Feeding baby chicks info

[JenBmomof3]

I have almost 2 weeks old chicks in a brooder. Feeding non medicated food. When can we give treats? when do I need to introduce grit?
I read that I could pull up grass and dirt and put it in the brooder.

 

[Hannahnic14]

You can give treats now! (in moderation of course) I would give grit now as well, they'll need it to digest their food. You can put it in a small dish or sprinkle it in the brooder so they can scratch around for entertainment! Ours LOVE clumps of grass, small logs to peck at, big rocks to keep their beaks filed down. I can take pic of what we have if that would help!

 

[JenBmomof3]

You can give treats now! (in moderation of course) I would give grit now as well, they'll need it to digest their food. You can put it in a small dish or sprinkle it in the brooder so they can scratch around for entertainment! Ours LOVE clumps of grass, small logs to peck at, big rocks to keep their beaks filed down. I can take pic of what we have if that would help!

Yes! Please! Thank you so so much for replying.
we’ve had them almost a week now and we’ve only been feeding chick crumble.
nothing else. I wanted to make sure it was ok before I introduced anything.

 

[Hannahnic14]

You're welcome! I usually wait a week before giving them anything else, just because they are so fragile at first. The pics in the brooder have some 4 week old bantam chicks and 2 week old Easter eggers. They love to hop around on the wood and things. We pull up handfuls of grass every few days or so for them. They'll eat some, cover it up, and find it later! Lol. The pics in the grass are our 4 week old chicks. As soon as they don't need supplemental heat they are ready to go outside!

And depending on where you live that could be very soon! Day old chicks need 95-100 degrees to start, then decrease 5 degrees every week until they can be at room temp. Our outside Temps are pretty much heat lamp level right now!


I don't have our younger chicks out right now just because we don't have the room, we have to wait until other chicks grow up enough to go to the main pen.

Mine seem to like frozen peas and the baby cakes from tractor supply.

Hope this helps!! Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[aart]

when do I need to introduce grit?
I read that I could pull up grass and dirt and put it in the brooder.

Dig up a small chunk of sod with dirt/roots attached.
Sprinkle some chick sized grit on it.

When can we give treats?

I'd wait until 6-8 weeks old.
Then only in moderation.....treats are more for the keepers satisfaction than the birds.
Basically it's junk food.

 

[AntiqueB]

I don't feed treats until around 10 weeks, to make sure they get the optimum levels of nutrition while they're babies. BUT, I do take them on field trips to the yard, where they spend a lot of time poking around and generally having fun. I start that at about a week, weather dependent, and start sprinkling grit on their feed, on the off chance they actually eat something out there. Even at that age, they can stand to be out for 15 minutes or so in 80° weather.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You can do the clump of grass/dirt now, as well as grit. Treats ok in moderation... at that age my chicks maybe get 1-2 mealworms crumbled up a day, to help train them to not fear my hands so much.

 

[Sally PB]

One "treat" that isn't a treat (but they don't know that) is their food, wetted into a mash. Mine love to eat that out of my hand. It feels like getting tapped with dull pencils.

 

[Brooks_]

One "treat" that isn't a treat (but they don't know that) is their food

Yeah, they're not that bright. I've spread dry crumble for mine and they were like.....

 

[GC-Raptor]

I don't give any treats till 10 weeks old.
I feed Medicated feed for at least 10 weeks and it has the minimum amount of Amprolium to help prevent Coccidiosis. Don't want to substitute treats for a complete balanced feed even if it wasn't Medicated. GC