Food and Treats

[slushey51]

Hi everyone,

I have 6 chicks now and they are about 2 1/2 weeks old and they are just eating and making a mess. Im not home for 7 hours during the day so i was wandering, is it ok to put meal worms (Treats) and chick grit into their food?

Thanks,
slushey51

 

[mnferalkitty]

I wouldn't, I don't start giving treats until they are like 8 weeks or older, I have found that giving chicks treats when young can cause diarrhea

 

[slushey51]

Ok thanks ill keep that out of their food. Should I keep the grit out of their food? I usually mix it together

 

[tjorg]

I wondered the same thing. We found that one of our little ones loves red bell peppers. We will hold off on the snacks for a few more weeks. Thanks!

 

[JanO]

Until they are ready to go out into the real world I would stick to regular chick crumbles. It's got all the nutrients that they need to grow, and stay healthy. Adding different things to their diet before they are ready can give them all kinds of problems, and possibly be fatal. When they are 8 weeks or so their little systems will be better able to handle other things. I feed my flock left overs from the kitchen, and they really like it when I give them a can of tuna as a treat, or cat food. But not until they are grown a bit so they don't get sick.

 

[ErikaV7]

Our local feed store where we bought our chicks says that meal worms are okay when they are a few weeks old and starting to act bored. Mine have been really trying to escape from the brooder, so we are going to try them this week when they are all 2-3 weeks old.

Erika