Baby chick ate cricket

[SuzCor]

Hi, we are new to raising chicks. One of our 2 week old ate a small cricket that we keep for my daughter's lizard. We have not fed them any grit or sand yet, should we be concerned about this ad I know grit is needed when giving them food other than their chick starter. Thanks for any replies.

 

[centrarchid]

Small soft insects can be digested reasonable well without grit. Smaller appendages like legs and wings will be more likely to come out on other end in a recognizable form.

 

[SuzCor]

Thank you for your reply, my daughter was worried that eating the cricket would harm her baby. I plan on getting some grit tomorrow to put in their brooder as I know she will want to occasionally give them something to eat other than their chick starter.

 

[centrarchid]

Chicks I hand raise get treats of live meal worms day one. Free-range chicks reared by mother preferentially consume insects at first. The feeds we make are simply a low cost and often inferior imitation of the more natural insect food items the birds normally eat.

 

[lazy gardener]

Thank you for your reply, my daughter was worried that eating the cricket would harm her baby. I plan on getting some grit tomorrow to put in their brooder as I know she will want to occasionally give them something to eat other than their chick starter.

Hey Suz! Welcome to BYC. That cricket is not a concern. I say, bring on the bugs! If you have access to a bit of lawn that has not been treated with insecticides or herbicides, you could give the chicks a plug of sod. This will give them: some grit, some good bacteria and fungus to jump start their gut flora, their first greens, some minerals, some little insects and seeds, and their first dust bath. Just lay that piece of sod upside down on the floor of the brooder. They'll have a party with it. If "...icide" clean sod is not available to you, then, you'll have to supply the grit.

 

[ChickityChina]

Hey Suz! Welcome to BYC. That cricket is not a concern. I say, bring on the bugs! If you have access to a bit of lawn that has not been treated with insecticides or herbicides, you could give the chicks a plug of sod. This will give them: some grit, some good bacteria and fungus to jump start their gut flora, their first greens, some minerals, some little insects and seeds, and their first dust bath. Just lay that piece of sod upside down on the floor of the brooder. They'll have a party with it. If "...icide" clean sod is not available to you, then, you'll have to supply the grit.

Cool idea! I think I will steal this idea for my brooder as well!

 

[SuzCor]

We gave the chicks a little bit of sod/grass/dirt this morning and they loved it. The sod had some little tiny ants and a small beetle in it that they ate up. We put it in an extra tote we have to keep their main brooder box clean. We will put the chicks back in this box this evening again for a little enrichment time. My daughter also has live meal worms for her lizard so we gave them a small one and it was so funny to see them chasing each other around the brooder box and playing tug of war with it.