chics and treats

[4eggsonly]

At what age can I begin giving the baby chics anything to eat other that the starter feed?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Any time you want!

If you give whole grains/seeds/grass then they also need grit. Sand works as grit for chicks. Older chickens will need purchased grit from the feed store or free range to find sharp gravel in the soil.

 

[4eggsonly]

Thank you. I give my 3 adult chickens and my rooster all kinds of goodies. I just wasn't sure about my six 19 week old chickens. I thought I read somewhere that you couldn't give chickens anything other than starter/grower feed until they were a certain age. That's good to know.
I appreciate the help.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thank you. I give my 3 adult chickens and my rooster all kinds of goodies. I just wasn't sure about my six 19 week old chickens. I thought I read somewhere that you couldn't give chickens anything other than starter/grower feed until they were a certain age. That's good to know.
I appreciate the help.

It is good to keep treats to less than 10% of the feed from what I have read on BYC and elsewhere. However, use your judgement.

I have found that if I give too much fruit it makes them have diarrhea. And cheese makes their poo smell really bad. You will find your perfect feeding regimen through experimentation...and chickens that are free ranging or in a huge pen will be less likely to "overdo it" with treats from my experience.

So I don't worry about the 10% rule myself. I just keep those kitchen scraps coming and they are on grass all the time. They graze constantly and eat lots of bugs too.

What is not a good idea is to toss tons of cracked corn out there and they ignore their starter feed, for example, since corn is only 7-9% protein and starter feed is usually 20% protein.