Why won’t my chickens eat fruits or veggies?!?

[BigBlueHen53]

I give mine chick grit

Ok thank you, I want to be able to give them the trimmings from the garden mainly and the occasional dried larva. Was so paranoid as a new chicken owner they didn’t get anything other than the crumbles till they were 10 weeks old.

Some time in the first week I give them chick grit. After a few days of that I give them dried meal worms, then every few days I'll intoduce a spoonful of something new. They never get much, but I like to introduce new tastes and textures. I failed to do this with one batch and they were like yours. Fussy eaters, lol!

 

[The Birb King]

Your chickens don't look very old. I've noticed they don't really like to try new things until they are pretty much full grown, unless they are raised by a hen. They should start eating it eventually

 

[UnicornYarnFarm]

They are just so cute and so much fun I love making nosies at them and they answer as we hang out in the yard.

 

[RoyalChick]

Mine weren’t interested in veggies until they were almost fully grown. And the only veggie they all always like is cabbage.
At times they love apple cores. At other times not so much.

 

[kattabelly]

I have a few chickens just slightly younger than yours. When I got them they were already 8 weeks old and apparently hadn't been exposed to many different foods or even spent that much time around people. It's a work in progress but I've had some success convincing them to try things by having a specific treat dish where I put some pellets out before refilling their feeder and also put other things they already recognise as food - leatherjackets and vine weevil grubs are a favourite. Anything I want them to try goes in that dish, with a few pellets sprinkled on top. They make a huge fuss every time but they're at least trying whatever I put out most of the time now, even if they do still often spit it out in disgust.

I also have chicks I hatched myself and at a week old they've already had chick crumb (dry, as wet mash and fermented), eggs, kefir, haddock, apple, potato, sprouting broccoli, chard, claytonia, clover, dandelions, dockens, comfrey, grass, various invertebrates... Only tiny amounts of most things but they've not refused anything yet. At first it took some time making the food noise and tapping the dish to convince them, but now I can just add things to their food or scatter it in front of them or offer it from my hand. Starting them this young really makes a difference.

 

[UnicornYarnFarm]

The next batch will be have a better palate , the first will just be picky ones lol.

 

[kattabelly]

The next batch will be have a better palate , the first will just be picky ones lol.

I'll be interested to see if watching the younger birds has much effect on my "teenagers" once they're all living together or at least within sight of each other. Yours too, if you're planning to integrate them.

 

[Altairsky]

When I purchased my first chickens they were adult. Previous owner kept them confined and only fed them layer feed.
When I started to free range them they were fat, couldn't jump 1 foot, and ate no vegetables and no fruit.
I was happy because I didn't need to keep them out of my vegetable garden.
After free ranging 1 year, they started eating literally everything and my vegetable garden now has a 6 feet tall fence.

 

[Perris]

I'll be interested to see if watching the younger birds has much effect on my "teenagers" once they're all living together or at least within sight of each other. Yours too, if you're planning to integrate them.

I would expect it to. They learn a lot from each other, like kids. When the less adventurous ones see that the adventurous ones didn't suffer from eating whatever an hour ago or yesterday or whenever it was on offer, most will take the plunge, and not look back. They'll still retain individual preferences though, again like us.