chick starter ??

[piecemaker]

Don't laugh but if chicks are being raised by the mom do they need chick starter? I say yes DH says no, his granny did not feed special food the the babies

piecemaker

 

[Ridgerunner]

It depends. Growing up on the farm, we never fed our chickens except when the ground was covered with snow. They totally free ranged and foraged for themselves. Our hens also only raised chicks in the spring and summer when there was plenty of food available.

If you are feeding your hens, the chicks will eat the same food, whether that is starter, grower, or layer. If your hens totally forage for themselves, the chicks will also forage for themselves. I've also found that chicks raised by a broody tend to forage more on their own, even if the hen herself eats a lot of feed. The chicks still eat the feed, just not as much.

It will depend somewhat on the time of year, the quality and quantity of forage available, and the habits of the hen. I always have feed available for them, not starter but grower since that is what my older chickens eat when young ones are around. Some broodies see that their chicks eat a lot of the grower. Some of my broodies do not depend on that feed much.

 

[gryeyes]

During her broody stage and for a couple weeks after the chicks hatch, I keep starter - and a separate waterer in with mom. E en after she brings them out into the world.

Other than that, I only feed grower / finisher to the whole flock, with oyster shell free choice. That way, nobody too young gets layer feed or excess calcium.

And I feed the broody hen starter because she needs the extra protein during her isolation. Even if she isn't isolated.

 

[thaokou21]

Quote:
Chick starter is just like what its name say. It helps your babies chickens to start growning fast because it has all that good protien in it. You could feed them just about anything, but it has to be small enough for the babies to eat.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Even though chickens have been hatching for centuries without our help does not mean that we shouldn't use the nice modern methods available to us, which is chick start. It has a higher concentration of proteins in it that will help them remain healthy, and help a broody get back to where she should be.

 

[piecemaker]

Thanks for all the good info. They are getting chck starter today

piecemaker