Chick questions

[River campbell]

when can i give my 3 weeks old chicks treats, also if i want to give them a dustbath tub what do i put in it?

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Hello,
You can feed treats to your chicks to introduce them to new things. Mealworms would be a good choice since it's high in protein. Try not to feed too many treats because as chicks it's very important that they eat the right things to develop properly.
A dustbath can be dirt or sand (or a mix) you can add a very small amount of Diatomaceous earth if you want tto, but it's up to you.
Post a pic of your setup and I can give you some tips on where to put it.

 

[3KillerBs]

Make their feed into a wet mash. They'll think it's candy.

My chickens go crazy for wet feed. They love it as much as scratch or green weeds.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Make their feed into a wet mash. They'll think it's candy.

My chickens go crazy for wet feed. They love it as much as scratch or green weeds.

Oh yeah they love it

 

[-Flash-]

If you want you could read my article about dust bathing?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/why-do-chickens-dust-bathe.77240/

 

[River campbell]

alright, and uh, they cant die from eating sand? also does the type of dirt matter like pine dirt, also is the good even if its from where my birds bath

 

[rosemarythyme]

IMO best choice of dust bath material is a scoop of dry dirt (including plant matter like a clump of grass and roots) from wherever their run is situated (or just an area of the yard if no run). It'll expose them to a little of the bacteria and microbes they'll be exposed to once outside, so they can start building up an immunity to anything yucky in there now.

And I also start with dried mealworms as treats, since you can easily crumble them down to smaller bits for easier eating. Since chicks are so little just a few mealworms a day is plenty to help them get used to you and your hands.

 

[3KillerBs]

Since chicks are so little just a few mealworms a day is plenty to help them get used to you and your hands.

I let my babies peck bits of wet mash off my fingers.

This was messy, but effective.

 

[Iluveggers]

I gave my chicks wet mash each night around 7, when I “tucked them in”! They played and jumped on me for a little bit while eating, and then I would dim the lights when they had full bellies and they would all huddle together under or near their heat plate. It ended up being my favorite part of the day until we moved them into their outside coop! They slept great after that, too!

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

when can i give my 3 weeks old chicks treats, also if i want to give them a dustbath tub what do i put in it?

Well, I won’t tell you what to do, but we usually start ours on bread and scratch grain as treats.

We don’t really do anything special for the chicks honestly, just give ‘em chick starter and let ‘em grow, once they’re done with the small bag we just give em layer.