Pet chickens must have their toys, and this month is the time to introduce them to one of the best. It’s pomegranate season and you can usually find them at a reasonable price if you know where to shop. A grocery outlet store has them at 4 for $5 US. Winco usually also has great prices on them in November. Choose fruit with a thick rosy rind. The thinner the rind, the older the fruit, and for chickens underripened fruit is better than overrippened because they don’t miss the higher sugar content.
These are the first fruit I shared with my fall chicks. They were about five or six weeks old when they got their first anils. Chickens do not share the same tastes in food, like humans, and some will take to new foods faster than others. They will develop a taste for fruit at their own pace, and by watching the other chicks. Peeling this fruit by hand is time-consuming, with chicks or hens waiting eagerly for you to unlock the treats. It’s all quality time, helping to develop your relationship with your girls, so you can get a lot of enjoyment from a single fruit, or even part of one.
I like to go outside with a whole pomegranate, pretending to ignore my hens, and sit in a chair to just show it off for awhile, and then peel it slowly. They follow and get excited in anticipation, and explain to me how much they want some. They will stand on my feet and jump onto the arms of the chair and my lap, and I will hand feed them the seeds or hold out small portions for them to peck out the seeds. It is very hard for me to get any of it into my mouth before they swarm me, because they love it so much. It’s good to take a small towel because fruit juice will probably fly in all the fun.
You can also just cut the fruit into portions and let the hens work the anils out by themselves. They will also eat some of the white membranes inside the rind, but not the rind. This gives them a toy and a treat, but doesn’t have all the benefits of playing with your pets.
You can google all the health benefits from eating pomegranates, including antioxidants and digestive health. And, they are chick sized fruit with seeds which makes them a perfect toy and snack in one.
charmachicken.com 