Hi Everyone, I am an unexpected and inexperienced parent a chick. We live on an island with wild/feral chickens and a few days ago my son found one in the yard. I left it there for several hours hoping the mama would hear it's peeps but she never came. So we adopted him, however there is not really a way to get chicken starter so I have been feeding it a mixture of quinoa, steel cut oats, instant oats, brown rice, and flax seed all ground up in addition to whatever small bugs and ants we find outside. Is this ok, is there anything else I should be doing? Its feathers are coming in but it doesnt seem to be getting any bigger. Thanks for any help.
That was sweet of you to look after the abandoned chick. It may have been kind of a runt and had trouble keeping up with the flock. It may need a little more protein. Bugs are one source, but it might be hard to give it enough. This may sound strange, but scrambled eggs could be a good source of nutrients. Another option, if you have pet stores nearby, would be a mix for hand feeding baby pet birds. If you are feeding it many bugs, it might need a little grit in its diet digest them properly. A bit of coarse sand or sandy soil to peck at might be enough. The grit at pet stores for adult birds has calcium in it so it is not good for a chick.
You can also give it table scraps and veggie scraps, just make the pieces small enough. It will enjoy a little time on the ground hunting for its own food, too.
Thank you for your suggestions. I let my son take it outside with him, it just follows my son like a puppy, so i think its eating enough dirt/gravel. Im trying to treat it as if it was still with its mother as much as possible.
