What is the strangest thing your chickens ate? Mine just ate crawfish Monica and aligator tail

[WVDoug]

My 9 week olds have started eating the blue foam insulation board that serves as the lid to the nesting boxes. They peck and rip out chunks and have almost eaten all the way through.

I wonder why none of them have done this before.

 

[KayTee]

My 9 week olds have started eating the blue foam insulation board that serves as the lid to the nesting boxes. They peck and rip out chunks and have almost eaten all the way through.

I wonder why none of them have done this before.

Why haven't they done it before? Because they're chickens - that's why!

But seriously, chickens' tastes seem to develop and change over time. Stuff that my girls used to devour last year (swiss chard leaves, rocket leaves etc) are now completely ignored, and stuff that they used to turn their beaks up at (courgette, lettuce, peas) have suddenly become the tastiest thing since sliced bread. No apparent reason that I can fathom - nothing else has changed in their feed, so I can't imagine that it's a nutrient problem. At one point they were mad for rhubarb and clematis leaves, both of which are bad for them (especially the rhubarb), so I fenced the plants off. This summer the plants grew and they could get at the leaves again, but they didn't give them as much as a second glance.

You could drive yourself mad trying to work out why chickens think and behave the way they do. Don't even bother - just go with the flow, offer everything, clear up what they don't eat, and remove what they want to eat and shouldn't!

 

[Clucky Chatter]

My favorite hen Hazel ate my diamond earring right out of my ear. I have learned to never wear jewelry near them. I never did get the earring back. I'm sure it's grinding up her food with all the other grit.

I think if that were me I would have quarantined her in a box in the house until that diamond came back out. just sayin!

 

[Clucky Chatter]

A bolt, like nuts and bolts. She also demanded some dried chicken from my mom once when she had it in her pocket for the dogs. Pancake took it out of her pocked and tried to rip a piece off. I told her just to let her have a small taste, she wanted more but told my mom she didn't need to be a cannibal and could have meal worms. I think she just wanted it because the dogs got it. I think she might think she is a dog sometimes.

My male Yorkie thinks he is one of the girls, he is always running in the chicken pen to eat what we give them. I have a pic of him eating out with them

 

[kacklinghen]

My male Yorkie thinks he is one of the girls, he is always running in the chicken pen to eat what we give them. I have a pic of him eating out with them

ha ha , we just got a puppy and she is always tring to eat the chickens fee too. I stop her as soon as I catch her though

 

[Handyhens]

Not the weirdest thing but still weird
A centipede with a death wish. I was working in the yard and a centipede fell off the roof! It was gone in seconds.

 

[Beer can]

At one point they were mad for rhubarb and clematis leaves, both of which are bad for them (especially the rhubarb), so I fenced the plants off. 

Mine eat lettuce opium! It grows all around our property, I thought it was giant hogweed when we first moved here, some of it by my garage was 15 feet tall! I don't know if is bad for them, my kids fed their rabbit some once, it looks like dandelion greens when its young. I thought the rabbit was finaly dying its ten years old, didn't move all day and was hardly breathing, the next morning it was fine. Don't think it has hurt the chickens but I wish they wouldn't eat it.

 

[3 NH reds]

Oh my, fermented mice!

I would think that could wreck the mash but it doesn't for you? Do you use the whole batch or just drain & keep using? No off smells? :S

I just keep it going. I drain off what I use and re use the goop. This has to be at least 3 years and going strong. A few dead mice won't kill anything except the mice, and the girls love fermented mice.

 

[ChickyChickens]

A frog

 

[Clucky Chatter]

ha ha , we just got a puppy and she is always tring to eat the chickens fee too. I stop her as soon as I catch her though

We don't try to stop him, we let him stick his nose right in the treat pan. If he's interested he stays, if he's not he comes back in the house.