Feeding

[jademccun1]

Can i give my 3 or 4 day old chicks small servings of vegtables?

 

[En Plein Air Farms]

their little digestive systems are just learning how to deal with solids. They might just ignore them anyway...
I like to really limit their diets for the first 4 weeks or so, so if something doesn't look right it is easy to identify that it wasn't the beet or whatever. Water and chick starter

I hated moving mine out of the office, so fun to watch and hold.

 

[jademccun1]

They are SO much fun to play with,in fact i'm playing with them right now.

 

[Ourfamilyflock]

Stick with starter till they are at least 3 or 4 weeks, then mix in a few treats, but keep in mind if you mix in treats you need to get some grit in the brooder as well. Once they are outside (if you have a large run) you dont need to worry about grit they will find it on their own, but in your brooder they need it if they are eating any treats.

 

[jademccun1]

sssssssssssssooooooooooooooooo cccccccccccccuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeee

 

[jademccun1]

crzy chkens

 

[silky ma]

I have been raising silkies since 06 and I always start the chicks off on starter for the first week then I add in some of the following on a plate... watermellon, cooked/mashed brown rice, steamed broccoli florettes--tops only, cantalope, berries of all types, ripe bananas, ripe kiwis..diced up real teeny....the list goes on and on..

I hatch all my chicks indoors with our family in a pen. They will remain inside for the first week then will graduate outdoors into the baby area to be brought in at nite then after another week into their own house. If the weather is too hot , cold, wet they will not go out.

By doing this I have caught all sorts of problems early......last nite I awoke to a feeling that I needed to check on mom and the 3rd egg had not progressed in hatching like it should have so with the chick calling for help I aided in the hatch and now have 3 sweet babes for mom to rear. By starting them indoors the chicks get used to the whole family cats included and come to trust the cats, dogs and us. The cats have never harmed a feather on any of the 27 hatchings we have done. Actually they have chased off the "bad" cats that have entered our yard.