What's YOUR chickens' favorite treat?

[amiachicknorwat]

OMG! Are you kidding/goading me? Pizza, ravioli, pancakes, lucky charms, grilled cheese and taco bell are aren't even good for us, let alone birds. I know they're domesticated, but dont you want what's best for your birds, if not for yourself? Just cuz the birds will eat these things does not make them treats. If you live in a city, suburb, there's still the compost from what fruits, veges nuts and seeds you eat, as well as crumble and scratch. I'm sure anyone else would suggest sticking to those and to drop anything processed from their diet. Not that I dont indulge those ways myself, but I wouldn't wish it upon any animal nor bird. Besides, if you eat their eggs or the chickens themselves would you want them constructed that way? (you/they are what you/they eat)

 

[Guvnah]

Worms.

I do intense organic gardening, and my soil is dark and loamy and rich -- and FULL OF WORMS. And whenever I work in the garden I have my red coffee can that I drag along with me, and I collect worms.

The chickens know the red can. They go nuts when they see me with it. They gather along the garden fence, circling like sharks, waiting for me to emerge from the gate and dump that can, which causes a feeding frenzy that is a joy to behold.

And Grasshoppers.

Last year my daughter-in-law's parents (whose Kansas farm was inundated with grasshoppers) gave me a birthday present that consisted of a large box with a bunch of holes punches in it. Inside were dozens of huge grasshoppers. We were visiting out there, so as soon as we drove home I sat out in the chicken run and released grasshoppers one at a time. Watching the birds play keep away with each next grasshopper was comedy entertainment for two full hours.

We get grasshoppers in the fields out here, but worms are far easier to collect, given that they are right there in the garden.

 

[Guvnah]

Black oil sunflower seeds -- in the shells?

Our local Big-R has 50 lbs of black oil sunflower seeds in the shells for $9.99. If chickens like that, it's cheaper than scratch mix!

 

[Guvnah]

I grow corn. My chickens eat the cobs, leaves, stalks, tassels, husks. I eat the corn. (Corn is just a giant variety of grass, after all...)

And I grow hops. After I harvest the hops, the chickens get the vines and leaves. They disappear as soon as I toss them in the run.

And beans. Leaves, stalks, roots, over-ripened beans.

 

[joyfulspirit]

Warm oatmeal! Wowziers! I have ground up red wheat into cracked wheat form and they love that, maybe come colder weather I will cook up some cracked wheat for a nightly treat. gotta get some corn for them, my hasn't come to full growth yet; but NON GMO is what I would have to buy due to most corn being riddled with chemicals.

 

[Stephanie R]

My girls love tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, parsley, sage, thyme, and chamomile from the garden. When we prune the grapes, we give them the vines and they go crazy for the green grapes. They also love mealworms (who wouldn't), sunflower seeds (although they're scared of the whole sunflower head), cantaloupe, and watermelon. They don't like berries of any kind, apples, farmed dandelion greens, sunflower or pea sprouts. And they turned their beaks up at pasta. Go figure.

 

[shortlid]

Forgot one time we had live lobsters a few weeks ago. Its a food group here in Northern New England. The six poults loves the remains of the carcasses! I feed the all my table scraps except potato skin. Even if rotten they will eat it.

 

[amiachicknorwat]

Yeah, I wish I had a vermicult growing beneath me (in my garden). Not that I don't got worms, just too few & far between -- I almost don't feel like I can spare any. We just moved in here mid April. I really have my doubts about the previous owners agri practices, so we're in 1st yr transition from however farmed before. I'm doin polyculture, built a few hugelkultur (raised) beds, sheet mulching, spreading compost teas periodically. We harboured a neighbour's animals (16 sheep and 2 cows) for a while, fertilized that way. But felt i had to buy worm castings to somewhat make up for the lack of worms. I know nothing compares to having them. I've staked out garden with perennials, so moving towards no-till. I rarely see worms in the soil, exactly, all but always around plant roots. Hence why I believe no till is best for building worm count. But any tips you can offer, since I'm new to farming as well as chicken tending. When I do catch a grasshopper I give it to the birds. I hear chickens will even eat mice and snakes and like being fed meat to overwinter. When I start seeing more worms I'll start setting them aside for my birds, thanks.

 

[Guvnah]

It takes time to get a good crop of worms. Your best bet is giving them the medium to flourish -- lots of organics. And it sounds lie you're doing that.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

My girls love corn on the cob, grass clippings, mealworms, strawberries, frozen grapes, tomatoes, and last night, after I chopped up a bell pepper for a salad, I gave them the top and core (seeds and all) and they went NUTS! They also enjoy scrambled eggs mixed with a little bit of Greek yogurt, but they only get that when there's an illness/injury/something else that makes it difficult/impossible to eat their everyday layer pellets (only had to do it once so far, thank goodness, during a broken beak healing). They don't seem to care for most vegetables; have offered broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini to little fanfare. They very rarely get junk, but when they do, pizza crusts are their favorite.