Food variety for 10 week old chicks

[ColorCountry]

Hello all:

I have four 10 week old chicks that are being fed a Start and Grow crumble feed. At this age, can I introduce them to other kinds of food
like crickets, or lettuce leaves? I have a veggie garden. Any recommendations of other kinds of food I can give them for variety would be
appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Perris]

Hello all:

I have four 10 week old chicks that are being fed a Start and Grow crumble feed. At this age, can I introduce them to other kinds of food
like crickets, or lettuce leaves? I have a veggie garden. Any recommendations of other kinds of food I can give them for variety would be
appreciated.

Thank you!

yes you can, the sooner the better. Mine eat what their broody tells them is food from day 2. That includes grass, bugs, clover etc. You will probably need to encourage them at first, as you're acting as their broody.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If they are eating anything other than processed chicken feed they need grit to grind it up in their gizzard. If they have access to the ground they have probably found grit.

What do you eat? That pretty much defines what they can eat. Avocado is one of the very few no-nos. Most of what they eat should be chicken feed, it contains everything they need for a balanced diet. If you let them forage to find their own food you've lost control over it but if you are providing the treats you probably want to limit that to where they can clean it up within 15 minutes or so.