Can you overfeed chicks?

[mommatomase]

Our six ladies are eating up a storm. They are only three days old and doing great! They eat, poop, sleep... sounds like and infant...

Seriously... will we kill them with food if we fill their dish when it is empty?

 

[Slywoody]

I keep feed in front of mine 24/7,,,,,,,, And fresh water. I change water about 3 times a day cause it will get dirty with you know what,,,,,

 

[cw]

no we always let our chicks have frre choice all they can eat
i would be more concerned about you letting them run out of feed in ther dish, we also keep clumps of grass and dirt in there with so they can learn to forage at a young age

 

[mommatomase]

Thank you!!!

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. They're behaving normal. I have feed and water available for my chicks 24/7.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

They will be fine. They will know when to stop eating or will stop when they are full.

 

[sfw2]

What kind of chicks do you have? If you have Cornish X (meat chickens) most people seem to recommend that you take the food up at night (12 hours with food, 12 hours without). Cornish Xs will eat themselves stupid.

 

[the_great_snag]

Quote:
Yeah, broiler birds will eat themselves to death if left to their own devices. Limit them to 12 hours a day of feed access. Pretty much any other breed is fine with 24/7 feeding though.

As I just posted in another thread, because of the incredible weight gains that they are bred for, broilers' internal organs, feathers and skeletons will not keep up with their growing bodies, and you will end up with heart attacks, broken legs, and fat nasty birds covered with pinfeathers at butchering time if you don't slow their growth a bit by limiting access to feed.

Trust me, you will not regret growing them slower and holding them another week or two befroe butchering them. You will have much healthier birds and cleaner carcasses when you are done.