Food scraps

[usmcpilot06]

I have a large family,,we have a lot of food scraps, at what age can i give the chicks food scraps

 

[SueT]

They don't need anything other than their feed, scraps will dilute the nutrition they are getting. If you want to give them anything, maybe at 3 weeks, a limited amt of healthy items, and you must be providing chick grit.....

 

[usmcpilot06]

right now they are on starter and that is it/

 

[pittmanbirds]

I toss all my fridge scraps to my chickens. I start when they are out of the brooder and in the coop.

 

[staceyj]

I’m not chiming in to preach but rather to share in order to enlighten with a cautionary tale.

I wouldn’t suggest it yet.
Or only with restraint, like if someone refuses to eat their veggies.
Or maybe never.

This week we lost a favorite hen. She was spunky and hilarious. Top of the pecking order. Bossy and beautiful.
A 1 year old Black Australorp names Margaret.

Margaret was literally alive one minute and dead the next.

It appears her cause of death was Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome.
It’s true, there are other contributory factors to this disease besides dietary, but none that you can control.

Diet can be controlled.

Your little birds need the complete nutrition (only) of their feed and fresh clean water to grow and develop optimally.

You can compost those leftovers if you want to put them to good re-use.

Even though they love to eat and will eat almost anything, chickens aren’t garbage disposals.

 

[morganalefae]

You can feed them scraps it just depends on what it is and how much of it you give (my greatgrandma fed her chickens on scraps of all kinds and let them free range to and not one ever dropped dead on her). Also young I would not do it but when older you can. if you can't find chick grit I hear sand works.