Corn meal and sugar...

[Lucy4]

My 4 chicks come tomorrow. I recently read (in Storey's) that adding cornmeal to starter feed can prevent pasting. Does anyone do that proactively or just wait and see?

I also read in there (though I can't find the place now) that adding some sugar to their drinking water can help with the stress of shipping. Anyone done this? I can't locate the instructions for how much to add either...

Thanks!

 

[montana girl]

The farm supply where i pick my babies up places a teaspoon of sugar into a gallon of water when the chicks first arrive.

I think that they do this because the chicks haven't eaten during their travel to the store?

They told us to continue to do it to prevent pasty butt, but I really don't see the need as long as the chicks are eating and drinking properly.

I did take the advice of one of the BYC peeps here and grind up the chick starter in the coffee grinder, the two that had pasty butt cleared right up when I did this and it just seemed that when they were very small it helped them get what they needed.

 

[Lucy4]

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. Cool trick with the coffee grinder!