Chicken Treats

[Karic]

Hello! I'm very new at this. We've had our first group chicks for 10 days, and they are 12 days old now. When is it okay to start feeding them treats? Our feed store suggested the food to start them with, but as I've read along, I've found that most people feed their chickens freeze dried meal worms as a treat. I'm hoping to be able to use this as a way to coax them back into their pen once they are old enough to be out there.

 

[azygous]

Sure, go ahead and offer treats. Go easy, don't over-do.

Anything that you might deem needing "chewing", they'll need grit to digest. You can dig up some soil to serve as grit from your garden, and if it has some grass in it, that's another treat!

 

[aart]

Ditto the 'go easy'.

Get some chick grit.
Chunk of sod with soil from yard can be a good immunity booster, and loads of fun to boot,
but may not have the grit needed.

 

[Jensownzoo]

I started giving my chicks treats when they were about one week old. Gave them chick grit first. I chopped whatever I gave them fairly fine for a while to make sure it had no problems moving out of the crop. Only gave them a small amount daily--I think it was maybe 1/2 cup for 21 chicks to start. Tended to offer things that would either benefit their health (such as prebiotics), were boredom busters/provided stimulation, or served a training purpose.

 

[JACspivey]

I was thinking the same thing. Mine are about two weeks old. What about live crickets? Too soon for that? I'm taking them outside today to get some fresh air and get them out of the brooder for a bit. I wanted to have something special for them. Maybe some bird seed to scratch around with?

 

[N F C]

karic, welcome to BYC!

Here's a helpful chart with some good ideas for treats:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

 

[Jensownzoo]

I was thinking the same thing. Mine are about two weeks old. What about live crickets? Too soon for that? I'm taking them outside today to get some fresh air and get them out of the brooder for a bit. I wanted to have something special for them. Maybe some bird seed to scratch around with?

I fed mine 1/4" crickets at that age. They were a hit!