What are some good treats that the chickens will actually eat?

[claud]

By this point my birds regard me as a walking treat so if I'm carrying it and throw it in the run it pretty much gets eaten.
At first they may not realize that you are giving them treats since they are probably used to feed. Try using a brightly colored food like tomatoes and then chop them into bite sized pieces for them. They'll get the hang of it and then you will be disposing all of your dinner scraps to the birds.

 

[fiberart57]

For mine, given a choice between worms or raisins, they choose raisins. They love them. I give them the golden organic ones a couple times a week. Also they like Cheerios and yoghurt.

Mary

 

[wombat]

I doubt it is the treats you are selecting. It's more likely that they have nobody to show them what is good to eat, so they are suspicious of new things. Pick out only a couple things, feed only those at first, until they get used to them.

Ours took a few days to decide that peanuts were food, now they will sneak up on people who are sitting in lawn chairs and try to stick their heads in people's pockets to see if there are any peanuts for them in there.

 

[stephhassler]

Wow - thanks so much for all the responses. I never would have thought of some of those things like yogurt or cottage cheese. We give them lots of left overs now, but we just throw them in the compost pile and let them pick and choose - so other than melon we never really know what they like and don't like.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I agree, this is the key. That's why one will say their chickens hate, say, watermelon, and the next will say theirs love it. You have to teach them that each treat is a treat. If you have at least some that will eat out of your hand, it makes this go a lot easier. Truth is, they will eat almost anything.

 

[anngili]

That sounds good. My chicks looked at their first grape like it might eat them, but I just cut the first grapes in pieces, stuck the beak of one of the chicks in a piece, put all back in the brooder and the race was on! With mine, as soon as one bird tries to eat something and likes it, they all come over to try it too.
Ah, just tried it with some young ones with yogurt and it worked now, too.

 

[Cherokeerainbow]

Read the 'sticky' on the index page...it list alot of good stuff!

 

[playswithfowl]

My girl's favorite treat is probably Corn on the Cob

 

[Cherokeerainbow]

My Roo, Tony, goes mental if he sees a grape...
He'll do anything you want if he can just have that grape!
The good thing is, he's figured out that when I call him...I have a grape ready for him. So when he's out free ranging with the aussies, and I call...he comes barreling back to the barn, usually with the girls in tow!
It's amazing! I think its like addicting to chickens or something...

 

[PortageGirl]

Mine are crazy for grapes too! It's amazing how much they love em, and watching them snag one and try to keep it from the others while trying to gobble it on the run is a hoot!