Can you give chicks herbs?

[Ridgerunner]

Maybe a silly follow up question, but do they know to go for the grit automatically? Or is that something I need to introduce to them?

If they have access to the ground and the ground has small bits of rock in it, they will peck at the ground and find their own grit. Otherwise, offer them a small amount in a separate dish and they will find it. Or just toss it on the brooder floor.

 

[LoloCluckCluck]

If they have access to the ground and the ground has small bits of rock in it, they will peck at the ground and find their own grit. Otherwise, offer them a small amount in a separate dish and they will find it. Or just toss it on the brooder floor.

Okay, great! Thank you!

 

[Zenmonkey]

While at the store a stranger recommended the herbed bedding....

Don't be taking advice from strangers.... unless they're on the internet!

I strongly advise against giving your birds herb. Even though it may be legal in your state, please remember that it is still a federal crime. Plus I don't think chickens enjoy being stoned.

Rastafarian man say, "I try to send my smoke to the man, but it keeps rising up to God!"

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

I grow sage, thyme, and lavender near the grapevine where my chooks' water bowl is. It is good for them.

https://streamable.com/beivw0

Sadly though a stray cat has been lurking around and savaged the thyme to bits. I'll have to plant some more.

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

Oh sorry, you mean chicks - not fully grown chickens.

I raise my chicks with their broody mother inside a tent, so they are all protected from predators, including adult chickens that could (and have) attacked baby chicks. They have a big open box of chick starter crumbles, shallow trays of water, straw, and a wading pool with dirt to scratch in.

Today I gave them some poached eggs (laid by their aunties), mostly to boost up their Mama's nutrition.

Once they have grown for a few weeks or so, I'll let them forage amongst the herb garden.


Overall I only let the chicks eat what their mother shows them to eat.

 

[2 Acres]

My opinion on this is that chicks (or grown chickens) do not NEED herbs or any other treat. As long as you are feeding them an age-appropriate chicken feed it contains all that they need. If you feed them much of anything else it can affect the balanced diet of all nutrition in their chicken feed. I consider giving them chick-sized grit at a very young age a good idea in case they eat something that needs to be ground up. But if all they get is chick feed in mash or crumble form (even pellets when they get older) that has already been ground up so they do not need grit.

Some people have the urge to give their chicks and chickens treats. Some people seem to need to do this whether the chickens need it or not. As long as they have grit to grind it up and that extra is a relatively small amount of their diet (not enough to cause unbalance in the balanced nutrients they get from the feed) I don't see a problem. Mine forage for a lot of their food. I give them table scraps and garden wastes. Not to enhance their diets with specific extra nutrients they really don't need but to reduce my feed costs. It also gives me pleasure to see them living somewhat naturally.


One of the first things my broody hens do when they bring their chicks off of the nest is take them to a place they can peck at the ground to get grit. Then she takes them out foraging. They get bits of vegetative matter by pecking at the ground, eat some growing greens, and an occasional creepy crawly. If some of those growing greens happen to be herbs so be it. That will not poison them or harm them as long as it is a small part of what they eat overall.

The only treats I give my brooder raised chicks is a little dirt from the run. This gets them grit, lets them start working on flock immunities they will need, and gets them probiotics from the adults. On rare occasions I may drop a bug of some kind in there if I happen to catch one just to watch them play keep-away with it.

In my opinion, if you want to feed them treats it will not hurt them as long as the amounts are fairly small. But people that feed them treats to enhance their lives probably need to do that a lot more than the chicks need to receive it. Nothing wrong with that. You are enjoying the experience and not hurting them.

I mix a little garlic powder, cayenne pepper and oregano into my chickens feed. It keeps the mice out of the feed troughs.