Can you overfeed chicks?

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MrsEarthern

Songster
Aug 15, 2022
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Clermont co., Ohio
Hello all, it's the chook spoiler again. :lol:
I've added six day-old black sex-link chicks to my flock, my first go with chicks. They are now 3 weeks old and one is 2 weeks (Had to get a replacement for a failure to thrive), and I have been feeding them granulated start & grow at about 2-3 cups per day for about a week now and feel like that's around twice as much as I've read they eat (~2 oz per day per chick).
Am I over doing it?
I've got three of the 3 week olds who are chunky, two slimmer gals, and our youngest girl seems to be growing out well and holding her own against the bigger ladies.
Enjoy some photos of me and the biddies.

20230401_213249.jpg
20230406_211426.jpg
 
3KillerBs said:
I free-feed my birds, especially chicks. Just keep the feeders full.

Unfortunately, they do spill more than the adults do, but I sometimes shovel out the bedding from the brooder into Camp Cockerel and let the cull boys clean up waste feed.
Click to expand...
Thank you. They are emptying the feeder and doing a lot of scratch and peck in the pine shavings. There was a lot of wasted food in the first two clean-outs (turning daily, adding as needed, and full clean-out once per week), but they've just gone out into a grow-out pen this past weekend and have grown quickly since, almost doubling their food intake over about three days. I think it is a three pound gravity feeder and 3 cups is about half full w/ full tray.
I haven't done a full bedding change yet but they scrape the floor bare in places and I'm not seeing much crumble when I stir it up.
Some of them are also spending more time with the starter grit than I would think they really need, like 5-10 minutes of gobbling at a time, sometimes multiple times, when food is available.
Three of them are growing much more quickly (and chunky) than the other two of the same age, but they all seem to get along and share well when I'm watching them.
 
MrsEarthern said:
Thank you. They are emptying the feeder and doing a lot of scratch and peck in the pine shavings. There was a lot of wasted food in the first two clean-outs (turning daily, adding as needed, and full clean-out once per week), but they've just gone out into a grow-out pen this past weekend and have grown quickly since, almost doubling their food intake over about three days. I think it is a three pound gravity feeder and 3 cups is about half full w/ full tray.
I haven't done a full bedding change yet but they scrape the floor bare in places and I'm not seeing much crumble when I stir it up.
Some of them are also spending more time with the starter grit than I would think they really need, like 5-10 minutes of gobbling at a time, sometimes multiple times, when food is available.
Three of them are growing much more quickly (and chunky) than the other two of the same age, but they all seem to get along and share well when I'm watching them.
Click to expand...

Better give them more. Fill the feeder right up so that it lasts a few days.

If it's the kind that has a threaded rod down the middle you can screw down the anti-raking bars a little tighter to limit spillage. Also, hang it at the height of their backs. I either use a chain or a piece of bale twine with loops at different heights to make it easy to adjust.
 

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