Fascinating behaviour playing out! And question about crests in newborns?

[Lazygaze]

Well, make sure they get lots of time with you. Be slow and gentle and soon they will really love you!

I really love them haha, honestly this has been a life changing experience! I was just in awe of the power they had smashing out of their little eggs!

 

[Lazygaze]

Re the food/grit thing- I gave them some scrambled egg and they LOVE it- but does this mean I now need to give them grit?

 

[Lazygaze]

What are you feeding them? Chick crumb?

Order chick grit yes.

I have medicated chick crumb. Will get/order grit now. Thanks should I hold off giving them anything else til it arrives?

 

[SulkyBantam]

It wont hurt them. You can give them sand.
Plz post more pics!

 

[SulkyBantam]

Oh if you INSIST

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are in the UK which creates a language barrier. You have two types of grit while we have one.

Chickens do not have teeth to chew their food but they eat things that need to be ground up. Things like grass, grains, and some creepy crawlies. They eat small pebbles and use those as teeth to grind that stuff up in their gizzard. If they have access to the ground they will peck at the ground and find their own grit, they can pretty much use any rock they find if it is the right size. You call this insoluble grit. We just call it grit. You should be able to find it at the feed store. That will be granite, it is really hard and lasts a while. They sieve the waste at a granite quarry to get the right size so it is plentiful and pretty inexpensive.

The egg shells provide calcium for egg layers to use to make their own egg shells. People often use oyster shell. We just call it a calcium supplement or oyster shell, you can call that soluble grit. The digestive juiced causes it to dissolve so their bodies can absorb it, that makes it not suitable to use as insoluble grit. They do not need and should not have soluble grit until they are ready to lay. Too much calcium when growing can be hard on them.

They do not require insoluble grit to eat chicken feed that has already been ground up. like mash or crumble. Pellets either but pellets are too big for baby chicks. They do not need grit for scrambled eggs or egg yolks. Some cooked vegetables would be OK, like cooked carrots.

But some people feed a chicken feed that has not been ground up, you can still see the grains. The probably need insoluble grit with raw carrots as they are pretty hard. I like to feed mine insoluble grit at a very young age regardless of what they are eating. That way they are ready for anything.

 

[Lazygaze]

It wont hurt them. You can give them sand.
Plz post more pics!

@Sulky Bantam - I thought you might appreciate this... while I was admiring my new unexpected yellow 3rd chick, unbeknownst to me another of my 23day old eggs that I had written off as duds was pipping! I couldn’t BELIEVE it when I walked past my incubator and saw a bit of shell fly off! I now have a 4th baby! very happy

 

[SulkyBantam]

Hi @Lazygaze!

Your chicks are adorable!

I agree with @LaFleche though.... straw / shavings is better than newspaper, which will make Yellow's twisty foot worse.

Try to spend time with them and be a good mamma hen, giving them snuggle time.
They are crawling under each other, because they want a mamma.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Thank you! I’m totally in love

I totally agree re newspaper. Just to the side of shot you can see I have some black rubber matting but yellow keeps coming off it and going on the newspaper :-/ also out of shot I’ve used a terry face cloth. I’m going to have a rearrange today, add an old towel (I have a few small ones so I can rotate and make sure to keep them clean), I was trying to provide different interesting floors for them to practise on - the two black ones have the strongest little legs I’ve ever seen!- but to be honest Yellow was a total SURPRISE addition yesterday- she was quite overdue and in with a couple of other eggs which I think are unviable. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her egg wiggle!!
I am trying to give them mama love but I’m also worried about overhandling? Obviously I know to be extremely gentle but firm so they feel safe etc.. I don’t want to scare them though...

Were you the first thing thing they saw?

 

[SulkyBantam]

Yes, all of them, but through the plastic of incubator.

Well, make sure they get lots of time with you. Be slow and gentle and soon they will really love you!