If you’ve ever spent time around teenage chickens, you know they’re a lot like human teenagers: constantly hungry, endlessly curious, and always looking for something more interesting than what they’re supposed to be eating.
Enter: watermelon.
Few treats create more excitement in the chicken yard than dropping a giant slice of watermelon into the run on a hot summer day. One minute your flock is casually scratching around. The next, they’re swarming the watermelon like it’s the hottest new restaurant in town. Unless you’re MY chickens, who acted like their first watermelon was a potential land mine.
Watermelon is more than just chicken entertainment. Because it’s packed with water, it’s a great way to help your birds stay hydrated when temperatures climb. The soft, juicy flesh is easy for teenage chickens to peck at, making it a perfect warm-weather treat.
That said, watermelon should stay in the “dessert” category. Your growing birds still need their regular feed to fuel all that awkward teenage growing, feathering, and attitude.
For maximum fun, serve a large wedge or half watermelon right in the run and stand back. Some chickens will delicately sample it. Others will launch a full-scale attack. Either way, it’s better than anything you’ll find on television.
If you’re hens are too scared to try it at first, gently dip their beak into the watermelon. Soon everyone will follow suit!
A few quick rules:
- Treats are the side dish, not the main course.
- Remove leftovers before they turn into a science experiment.
- Keep fresh water available at all times.
- Don’t be surprised if your chickens start acting like watermelon is a daily entitlement.
Summer is short. Let your teenage chickens live a little. A watermelon here and there can turn an ordinary afternoon into the biggest event of the week—at least according to the flock!