What WON'T your chickens eat?

[KerriChick]

Mine will not eat black beetles, cabbage & uncooked carrots, and strawberries. They eat cucumber like crazy when it is a treat cut up in ice water but will not touch it otherwise, sometimes pick the seeds out. My buckeye is our bug eater, they require a bit more protein and she finds it!
She loves earwigs, hornworms, all non-hairy caterpillars and smaller bugs and worms. The others will eat smaller bugs and worms but are not as persistent about it.

Their absolute favorite foods are grapes of any kind(we call it ‘chicken football’ when I throw one on the patio and they run around fighting over it) and hot dogs or deli meats (in limited quantities only occasionally)

 

[Gab1]

I'm no longer surprised with what chickens will eat, mine have eaten (with great relish) the usual oddities, lizards, bees, drywall, Styrofoam etc... now, I'm surprised with what they refuse to eat!
Blueberries
Strawberries
Spinach
Green grapes (but red or purple are ok)
Bell peppers
And various other things I would consider to be A+ chicken chow.
They just stand in it and look disgusted.
What won't your chickens eat?

Should never feed chickens grapes as they ferment in their crops and cause major health issues. So no red or purple either.

 

[MarkJr]

Should never feed chickens grapes as they ferment in their crops and cause major health issues. So no red or purple either.

Mine eat a lot of them. Never had issues. I had to trim my pine tree way up so they wouldn’t use it as a ladder to the grape trellis. Wiped my grapes out in short order.

 

[nuthatched]

Should never feed chickens grapes as they ferment in their crops and cause major health issues. So no red or purple either.

It takes at the very least 3 days in the proper conditions (such as eating only grapes) for grapes to ferment, a chickens crop empties every night.
It might happen but I doubt it's risk under everyday conditions.
My chickens have stripped every "toxic" plant out of my yard....

 

[mtnlady621]

I'm no longer surprised with what chickens will eat, mine have eaten (with great relish) the usual oddities, lizards, bees, drywall, Styrofoam etc... now, I'm surprised with what they refuse to eat!
Blueberries
Strawberries
Spinach
Green grapes (but red or purple are ok)
Bell peppers
And various other things I would consider to be A+ chicken chow.
They just stand in it and look disgusted.
What won't your chickens eat?

Mine don't like strawberries, carrots, peas. A few turn their beaks up at mealworms.

 

[mtnlady621]

I'm no longer surprised with what chickens will eat, mine have eaten (with great relish) the usual oddities, lizards, bees, drywall, Styrofoam etc... now, I'm surprised with what they refuse to eat!
Blueberries
Strawberries
Spinach
Green grapes (but red or purple are ok)
Bell peppers
And various other things I would consider to be A+ chicken chow.
They just stand in it and look disgusted.
What won't your chickens eat?

Mine don't like strawberries, carrots, peas. A few turn their beaks up at mealworms.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have never had any chickens that cared for cucumbers. Reminds me of my Grandpa Shook who wouldn't eat them either. I recall him stating that, "why would you eat something that even hogs and chickens wouldn't eat".

This is so interesting. Mine will pretty much trample me underfoot for cucumbers. Same for bananas and any carb like rice or bread. They won't touch strawberries. Crazy chickens!

 

[RoyalChick]

Mine love So many things everyone else’s don’t seem to like. They eat strawberries, blueberries, all parts of squash, oatmeal, grapes, and carrots. I’ve only found 3 things they just won’t eat: Celery, green peppers, and stink bugs. I really wish they liked stink bugs :-/

Mine really like stink bugs. I have little pots in the house to collect them when I see them and then bring out to the chickens who go crazy just seeing the plastic pot!

 

[Chicken Heel]

I find these type of threads interesting. In my half century of raising chickens, the most preferred "treat" that I ever provided were dead and dying Japanese beetles from a beetle trap. It was a stinking slimy mass but my chickens at the time went nuts for it. I had to quit using the traps though because it was drawing in beetles from miles around.

 

[blitzdude]

Shocked to see so many people saying bananas and blueberries. I can't think of 2 foods that my girls like more. They go absolutely crazy for them.