Food and treats for 5 week old chicks

[Rick&Chris]

My 5 week old chicks are on chick starter food. When should I switch over to grower?

Also, can I give them any treats, i.e. canned corn, table scraps, etc. or should I wait until they are older? I’ve given them dried meal worms and a very little cooked spaghetti. They do have chick grit available 24/7 as well as their food. The lady at the feed store said no treats until they are at least 8 weeks old.

Thanks!!

 

[DobieLover]

My 5 week old chicks are on chick starter food. When should I switch over to grower?

Also, can I give them any treats, i.e. canned corn, table scraps, etc. or should I wait until they are older? I’ve given them dried meal worms and a very little cooked spaghetti. They do have chick grit available 24/7 as well as their food. The lady at the feed store said no treats until they are at least 8 weeks old.

Thanks!!

It's good that you offer chicks grit.
I started offering sod plugs at 1 week old. They loved scratching that up.
You can offer healthy treats like the mealies, cooked eggs, greens, but keep it to a low roar. I would avoid pasta and bread as the starch is not good for them.

I took my chicks off starter at 7.5 weeks. Most people switch to a pre-made grower formula at that time until 16 weeks then switch to a layer mix or keep them on the grower and offer oyster shell on the side.

 

[Rick&Chris]

It's good that you offer chicks grit.
I started offering sod plugs at 1 week old. They loved scratching that up.
You can offer healthy treats like the mealies, cooked eggs, greens, but keep it to a low roar. I would avoid pasta and bread as the starch is not good for them.

I took my chicks off starter at 7.5 weeks. Most people switch to a pre-made grower formula at that time until 16 weeks then switch to a layer mix or keep them on the grower and offer oyster shell on the side.

Thanks for the info! I have been giving them scrambled eggs, one egg between 10 chicks, a couple of times a week. They absolutely love them! How about live crickets?

They do have access to an outside pen with grass during the day, where they scratch and peck. Lately they haven’t been going out there, I think something has been spooked!

 

[GC-Raptor]

My 5 week old chicks are on chick starter food. When should I switch over to grower?

Read the bag or tag on the Starter feed. It will have directions.
I feed a combo Start & Grow mediated feed. Directions say feed to 18 weeks.
But I'm switching to a All-Flock feed when the current feed runs out this week. My girls are 11 weeks old today. . I go with the freshest feed, if the Non-medicated Starter Grower feed was fresher, i would've bought that instead of the Flock Raiser. It was fresher by 5 days. GC

 

[Rick&Chris]

There was no tag on the bag I bought from my local feed store. They re-bag and smaller quantities.

Nice pic of your beauties!!

 

[Amatsuhono]

Most feed bags have pretty good feeding instructions and advice on them, is the bag is missing a tag (or rebagged in smaller bags like mentioned above), you can find the feeding information on their websites, though no freshness data, unfortunately.

 

[chickens really]

I switch mine at 8 weeks to a Grower/Finisher feed. Once they begin laying eggs I provide oyster shell in a separate bowl. They can have all kinds of treats a couple times a week.