being attacked. hee hee

 

[mstanco]

My girls LOVE the dried mealworms and cooked Spaghetti with no sauce. I tried Scratch and chopped up boiled eggs but they don't enjoy them as much.

 

[ChickNanny13]

My chicks go nuts over a boiled mashed up egg. It's been the only way I could get them to bond with me. They were 2 weeks old when I got them and a bit flighty. I'd tried bananas and strawberries but they weren't as crazy about those. I heard about chicks loving hard boiled eggs and tried it. Voila...it works like a charm. They'll now sit comfortably in the palm of my hand and peck out pieces of yolk!

Next on our list is meal worms...I'm wondering if chicks like the dried kind? The live ones just give me the heebee jeebees

Yup they LOVE the freeze dried ones too. I buy the 30oz container from Amazon, it lasts about a month with 6 pullets. Now I'm raising mealworms, not sure I'll be able to feed it to them but I could sell & use the monies to buy freeze dried. Discovered rolled oat is another favorite.