Should I leave watermelon out in the run overnight to draw bugs?

[Scotty from BI]

I gave my 10 week old chickens watermelon for the first time today, but gave them a bit more than they could eat, so while I was putting the chicks to bed for the night, I pondered whether I should just leave the remaining watermelon out to draw the gnats that it would inevitably draw for the chickens to eat or just trash it? I am not sure about the down side, wondered what you folks do. For the record I am in Washington State and the nighttime temps are about 50 degrees now. The run is bare dirt with no bugs or vegetation in or near it so the only bugs they get are occasional meal worms I throw out.

 

[QueenMisha]

I can't see any problem with that. When mine get watermelon, I leave it out until they've picked it clean.

 

[Pork Pie]

I can't see any problem with that. When mine get watermelon, I leave it out until they've picked it clean.

Ditto

 

[ChickenMammX4]

I can't see any problem with that. When mine get watermelon, I leave it out until they've picked it clean.

Same here.

 

[ksguy]

Yup, leave it out. Can't imagine much of anything making a chicken happier than waking up to watermelon covered in ants. Don't worry about spoilage. Lucky chickens!

 

[Scotty from BI]

Do Chickens eat ants? I thought ants were in the stinging insect category which I also thought chickens avoid much like bees/wasps and spiders or other insects with stingers or poison bites. Also, if they do eat ants, won't the ants overwhelm the chickens and the chicken coop? I don't want to put poison to control ant infestations.

 

[QueenMisha]

Do Chickens eat ants?  I thought ants were in the stinging insect category which I also thought chickens avoid much like bees/wasps and spiders or other insects with stingers or poison bites.  Also, if they do eat ants, won't the ants overwhelm the chickens and the chicken coop?  I don't want to put poison to control ant infestations. 

Mine are all too happy to eat ants, termites, and any other pests which come near their coop. I've never had an infestation of such pests in or around my coops.

 

[ksguy]

Once I was cleaning up some scrap wood behind the workshop. A couple of the boards must have been over an ant hill because they were crawling with little black ants. Tossed em in the run, and as soon as my girls decided the boards weren't going to kill them, they feasted and clucked up a storm.