How old do you think chicks should be before giving them some BOSS as a treat? I know they need grit as well.
I just wonder when momma hen would introduce it?
It's more of an adult chicken treat, or at least young birds 8 weeks old or so. I have three momma hens with chicks right now, and when I give them BOSS, they drop it for their babies but the chicks seem confused unless the hen breaks the shells open so the seeds are easy for the chicks to pick up and swallow. So the hens will eat it, instead. That's fine; mommas need it for energy after those three weeks of hardly eating anything at all while they sit on the eggs. (I often treat the broody hens with BOSS, canned cat food and cooked eggs for that reason.)
I hand feed BOSS to my flock almost every day. I sit on a retaining wall with a big scoop of it, holding out both hands with some, grabbing more as the chickens eat it off my palms. The shyer birds will pick up what gets dropped on the ground.
Because I have a fairly large flock, with chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys, I will toss out BOSS to distract them when I need to leave the property. Otherwise they surround my car; they are so tame and trusting it is hard for me to get the car down the driveway without worrying I might run over some! Toss a scoopful of BOSS over there away from the car and make my getaway.
