What DON'T chickens like to eat?

[Shelz]

This is interesting reading all these posts.....chickens are so funny.....I cant wait to start trying new foods for my little chickies, they are only 3 weeks old now. I have mixed plain yogurt in with there crumbles and they just love it. Yesterday I gave them a few chunks of cantalope...and they werent too sure about that stuff. lol I didnt want to push too much stuff on them too quickly, but is it ok to give them bugs now? I thought about getting some small crickets for them??

 

[jak2002003]

To add to the celery, I just gave them some pieces of cucumber and lettuce. Nope, no likey.

The cucumber and lettuce are my chickens favourite things!

The only thing they wont eat is fresh corn!!!!!!????!!!!! They will only eat the dry corn in the scratch. I thought all chickens liked corn?!!!

I caught them eating my pond fish pellets last week after they found the open sack.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

My chickens normally shy away from anything 'new' if they have never seen it before. If left out they will come to investigate soon and most times will devour whatever it is. The first cabbage head when hung from a post was totally eaten within a few hours but it took a few hours before they would even come near it. Now yogurt, they started eating as soon as it was sit down. We always add some of their flock raiser to the yogurt so it looks normal to them maybe?

So far they have not turned their beaks up to anything offered. They especially love any greens as in kale, spinach and collard. We always try to feed fresh but at times we resort to canned veggies when on hand. We have to hide the cat and dogs food from them!!

 

[KnobbyOaks]

I know this thread is what chickens DON'T like, but I've finally found something my chicks do like and since it's the first thing, I thought I'd share. It's the bottom dregs of a box of Frosted Mini-Wheats. They went bonkers. Yayyy!

 

[Aussie-Chook]

So, I find grubs and caterpillars in my garden all the time ... what if they are poisonous (like many caterpillars are?) ... will the chickens avoid them or gobble them down with the rest??!!

Do chicken eat stink bugs ... we've got plenty of those around!!

 

[debid]

I let my chickens forage and they have yet to eat anything that made them ill. However, as I was reading, I came across information about Rose Chafer beetles and they have been known to cause poultry losses. I'd suggest you look those up because the larvae are also harmful but distinctive so easy enough to avoid.

I think it's less a matter of chickens knowing what to eat than that they dislike the flavor of most of the things that would harm them.

 

[Egrant97]

Tried to give the ladies some broccoli yesterday... would not even go near it!

 

[mrsc1951]

Funny, mine will devour broccoli if I give them the whole head. If I have just the florets or if it is cooked they won't touch it. Strawberries they don't want anything to do with. The same for pumpkin - I tried both a regular pumpkin and a pie pumpkin. For the most part carrots are a no go except for one girl, a Cochin/SLW mix. Celery and peppers are both no's. They love cucumbers but won't eat squash. Grapes and blueberries they go nuts over but won't touch apples. Kale, collards, mustard and cabbage - almost any kind of greens they love. When they were chicks they wouldn't touch cabbage but now if I put a head out for them it is gone is less than two days and I only have six and a half chickens LOL. One is a bantam.

 

[Egrant97]

Maybe i will try that, i was breaking of little pieces for them....

 

[mikeharold]

So far my 5 week olds don't like dried mealworms, any kind of greens, cabbage, fresh worms from the garden, insects, cut up green beans, buttermilk, or anything else other than chick starter. Their favorite is some purple leaves from our tree in front that that fall on the ground. I think my chicks are "challenged"!