Feeding Cooked Eggs

[Bama4545]

I have read several times some of you feed cooked eggs to your chickens as a treat. I only have baby chicks and thought about feeding them a treat when they get 2 weeks old but the only eggs I have right now are store bought eggs. Is this ok? or should I find them another treat? What is another good treat for young chicks? Wanting to use it to help them see me as a food source not a predator.

 

[OreoH]

Store bought eggs are fine. You can feed them hardboiled, then mashed, or scrambled without salt and pepper. If they are only 2 weeks old, I would hold off. I waited until they were 4 weeks to start feeding treats.

 

[Bama4545]

Thanks for the info. I saw someone else say to wait till they were at least 2 weeks is the only reason I thought it would be Ok. I had chickens years ago but never fed many treats and when I did they were grown and it was generally just left over watermelon.

 

[Gallinarium]

A lot of people feed day-old chicks eggs. I'm not sure whether they eat grit with it, better provide chick grit just in case. Store-bought eggs are fine. Chicks like any chick-size fruits or veggies you put in there. You might want to cut stuff into small pieces. There is some stuff you shouldn't feed them, but try banana, raspberry, watermelon, lettuce, apple, broccoli, mealworms, and beetles. Think about it: in the wild or in a free-range situation the chicks eat everything the parents eat. Again, be sure to provide grit.

 

[Bama4545]

Yes I won't feed anything till I can get grit. I have been trying since before they arrived but the local feed store can seem to get any when they order it. I may have to break down and make the drive to tractor supply. I've always hated going anywhere even before this crazy year began.

 

[chknlittle17]

Yes I won't feed anything till I can get grit. I have been trying since before they arrived but the local feed store can seem to get any when they order it. I may have to break down and make the drive to tractor supply. I've always hated going anywhere even before this crazy year began.

I had to order grit off Amazon. Our local TSC has been sold out of it for months now.

 

[OreoH]

I had to order grit off Amazon. Our local TSC has been sold out of it for months now.

I give my chickens a shovel full of gravely dirt from the garden to pick at.

 

[chknlittle17]

I give my chickens a shovel full of gravely dirt from the garden to pick at.

Where I'm at, we have sand not dirt lol. I wasn't sure if I should give my chickens that.

 

[Acre4Me]

There is “chick grit” and “chicken grit”. Both are granite bits. The chick size is appropriate for little ones. Sand will just pass on through and will not grind any food.

One main treat m flock gets is wet feed. Just feed with water added, and maybe a bit of scrambled/cooked egg or a few small seeds sprinkled on top. This way they get a “treat” but still get their correct balanced feed. Personally, I wouldn’t feed much in the way of treats until they are older bc they are growing rapidly and need the protein and vitamins in the feed for their raid growth. Most treats have no to very low protein so then their overall protein consumption falls below what it should be.

Your chicks are hardwired to fear many things bc they are prey animals. Happily, they will get used to you and once they begin to lay, usually calm down quite a bit and are markedly more friendly. So, just your presence with them and gentle handling of them is good!

 

[Sonya9]

From what I understand grit is only needed for food that needs to be chewed. If they can eat dry starter crumbles without grit a soft scrambled egg is even easier.

Broodies raise all the chicks here and I give them a dish of scrambled egg the first day (partly for the mama hen as it helps them bond, but the chicks like it too). I also will feed other soft cooked foods such as cooked rice with raw egg on it, cooked spaghetti noodles or oatmeal etc.. If a food would require chewing (i.e. grass, bugs etc..) then grit is required. If you are using food to tame them then the sooner you start the better!

FYI remember to not use non-stick pans for frying eggs or anything else with chicks in the house!