Why do chickens avoid red velvet ants/"cow killers"?

[mldollins]

They look at it and then ignore it. The stinger is quite long and i have been told that the sting is quite painful.

Are they color blind and not see them or are they scared? They eat wasps and bees.

 

[miss_jayne]

because most ants are bitter tasting....that's why we coat them with chocolate first!

 

[miss_jayne]

also, no chickens are not color blind, in fact, birds see ultraviolet colors on top of the colors we see. you'll notice many bird feathers have iridescent colors in their feathers; they can see the patterns we cannot.
birds and bees can see these colors and can tell pollinated flowers from those that are not!

cool, huh???

 

[patandchickens]

I would suspect that any past-generation chickens that ate cow-killers were not around to contribute to future generations

I've never been stung myself but know people who have been.

They are not, btw, actual ants (they're a kind of wasp).


Pat