Feeding my Rescued Baby Chick

[shebringsthesun]

Aloha,

From Hawaii here. Lifelong pet owner... but never dealt with livestock like a chicken before!

Long story short, a child brought me a chick that had been either lost or taken from it's mother hen. I work at a school and there's several dozen chickens at a nearby apartment complex/shopping center. We waited for the mother hen to come for it for a few hours, but I wasn't going to leave it by itself to die over the weekend. So I took it home with me.

It's been eating ground up dry cat food and living in a small bird transport cage. Now he's too big for it and I bought him a rabbit cage. It's my plan to raise him until s/he is self-sufficient and then find him a home or a farm to live at.

I just bought him a container of 100 mealworms, as I noticed s/he liked to eat them when I tested my turtle's mealworms out on it. He just ate the entire container. It was like a frenzy! I read online when I was first reading about chickens that they will not overeat. But after seeing him eat that many mealworms in such a short period of time, I'm worried I wasn't giving him enough food in the first place and/or that he is going to explode.

Please advise if I am doing the right thing. I'll try to post pictures of when I first got him and how he looks now, so that people can tell me if he is gaining weight/eating enough.

 

[countrygoddess]

How old is the chick? Cat food is fine as a supplement (for instance, during a moult when the chicken needs additional protein to help the feathers come back in faster), but I would buy actual chick food (or grower if it's over 6-8 weeks) to feed it. And some chick grit (if you can't find chick grit, you can find grit for caged birds at pet stores). Yes, chickens absolutely LOVE mealworms. They are a fabulous form of protein. No, the chick won't overeat. You should leave a dish of food in with the chick at all times so that it can eat when it is hungry. Water, as well. Do you have a chicken waterer? They're messy, but not as messy as a dish that can get tipped over.

 

[shebringsthesun]

I've had the chick for 2 weeks now, and I think it could not have been more than a week old (maybe even less). That's just me guessing based on what I've read on the internet.

I'll try to find some chick food...

I have been provided it with ground cat food at all times and fresh water in a dish. No waterer at the moment, but s/he hasn't tipped it over.

Glad to hear s/he won't explode! I was so worried it ate too much.


This was two days after I rescued it.

Will try to get a good picture of it tomorrow.

 

[shebringsthesun]

Today.

 

[countrygoddess]

Looks like it was several days old when you got it judging by the lack of feathers popping out at the ends of the wings. And I'm guessing it's a Barred Plymouth Rock perhaps. Unless it's a mutt from the chickens running around the apartment complex. I hatched a mutt out yesterday that looked like that. =)

Anyway, looks like it's doing great. Do get the chicken starter feed and continue to throw in meal worms once in a while.

 

[Reurra]

Make sure to give her some grit, fine sand or gravel. It helps them digest. Without teeth, the gizzard does the chewing, the stones they pick up stop in the gizzard and grind up food that passes through. She is looking healthy!