Why are mine such fussy eaters????

[OliviaDeHav]

I keep reading about what others feed their chickens. Mine are SO fussy! the 2 i have that are 7 weeks old will eat their chicken feed and some things they find on the ground......like big ol' beetles, or their recent fav....slugs!

the 4 who are almost 4 weeks old will eat just about anything so far......
But the older two, i have tried just about everthing and no go!!! They won't eat; watermellon, hard boiled eggs, seeds, dried up meal worms (which they use to love!), lettuce, tomatoes, cooked meat (except chicken....I KNOW, DON'T YELL AT ME!!! IT IS CREEPY THAT THEY ONLY WANT TO EAT CHICKEN!!!

) I can keep going on with what i have tried. Why are they SOOOOOOO fussssssy????

 

[swordgeek]

Eh, give them time. I assume they're getting all they need from their feed, and the treats are... well, treats! I think mine were a little older than yours when I first started giving them treats, and they didn't know quite what to do with them for awhile. Consider yourself lucky that they DON'T eat you out of house and home!

Eventually, I'm sure they'll develop a taste for something other than... chicken.

Mine loved slugs - till we had too many, and then wouldn't touch them. Loved apples - till they got too many. My pullets adore strawberries, but my 2-year-olds won't touch them. It's like feeding kids. One of mine ate nothing but dinosaur-shaped chicken tenders with ketchup for 2 years, and now won't touch them - but WILL eat Indian food, lobster, duck... (granted, still with ketchup). Like kids, your birds' tastes will probably change over time and with maturity.

BTW, I've never had the nerve to feed mine chicken. Thought about it, but it seems so wrong. They've had lobster, pork chops, bacon... but no chicken. Yet. Yikes!

 

[OliviaDeHav]

Quote:
The littler ones just gobble up just about anything... I have to ask though... Maybe i am being hardened off here to the chicken issue... They never KNEW the chicken i cooked

, it was from another farm far away and packaged up nicely by the butcher at the coop... and cooked very well...so it isn't like RAW chicken

But people feed them cooked eggs ALL the time... so unhatched baby chickens are ok? but cooked chicken meat isn't

LOL please know i am kidding here. I do understand the chicken issue, and i've only given them a tiny bit 2 times to see if they would eat ANYTHING other than their feed. By the way, it grossed my daughter, who is 27, out so much I couldn't even tell her what i was doing with it and she'd not talk about it! LOL This could go in so many bad directions... i will stop before i say anything too disturbing

I appreciate the comments on the food though... i won't worry about them then... actually my hubby just took out some watermellon and he said they dug in! Go figure!

 

[gryeyes]

Be glad they are fussy eaters, be very glad. Especially the next time you are home alone, it's raining, you go into the run to check on something, slip and fall and the chickens swarm you.


Just sayin', is all.

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]