What are your chickens' favourite treats?

[jodieevaughan]

Long story short, we had a fox attack 2 days ago and there is now only 1 hen left. I feel TERRIBLE for her, she is traumatised and I just want to spoil her as much as possible!

So far, I know she adores blueberries and pears, but she won't touch strawberries. Does anybody have any ideas for what I could give her? What are your chickens' ultimate favourite treats? (No rubbish like cakes, crisps or anything like that of course! Real, good stuff)

 

[Cddoubletrouble]

My chickens like to eat bread and buns.they go crazy for it.Tell me how they like it.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I don't know anybody whose chicks don't LOVE meal worms! Live is best nutritionally. But they don't care, most chickens treat meal worms like a drug they have GOT to have.

That being said, please keep her treats to less than 10% of her daily ration or you won't be doing her any favors. Especially if you feed layer, it's already low in protein at only 16%. Boiled or scrambled eggs are usually yummy with lots of protein and other micro-nutrients while being easy to digest. If she does quit laying because of this incident, I highly recommend switching her to a Flock Raiser or Starter/grower with oyster shell on the side. Too much calcium long term in birds that aren't laying, including roosters, chicks, and molting hens can cause kidney problems. It is higher in protein as well which help support feather growth when needed.

Also, sorry for you loss!

She might need a friend to help her get over the attack. It can be very traumatizing and even cause them not to lay eggs for a while. Though I don't recommend just throwing in any bird without proper quarantine and look but don't touch integration. Hate to cause her even more stress.

It's important for her to get back to routine because chickens are creatures of habit. And yes they do experience some emotions, but don't push your concern for her trauma into a drawn out thing for her. She won't be sitting around all day thinking about it the way we tend to. She will probably miss her friends and be a bit confused. She may even be a bit cautious especially to enter the same area the attack happened. But what she's actually thinking is probably... "can I eat that?" and "what can I eat next?"

Glad she survived, Hope she recovers rapidly!

My chickens like to eat bread and buns.they go crazy for it.Tell me how they like it.

Welcome to BYC!

I don't recommend bread products as they have been known to cause sour crop, I believe. Could have been a different crop infection that I can't think of the name. So not trying to spread misinformation, just be aware.

Also, zero nutrients in bread.

Funny how all birds are individuals and have different preferences

 

[BrendaJ]

Im so sorry for your loss.Are you going to get more chickens to add to the flock?
My girls love oatmeal. I make it kinda thick , spread it on a pan & let it cool. You can grind up pumpkin seeds and sprinkle it on the top for an extra treat bonus.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Im so sorry for your loss.Are you going to get more chickens to add to the flock?
My girls love oatmeal. I make it kinda thick , spread it on a pan & let it cool. You can grind up pumpkin seeds and sprinkle it on the top for an extra treat bonus.

Grinding the pumpkin seeds may just make them go through the system to fast since grinding is what takes place in the crop.

Warm oatmeal on cool mornings is absolutely enjoyed by the flock!

And has some nutrition as well.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

My condolences on your loss...my first losses were to foxes, too.

My flock loves black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS), shell on, or whole oats. They also enjoy kitchen scraps (occasionally, of course) like pineapple rinds - they eat the remaining flesh - and bell pepper seeds/flesh.

 

[TroyerGal]

My chickens LOVE kitchen scraps... And WATERMELON

 

[jodieevaughan]

Thanks everyone! Yes, I'm getting her a companion tomorrow morning! But to be honest, I feel like she may actually be enjoying alone time - she has always been unimaginably panicky (pecking at a single grain of corn, darting away, darting back etc) ever since she managed to get herself stuck beneath a water bowl as a chick she is only calm when she is asleep! The others always pecked her if she came near them while feeding/drinking which didn't help her stress, so obviously now she can do what she likes without being picked on.
Thank you for the sympathy everyone, I really am shaken as I was strongly attached to them. But EggSighted4Life, I know you're completely right

I just can't help but pity her! I will make sure not to over indulge her - just a little amount.

 

[jodieevaughan]

I wanted to feed her oats actually, but I read somewhere that they can cause chickens to swell up and even cause death?! Maybe there's no truth to that, but needless to say I didn't give it to her after seeing that!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I wanted to feed her oats actually, but I read somewhere that they can cause chickens to swell up and even cause death?! Maybe there's no truth to that, but needless to say I didn't give it to her after seeing that!

I haven't had any problems feeding whole or rolled (I add rolled oats to ducklings' feed to lower the protein level), but you should do what you feel comfortable with. There's a BYC thread discussing feeding oats here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/692659/whole-oats-as-chicken-feed.