Cheese Please

Living in the city with chickens, you get a lot of questions. What do they eat, How do they lay eggs without a rooster, Where do they live? I explain that they eat chicken feed, of course. I explain the birds and the bees – that roosters are needed for breeding, and most importantly, I explain that they are no longer living in my kitchen (I want to stay married) and now, live in a fabulous coop in my backyard.
Back to the chicken feed. The 3 B’s eat their chicken feed but it doesn’t excite them they way it used to. Did I mention they’re spoiled? They’ve developed a taste for cheese, specifically a shredded four cheese Mexican blend. I don’t know what other urban chickens are into from a culinary perspective, but the B’s LOVE cheese. They know the sound of a package of cheese being opened and look towards the fridge longingly when they’re in the kitchen (don’t tell my wife). They gather underfoot when the fridge is open – even squeezing the dogs out of the way. I read several books on raising chickens initially, so I knew that while a chicken’s main diet is supposed to consist of their feed, it’s also clear they’ll eat most anything. No, the B’s are not vegetarian. Chickens by nature are omnivores. Gallus gallus, the Southeast Asian jungle fowl that today’s chicken descends from, will eat seeds, insects and even small animals. Small animals. Impressive. I doubt those wild fowl have access to cheese. Watching the 3 B’s, I’d say the Gallus gallus don’t know what they’re missing!