I want to know this in particular about animals that no longer eat what they use

Question

I want to know this in particular about animals that no longer eat what they used to eat. The best example in my opinion are chickens. Chickens are often held to eat all kinds of food we would otherwise throw away. Most of this, they would never find in nature. Chickens almost eat everything, but there are things they don't. Also, they often have a clear preference for some food.

How can they differentiate this food? Do they use smell? Looks? How can they know smells of food they never had before?

Explanation / Answer

To answer with a question: How do you decide what to eat (if you don't know whether something is edible)?

All animals have evolved taste and smell (and I'm sure even prior to eyesight). The purpose of taste and smell in terms of nutrition is to determine if something is edible. If something tastes bitter or extremely sour, this is mostly a warning sign for toxins or advanced microbial degradation. The same accounts for smell: If you let raw meat foul, the smell is unbearable. Why? Because our brain is telling us not to eat this.

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