Persnickety Chickadees

[Dhkoenig]

Hi All - this is really more of a fun game/survey more than a question.

So many times I read articles or posts about what foods or treats chickens love. I think i have the most persnickety Chickens of all time. The classic disgusted shake of the beak like "gaahhhh how you you give this to me? Take it away!!" So here goes:

Everybody's chickens except mine seem to love:

Strawberries, blackberries, kale, mint, cabbage, apples, cackleberry nuggets, bananas, squash/pumpkin. yogurt, oatmeal (cooked or uncooked), fish (they take a few bites and leave the rest for the flies) So many more....

My chickens do love:

Escarole, pomegranate seeds (but not the rinds), frisée lettuce is the favorite, chicory, thyme, obviously corn and meal worms (but those are a no no except very rare occasions), hemp hearts, chia seeds, crickets, watermelon, any melon but weirdly not so much cantaloupe???, they will eat savoy or Napa cabbage (weird right?) fresh mozzarella cheese pearls, cheddar cheese (these are also very occasional treats) They love blueberries but I don't give them to them because they get horrible blue diarrhea and it gives my Fancy Pants blue pants

What are some of the foods your chickens hate that everybody else's seem to love and what do they like? Would be fun to hear everyone else's lists!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Mine won't touch lettuce or cabbage. But throw a ball of weeds like curly dock or dandelion greens into the run and they go bonkers! Oh, and mulberries!

 

[Dhkoenig]

OH! Mulberries! I don't think we can get those here but weeds we sure can!!! Great idea!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

(Just had to say, when I saw the title of this thread I instantly thought of Mrs. Olson on Little House on the Prairie )

 

[Dhkoenig]

(Just had to say, when I saw the title of this thread I instantly thought of Mrs. Olson on Little House on the Prairie )

Hahahahaa now you are taking me back in time!

 

[Acre4Me]

Fermented feed. Maybe they’d eventually get used to it it it was all they had, but, yeah….a hard no from the chickens.

 

[Iluveggers]

Mine have eaten everything I’ve given them so far….kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, tomato, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe & berries. Sometimes if something is big they won’t finish it, so now I’ll chop big stuff in the food processor and they eat the bowl of chopped veggies. Mostly they eat their feed and wet mash, but I do give them veggie/fruit scraps once a day.

 

[Dhkoenig]

Mine have eaten everything I’ve given them so far….kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, tomato, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe & berries. Sometimes if something is big they won’t finish it, so now I’ll chop big stuff in the food processor and they eat the bowl of chopped veggies. Mostly they eat their feed and wet mash, but I do give them veggie/fruit scraps once a day.

Dang you have some fun easy pleasers! I will say yes I find that some things I have to chop up. Like parsley and cilantro etc. they love it so much but they can’t get to it unless I chop it otherwise they just peck at it and flies across the run

 

[Iluveggers]

Dang you have some fun easy pleasers! I will say yes I find that some things I have to chop up. Like parsley and cilantro etc. they love it so much but they can’t get to it unless I chop it otherwise they just peck at it and flies across the run

I forgot, I did have lettuce bolt in the summer heat & start to flower, but I left it in and kept lopping off the top and throwing it in the chicken run. They would destroy all the leaves, although the thick woody stems are still decomposing. Lol. Looks like a couple small branches.

 

[Greta A]

I get mash from a local brewery that I feed other animals. The chickens are always going over to eat it. And they have eaten all of the hot peppers from my garden