Feeding chicks extras?

[Foghorn]

How soon can you start throwing in a grape or two? Or maybe give the chicks a piece of lettuce to play with? Any suggestions for fun foods that they can play with? These are 5 day old chicks.

 

[BeckyLa]

You can do it right away if you supply them with extra grit. Starter has grit in it but not enough to help with added goodies. I just take a pan and put loose dirt out of the yard mixed with some sand in their brooder. After they get used the new "monster" in their room they'll play and dust bathe in it. It also supplies the extra grit they need to handle the goodies. Mine always liked chopped up tomato.

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[mudhen]

Friday my little group will be two weeks old, heres a shot of them this afternoon with lettuce and carrots (and their dish of grit):

They just love the stuff! Yesterday they got bits of broccoli, and this morning they were playing keep away with a small leftover.
An amazing thing to see (to me anyway, I never thought chickens would do this):
Millie actually breaks apart larger pieces of the veggies for her little girls! She gets her share, but she also makes sure they get some in smaller bite sizes!!!

 

[CarriBrown]

What a sweet mommy!!! Those aren't her chicks, are they? Didn't she adopt them?

 

[Foghorn]

So they would need some grit to break down say, a grape?. Or a piece of lettuce?

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, for anything except their starter, I'd provide a sprinkle of grit. You can get the parakeet grit or even play sand at first for them. They don't need the larger grit for adult birds as babies.

 

[mudhen]

Foghorn, parakeet grit is what I am using, easy to get and small enough for the little peeps! I just keep filling the little dish about twice a day since they like to play scratch with it.
CarriBrown, no, the chicks came from MM and last weekend I introduced her to them. She'd been sitting on (purchased) fertilized eggs for several weeks unsuccessfully, so the transition to mom went really smoothly!