We use a multi-pronged recycling system for kitchen waste.

Suitable leftovers go to the chickens - pasta, veggies, potatoes, bread crusts, stale cereal, pretty much anything but meat.

Non edible scraps such as potato peelings, fruit rinds and such go in the compost bin.

Meat scraps go to the seagulls. We have one we call "Heathcliffe" (think Red Skelton) that waits every morning and is usually in the landing pattern as soon as we open the front door. He's semi-tame as long as we have food for him.

We were gifted a bunch of stale "welfare food" for our birds and that included a couple of baggies of stale trail mix - nuts and raisins mostly. Didn't seem like a candidate for the chickens but I thought maybe the birds/crows or the odd squirrel might pick through the nuts at least.

Put a dish of it out this morning along with a small dish of ham fat trimmings for Heathcliffe. Looked back out the window a few moments later and danged if Heathcliffe wasn't chowing down on the trail mix too! I always thought seagulls were primarily carnivores.

From what I've seen on beach trips... seagulls will eat just about anything.

We used to keep chickens. They’re omnivores too. I poured out some range cubes for my thundering herd of cattle one day and in the sack was a mouse nest with a couple of pink hairless baby mice in it. The chickens had come over to get crumbs of cubes and saw those baby mice and immediately there was quite a contest to see which chicken was gonna get a pinky. It made me glad we don’t have 20’ tall chickens.

Drop an egg in the chicken coop and watch the feeding frenzy begin.

Around here they are known as flying white rats. The fast food parking lots are full of them in summer months because the tourists will throw them french fries. Same with going to the lake beaches. They are everywhere and make pests of themselves begging. They aren't afraid of you and actually get underfoot at times. They like to perch on the roof of your car and crap all over it as well as yourself if you're not careful.

The weekend tourists think they are great. Locals are just annoyed by them.

quote:

Originally posted by B92F:
Drop an egg in the chicken coop and watch the feeding frenzy begin.

I used to do that with cracked or otherwise defective eggs.

Then I ran into a "cannibalism" problem with hens breaking eggs in the nest.

I quit feeding them eggs or even the shells back to them and the problem is about 99% cured.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
We used to keep chickens. They’re omnivores too. I poured out some range cubes for my thundering herd of cattle one day and in the sack was a mouse nest with a couple of pink hairless baby mice in it. The chickens had come over to get crumbs of cubes and saw those baby mice and immediately there was quite a contest to see which chicken was gonna get a pinky. It made me glad we don’t have 20’ tall chickens.

Oh, yeah, they're all over mice, babies or otherwise. I'll get a mouse commit suicide in the water dish occasionally, the hens will fight over it.

In Salt Lake City, there is a monument to seagulls.



The first Mormons to settle the area were getting their crops scarfed up by a horde of grasshoppers, but the seagulls came in and scarfed up the grasshoppers.

Seagulls out in California can read container packaging from three miles away and 1000 feet up.

And if they can't read it,
They will tear the package open to investigate.

Seagull = Dumpster Duck.

They are flying garbage disposals. They eat anything.

It is funny about seagulls. I used to send my daughters outside on my sister’s dock or at the beach with some bread or other food scraps. There wouldn’t be any gulls around, but when they put their arms up, here the came! They seem to know the drill.

Seagulls will snatch an ice cream cone out of your hand if you're not careful.

Seagulls are rats with wings.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
From what I've seen on beach trips... seagulls will eat just about anything.

I had one swoop down and snatch a hot dog out of my hand while riding the ferry from Helsinki to Suomenlinna. It was so fast I didn't even see it, but those around me told me what happened. (Kind of like the current Liberty Mutual TV ad).

flashguy