4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[MadMitch]

I was reading one of my chicken books and it said that chickens couldn't taste and that they ate food based on texture. If this is the case I was wondering why I was spraying my chickens bottoms with anti-peck spray that apparently works because it tastes nasty.

[bokbokbok]

I think they can't TASTE but they can SMELL . . . I THINK.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

The speed mine devour anything I give them, I'd be surprised if their taste buds had time to notice .

[Egluntyne]

Found this:

 

taste recepetors in chickens are 30µm wide by 70µm long, they are found at the base of the tongue & the floor of the pharynx, commonly in close association with the salivary glands. The tip of the tongue is devoid of tasted buds. Avian taste buds intermediate in shape between those of fish & mammals.

Quick table of taste bud numbers.

Chickens = 24

Kitten = 473

Bat = 800

Human = 9,000

Pig or goat = 15,000

Catfish =1000,000

 

A micrometer (British spelling: micrometre; symbol µm) is one millionth of a metre, or equivalently one thousandth of a millimetre.

 

I once put the contents of a jar of Lazy Chilli down to teach the visiting rat a lesson, it was burrowing under my first Eglu, before I had it up on slabs.

 

I moved the Eglu to clean it one day, and the chooks wolfed the chilli down......in about 2 nanoseconds.....so I reckon their sense of taste isn't that powerful.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That number of tastebuds must be totally wasted on pigs, goats and catfish . Don't know about catfish, but pigs and goats will eat anything and everything, so I thought .

[MadMitch]

I've been experimenting with mine this afternoon.

They ate sweetcorn but not peas,

They ate red grapes but not green,

They prefer small plum tomatoes to cherry tomatoes (but ate both)

They ate raisins but not sultanas

Maybe it's a colour thing?

Something that I alreay knew is when I make a mash/porridge out of their pellets they won't eat it unless I put garlic powder in it.

[Mutrix Farmers]

Anything that eats worms and slugs cannot have any taste buds!!!

[laurmurf]

I've just put two grubs in their run - both have layers' mash, garlic powder and bokashi bran but only one has some poultry spice in it. The girls are not that keen on the poultry spice one: they take a mouthful, pull their heads out of the grub, then wipe their beaks on the ground. The other grub is constantly inhabited. And the mash is made from food-processed layers' pellets (thanks for the suggestion Ardene5).

 

this suggests they are fussy on texture, smell, and - since they didn't like the A&P pellets but do like the D&H ones, taste too!

 

or are my girls spoiled divas?!

[stoice]

my Babs knows when i try to give a dosed grape (tip of knife with flubenvet). I'm careful to fit it all the way in a grape as if there is any on the outside of it she'll not touch it. I don't think Flubenvet smells so i assumed it was the taste. Maybe it's a texture thing as the powder mixed with grape juice to make a small amount of paste?

[Milly]

 

I once put the contents of a jar of Lazy Chilli down to teach the visiting rat a lesson, it was burrowing under my first Eglu, before I had it up on slabs.

 

I moved the Eglu to clean it one day, and the chooks wolfed the chilli down......in about 2 nanoseconds.....so I reckon their sense of taste isn't that powerful.

 

 

 

Ah, but did the chilli make their eyes water?

 

Milly

[sandyhas3chucks]

isn't Egluntine amazing?

all these brilliant facts!

[Egluntyne]

Googled to find the answer to that one.