Cluck, Cluck, Eek!

[B00]

I did not know that chickens were carnivores!

Urgh!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4037258/Pecking-order-Chicken-rushes-gobbles-mouse-cat-hunting.html

[Islay]

Chickens generally are not but once they taste something they will want it again and again and again.

If a chicken eats a broken egg she will continue to break her eggs to eat them. The best thing to do in that situation is wring its neck I'm afraid.

[B00]

Oh dear, that's all kinds of gross, so not only are they carnivores they're cannibalistic too?

Gone right off 'em!

[Islay]

yup, father had to sort a few out in that manner as they started eating their flock mates!

[wildwood]

Yes, chickens will eat mice. They are very partial to all insects and I remember my uncle decided to keep chickens and bought them before he had build a coop so put them in his finch aviary. The next day there were only two scared finches left, the other half dozen or so had been gobbled up by the chickens.

They will go for protein whenever they can. Pheasants, turkey, peafowls etc. are all the same, no mouse/vole or insect is safe around them.

[EcclesCake]

Mine love frogs and fight over it, chickens playing tug of war with a frog is an interesting sight!

Unfortunately they cannot distinguish toads from frogs and as toads taste disgusting I often find their corpses in the garden.

[tamborine]

Mine are finishing off a magpie the cat caught.

[mallyh]

jt fnihed my boiled egg when I watched this ugh!!!!!! gross

[mallyh]

just finished^

[Old_Geezer]

And think of all the foxes that foolishly strayed into the coop, not realising the danger.

[jim360]

Not to be pedantic or anything but this makes chickens omnivores...

But they're hungry and vicious little things to anything small enough and unlucky enough to wander into their coop. Ours had a lot of fun mercilessly torturing a frog one time.

[hereIam]

Didn't you save it jim ??

[jim360]

I wasn't there at the time. No idea if my Mum rescued it or not.

[thugulike]

I used to throw all the slugs and snails into my next door neighbours garden (at her request) and you should have seen the chickens rush to eat them. Earlier this year I went to a nearby farm to pick apples. I had just had a pedicure and had purple toe nails and was wearing sandals. The chooks went mad and were pecking at my toes so I was dancing round the orchard like a lunatic.