Do chick need to eat at night?

[shotokun1115]

I have a broody hen with 4 chicks. I've heard that chick should eat at night. In the night, they are sleeping with their mum, without light, of course. But do they need light for them to eat and drink at night, or they are fine without light? They are serama though.

 

[NatJ]

It is normal for chicks under a broody hen to sleep all night, with no eating or drinking. They generally do fine.

 

[shotokun1115]

It is normal for chicks under a broody hen to sleep all night, with no eating or drinking. They generally do fine

 

[shotokun1115]

Thank you. I was just confused because I've read a thread here saying that chicks die within an hour without food and water.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you. I was just confused because I've read a thread here saying that chicks die within an hour without food and water.

Unfortunately, people do sometimes post wrong information on this forum. That bit is wrong.

Chicks absorb the yolk just before they hatch, and that provides enough food & water for the first several days of their life. (It's why hatcheries can put chicks in a box and mail them.)

By the time the chicks are a few days old, they have used up the yolk but are good at eating and drinking. They usually wake up in the morning and eat a big breakfast, then snack all day, stuff themselves with a big dinner, and spend most of the night digesting that dinner. Then they wake up hungry the next morning and do it all over again.

 

[JNC]

Thank you. I was just confused because I've read a thread here saying that chicks die within an hour without food and water.

Definitely not true. We found a baby chick in the woods and it took me about a month to decide to get her food. But before that all she would eat is the grass from my backyard.

 

[shotokun1115]

Unfortunately, people do sometimes post wrong information on this forum. That bit is wrong.

Chicks absorb the yolk just before they hatch, and that provides enough food & water for the first several days of their life. (It's why hatcheries can put chicks in a box and mail them.)

By the time the chicks are a few days old, they have used up the yolk but are good at eating and drinking. They usually wake up in the morning and eat a big breakfast, then snack all day, stuff themselves with a big dinner, and spend most of that night digesting that dinner. Then they wake up hungry the next morning and do it all over again.

Thanks bro.