What are your favorite chicken treats and why?

[Hdghawg]

Mine have been getting lots of tomatoes of which they leave no trace of. I had/still have late tomatoes in the garden and I get culled ones by the box from a produce store. I also buy dried "bugs" by the 5# bag (crickets, mealworms, river shrimp and sunworms) but most often they get dry feed for treats. I ferment their purina feed so they think the dry pellets are treats and go crazy for it.

 

[ThePlow]

Mine have been getting lots of tomatoes of which they leave no trace of. I had/still have late tomatoes in the garden and I get culled ones by the box from a produce store. I also buy dried "bugs" by the 5# bag (crickets, mealworms, river shrimp and sunworms) but most often they get dry feed for treats. I ferment their purina feed so they think the dry pellets are treats and go crazy for it.

Wow, i cannot even get my babies to eat tomatoes for some reason. How do you go about fermenting their feed? I would love to do this.

 

[User395221]

My chooks 'go crazy' for anything....

I think my favourite is bugs. I turn over the compost and they pile in and eat the slaters and other bugs. It isn't really a treat though, but part of their normal diet, they are always scratching about for bugs.

 

[littlelizzy123]

I have raised beds for my garden, and one every year is 'the chicken patch'. I grow things like chard, collards, tatsoi, and spinach. I pick a little, tie it up in a little bundle, and let them go nuts. I want to try a 4x4 square with hardware cloth on top and plant greens in there. Then they can eat the greens without killing the plants. In the winter, they get black oil sunflower seeds and cracked corn. Also, a Flock Block keeps them pretty entertained.

 

[Hdghawg]

Wow, i cannot even get my babies to eat tomatoes for some reason. How do you go about fermenting their feed? I would love to do this.

I hate to give you the short answer but I don't know how to post the link.
There are a couple of good threads active and there is one in particular that goes step by step on Fermenting. Basically mix feed and water, stir daily and in a couple days you have fermented feed. Ratio is about 1 to 1 depending on how thick you want to feed it, mine is generally like cookie dough.

 

[twilightgecko]

my hens love tomatoes too.. seems like anything red gets their attention.. red toe nail polish is a bad idea.. hehehe..

 

[Sutremaine]

Grapes are nice. In every pack there always end up being a few squashed or mouldy ones that you don't want to eat, so those go to the chickens. A cherry tomato is fun too -- one runs off with it and smacks it about on the ground, and the rest follow her and hoover up the seeds.

Wow, i cannot even get my babies to eat tomatoes for some reason. How do you go about fermenting their feed? I would love to do this.

https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

The pellets I use take more water to make a sticky dough. 1kg feed + 1500ml water.

 

[andreanar]

Mealworms is the #1 fav. They also love watermelon, yogurt, their food soaked in water, and corn on the cob.

 

[twilightgecko]

this morning the found treat was a walking stick.. one found it and couldnt figure out if it was food or a toy, and of course they ALL wanted it.. ha

 

[galean]

Give them some grapes. You can throw down 15 grapes, and they all go after one, and chase the one who gets it, while ignoring the other grapes. Its hillarious.