At What Age Can My Peachick Have Treats & which Treats are Safe?

[JP101010]

We have a 5 day old peachick who is in the brooder with 2 slightly older chicks.The 3 have bonded and get along very well
we feed a 1:1 ratio of turkey crumble and start and grow (feed store was out of medicated, so i had to buy non medicated)
Peachick will only really eat the mix if its hydrated with water. healthy otherwise , drinks and is active. he prefers eating the crumble slop mix off of the oldest chicks beak. which the chick doesnt mind.
rarely do I see the peachick eating on his own.
he loves to eat chunks off of my finger and i have been doing so a couple of times a day. I read that this is common.



I would like to know at what age i can feed my peachick treats?


Which treats are safe for them to digest at this age?


We keep in stock, for the animals at our house:
Dried Mealworms
Dried Crickets
fresh corn on the cob
peas
green beans
Romaine
Watermelon
Apples
Top Ramen Noodles (without seasoning)


Bonus Question:
What age is safe to do the first wing clipping?


any advice is appreciated

 

[Kedreeva]

I personally wouldn't clip their wings unless there's a good reason for it- they can stress out really easily and lose trust in letting you handle them (which was REALLY important to me when I hatched mine, I made sure my kids never had their wings pinned or any part of them grabbed unwillingly, and they are both very hand tame now

) or put your hands near them when you pin their wings down (which you would have to do to clip them). If it's REALLY a problem and you absolutely can't have a peachick with wings, there's not really an age limit- the feathers are not alive so it won't hurt them (providing you wait till the feathers are unsheathed).

As for the treats, mine began eating a mash of oatmeal (NOT instant, just oats), electrolyte water, mashed egg, chick starter, and plain greek yogurt almost the same day she was hatched. I had her in with a gimpy duckling I was trying to save (ok, did save), who was only eating that mash, and she stole it from me every time I gave it to him. So I know all those things are safe (and all but the oats do not require grit to digest- the starter actually has 'grit' built into it, so that's why oats were ok in the mix). At about two weeks, ours began taking soft fruits like tomato, watermelon, and mashed raspberries (the last sprinkled with a little ground oyster shell just in case). After maybe... 3 weeks I think, they figured out yellow squash was their favorite thing in the whole world, and they refused any other treat (which they thankfully got over and will eat other things). They now like grapes, squash, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries... well, basically any fruit. They aren't big on most veggies- squash being the exception there. They'll eat bread, but I wouldn't give it to them because it can get stuck in or gum up their crops. They also LOVE worms... like earthworms. I have not ever tried mealworms, but I'm sure they'd eat those too. And of course, they will eat the crap out of kitten chow. I mix some (a handful or so) into their feed and they sort through the whole bucket to get every last piece before eating their real food.

Of course, they do get into 'moods'. There are times where they act like something is their favorite food in the whole wide world one day and the next, Osiris will literally shake her head no after tasting it. If I offer it after she tastes it, she won't even taste it again, just shake her head no. A week later, it's the favorite thing in the world again... so don't give up on something if they don't like it the first time.

 

[ColbyNTX]

I hatched some pea eggs 4-5 weeks ago for a buddy of mine. The chicks were flighty at a week or week and a half old. when they were about 3 weeks he picked up a bag of happy hen treats(3500 freeze dried mealworms) at TSC. Put a few on a plate in the brooder. He did that for a few days until they figured out what they were and started eating them. In a few days, they were more than happy to run to him and snatch them from his fingers! I told him not to feed too many to them because they are 56% protien but they love them.

 

[JP101010]

thanks for the replies.
I want to start the bi annual single wing clipping sooner than later because I would like to get the peachick used to it from the get go- so that its not all the more traumatizing when it gets older. he lets me hold him and extend his wings and touch his toes now that i have been doing it daily for almost a week , so i dont see it being extremely stressful.
He seems like he will hurt himself trying to fly around the brooder.

he sure is a neat little addition to our family.