feeding duckweed to chicks

[Davis Harshman]

Can I feed duckweed to my day old chicks?

 

[Kiki]

I'm not familiar with duckweed, but if you plan on offering anything other then chick feed make sure you offer grit too.

 

[Kiki]

You may find this interesting:
http://www.mekarn.org/sarec03/hanghue.htm
I've only skimmed it but I will read the entire study soon.

 

[debid]

I haven't given it to the chicks but the adults love the stuff. I'm skimming it from an aquarium so they probably get a few snails as a bonus.

 

[centrarchid]

With chicks younger than about 2 weeks, duckweed intake should be only in token amounts. I would not want to see them fill crops in the stuff. During that interval they are better setup to consume more nutrient dense insect forages or quality feeds. During the first two weeks they will eat a little greens but it does not start getting to point where you see them eating a lot until they are two weeks old. By five weeks they can eat a lot more and will go out of their way to do it.

 

[Davis Harshman]

thanks