A bit of confusion

[catdaddy66]

I am a little unsure of what to begin feeding the chicks once they arrive. The bag of starter I bought is crumbles, but recently read that mash is preferable for 2-3 weeks. If that bis the case then I need to know a recipe to make it or a place to buy it. Ialso seem to recall someone said to mix the crumble dust w/ water to make a mash. Any of this close to being correct?

 

[Tala]

I've always just fed starter crumbles.

I think some people on here smash the crumbles up into a dust with a blender for the first week or so....maybe the'll come tell ya about it.

 

[enola]

I start all my chicks on hard boiled eggs. Put the crumbles in the brooder with them, too. They will eat the crumbles when they have cleaned up the hard boiled egg. Mash the egg before putting it in the brooder.

 

[Mahonri]

I gave my chicks some fried eggs this afternoon. They went CRAZY.

Oh, Mash is easier for them at the beginning. If you can't find mash... crumbles in a blender or food processor will do for the first 2 weeks.

 

[midget_farms]

they will do fine on crumbles. chicks have survived on much worse for centuries.

 

[gryeyes]

I didn't know any better (that is, nobody told me differently) so I just fed them the crumbles. They did perfectly fine.

However, for a treat, I occasionally soaked the crumbles in warm water and they LOVED that!

Chopped up hard-boiled egg was another chick treat. I didn't give them mealworms until they were a couple weeks old. I was surprised how they knew, without any instruction, that the mealworms were PRIME treats. They originally checked out the chopped up egg bits with some suspicion, but not the mealworms.

 

[Morgaine]

I also just always started on crumbles and they were fine! If you do feed things other than crumbles you might want to add chick grit.

 

[gritsar]

When the chicks arrive, take each one out of the box and dip their beak in water. Then set them down IN the feeder, if possible; otherwise right next to it.
I started on crumbles and they did just fine.

 

[felidaet]

I also started mine on Starter crumbles. They did fine. After about a week I aded a container of chick grit for them to consume free choice. At the same time I started giving them an ocasional treat of crushed cheerios. Put a handfull of them in a plastic bag. Crush them with a rolling pin. Then offer it to the chicks as a handheld treat. They will quickly learn to eat from your hand and trust you. This only works for a few weeks until their eating out of your hand gets painful.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Gritsar is right.

Tapping the feeder with your finger helps them find the food, too. Like a hen pecking.

Almost 18 years of starting chicks on crumbles here, I've only lost one in all that time. The term mash is commonly used interchangeably with crumbles. I feed the medicated crumbles/mash for 17-18 weeks, and then start mixing in the layer pellets for a week or so. By then they have switched to pellets and do fine.