A frightening experience

When I was out shopping I spotted some sweetcorn cobs complete with leaves - not the sanitised kind which have been stripped, chopped in half and covered in plastic. These were the real McCoy.  As well as buying a couple for us to enjoy, I decided to get one for the chickens too.   I knew they'd love it because they absolutely adore hoovering up our left-over sweetcorn kernels.

I stripped all the leaves off the chickens' cob and put it on the paving stones leading to their run.   It's where I always put their little treats such as lettuce, chopped apple, yoghurt - stuff like that.

There was the usual mad dash to escape from the run and into the garden the moment I opened the gate.   Then they caught sight of the cob and, as one, they all turned and legged it back inside the run!   Furthermore, they refused to come back out until I removed the offending item.

I gave in and sat on the bench while my son began stripping the corn off the cob with his fingers.   Even then they were extremely suspicious when he put the kernels down for them to eat.   Eventually, Maggie pecked it to make sure it was dead before she did a taste-testing on behalf of the rest of the flock. 

The corn all got eaten, but it took a while.   Oddly enough, once the empty cob was laid back on the paving stones, they all happily munched away at the little bits and pieces that were left on it.

I don't think I'll ever understand the chicken mentality.