The Psychology of Feeding Chickens Treats

[Patinas]

I see posts on here all the time asking if people should give their chickens treats and what kind of treats they can give them. There is tons of information on here on this subject so I'm not trying to debate if you should give them treats or what to give them. I want to discuss the human psychology of treat feeding.

I've thought about my own reasons for feeding my flock treats and what I realized is it just makes me feel happy! It makes me feel like I'm doing all I can to keep them healthy and happy and treats are just part of my daily routine with them.

I agree with the non-treat feeders that post on here that chickens don't NEED treats in terms of nutrition if you're feeding a commercial feed but I just have fun coming up with stuff to give them and clearly, the chickens love it too! They get so excited when I bring out their smorgasbord treat trays!

To me it's fun and fascinating to watch each chicken pick their favorite things off the trays. I put time and effort into preparing their daily treats and it's become a daily ritual that I enjoy doing. When I go to the store I always pick up some goodies for the chooks.

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that treat feeding is a human need. Giving treats whether to the chickens, the dog, cat, etc., is something we do because it makes us feel like we're doing something special and kind for our pets and that makes US feel good. Of course, the pets like it too but it's not like, "Oh, I'll eat this so my human friend feels good"...although, I think we want to think that they do appreciate us more when they get the treats!

Lastly, I can't imagine having to eat the same thing (commercial feed in this case) all day, everyday for the rest of my life. That can't be good for their psychology so treat feeding is my way of feeling I'm doing good to give them nutritious, interesting things to eat.

And yes, my flock gets to free range so they do get to pick stuff out of the yard but what they find out there isn't nearly as interesting or delicious as what they get on their treat trays and they know it!

 

[azygous]

Of course we do it for ourselves. It's satisfying to experience the bond we create by doing it.

But when I give treats to my chickens, there's also another motive. Control. I find it extremely useful to use an audible cue, in my case a "clicker", when I serve treats. The flock is now trained to come running the second they hear the clicker.

When I want to get them into the run as quickly as possible, this has proven very valuable. I'm able to round up 24 chickens in just a few seconds. All because of treats.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

My current batch was being made pretty flighty when still in the brooder in the house by a crazy dive bombing EE chick launching into them. Someone called this chick bowling which cracked me up! They weren't very tame as a result. So after moving to the outdoor brooder I started handfeeding treats to tame them. Worked great, they are all friendly now except oddly, the two EE pullets. They are just real weird birds. One will hop onto my back if I'm bent over working on things. She approached a running circular saw yesterday. Utterly fearless. But she won't eat from my hand. Neither EE will.

I did stop handfeeding recently when my faverolle cockerel started biting me. He's calmed down a bit now. Just a nervous type I think.

I still love taking them treats and do slip a little something to a favorite or 3 by hand. Just not in front of the faverolle. It absolutely makes me happy when they beg like puppies. I guess they aren't really happy to see me, they want food, but I'll take it.