Can I feed baby chicks bread?

[Matar Hari]

Hi
My name is Penny and currently NZ is in lockdown and I live on an island where farm supplies and livestock food needs to be freighted in.
My Silkie, Houdini, has been sitting on eggs for 21 days now and the baby chicks are just about to hatch but I don’t have any starter crumble for them.
Can I feed them bread?

 

[rosemarythyme]

What's the hen eating, layer? Better off feeding layer (wetted down to make it soft and small for a chick's mouth, or crushed into crumble size) for a few days, than bread, which is relatively devoid of the nutrition a chick needs. A little finely chopped hard boiled egg would be fine as well, if you want to dilute down the calcium in layers feed.

 

[Gallinarium]

What's the hen eating, layer? Better off feeding layer (wetted down to make it soft and small for a chick's mouth, or crushed into crumble size) for a few days, than bread, which is relatively devoid of the nutrition a chick needs. A little finely chopped hard boiled egg would be fine as well, if you want to dilute down the calcium in layers feed.

x2
Also note that bread can give birds impacted crops.
A hard-boiled egg is usually fine for sustaining them for a bit in a pinch.

 

[Matar Hari]

Thanks for your reply. In the end I was out in my calculations re when they would hatch. They have started hatching today and I managed to get some starter crumble shipped over because it’s seen as an essential service in level 4 lockdown.
I am leaving it to Houdini, my Silkie, to teach them how to eat and drink.
She is such a great mum!
The chicks aren’t even hers. She stole the eggs from my Langshan!

 

[Callender Girl]

Hooray for getting the starter! And, although Houdini may be a chick-napper, at least she's a great mother ; hope all continues to go well.