[Abacus]

My neighbours bring around their vegetable scraps for the chicks to pick though and they seem to enjoy them. Usual performance is for the 'girls' to throw it all over the run while cherry-picking the best (green) bits from their dish and then finish off the rest scattered around.

The peelings sometimes seem a little large and I was wondering if it was advisable to maybe partially cook the scraps or mince them before giving them to them?

[orchardlady]

I bake potato peelings and bake potatoes. I give the whole potatoes either squished in my hand so they pop open or whole and the birds spend plenty of time pulling them apart. All greens including apples etc are given whole as again they spend ages pecking at it and it's always gone. I think it's best for the animals to work a bit for their food otherwise boredom can set in and behaviour problems develop.

OL

[Carla]

I always try and make my girls work for their greens...they'd have to in the wild so I think (however domesticated any animal type becomes) it's always healthy to try and mimic nature wherever possible. Was laughing my socks off last week at all 3 of my ladies were running round the garden with a whole savoy cabbage, kept nicking it off each other and legging it Hanging greens just out of their reach entertains them too, flapping up and down for ages must help with their muscles and general health?