Anyone have a favorite treat for new chicks?

[yzmike777]

Hi! I am the proud new mommy to five little chickies and was wondering if anyone wanted to chime in on when I can start giving them treats and what they enjoy! Also two of my babies are Silkies and it gets down to about 0 here is the winter, I am having my husband build an amazing home for them this week so I was wondering what temp do they need to stay comfortable? Any and all other pointers or tips to keep my babies healthy safe and happy would be awesome! Thanks guys Xoxo

 

[damarisgw]

 

[Luke13:34]

Yay!! Congrats on the new babies. I have 8 day olds at this point. Treats I have given them so far include cooked green beans, polenta, watermelon and chopped alfalfa. It has been very warm here this week, too, so I have let them outside in a small pen to scratch for bugs.

As far as temps in the brooder.. from what I understand, the rule of thumb is to start at 95 degrees and decrease by 5 degrees each week for 5-6 weeks. But.. not all chicks like 95 degrees. Mine prefer the temp around 88 at night and I shut the heat lamp off altogether during the day and open the garage doors for fresh air. Watch birdy behavior, not the thermometer.

 

[Nekhebet]

My chicks are in love with live mealworms. They don't run nearly as fast as the baby crickets

 

[KBChicks]

We gave our babies scrambled eggs and yogurt....we didn't have to worry about adding grit with those snacks and it was funny as heck watching one of the chicks running around with a piece of egg and the others chasing it!

We also started them out at 95 degrees lowering 5 degrees each week...

if the chicks huddled in a corner away from the light we lowered a little more (raising the lamp)

 

[buildingmyark]

Mine adore scrambled eggs.

 

[mrsbos]

My 3 week old chicks LOVE craneflies/mayflies! I've never seen birds go so crazy for an insect. It's so fun to watch them scramble for them that my whole family goes into the backyard and hunts for them to feed the chicks (it's been too cold to let them out and hunt themselves).

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Scrambled and Boiled eggs are a favorite with my chicks!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Mushies! We just add a little water to a spoonful of Purina Start n Grow and say the magic word "Mushies!" and they come running. I think its the social part they like the most, the pretty spoon and the kids' attention and the crowding around the spoon of mushies together. Plus, its safe and there wont be surprise messy poop later.

And welcome!

We sometimes chickened out in the coldest winter weather and set up a coop for our Silkies in our basement, only because we weren't home all the time to check up on and care for the animals outside. As long as they only ate their Purina Layena, the poops were easily manageable and not stinky. Wrapped up the poops every a.m. (flat lining layers of newspaper with a little bit of pine shavings) and whomever's home at lunch wrapped up any poops then and same thing after dinner and at bedtime. But with grade schoolers' schedules, expecting kids to go back outdoors and try to manage coop care in winter gear was unrealistic. When the kids got bigger and a little more reliable/reasonable, the outdoor coop also grew up into a more reasonable winter home with a little bit of heat.

This summer we had a surprise infestation of mites, now we know to protect against that, too. Mites can make the chickens very anemic very quickly, and the birds could easily freeze to death.

Glad to know you're loving Silkies, too! They make life so bearable! They really are funny little beings. Good luck!

 

[Keara]

raw baby spinach..... dandelion greens