fruit and chicks?

[firedove]

Can chicks have mushed up fruit and if so, what age should they be before you introduce that kind of treat?

 

[PortageGirl]

mmmm I'd go easy on fruit, especially depending on their age, and then they'd need grit. How old are they? When they're out with a mama chick, they start to peck up things really young, including grit but you can get some parakeet/canary grit from the pet store for em. They need bacteria in their gut too, so give em some small amounts of PLAIN unsweetened yogurt in a little dish for a few days, keeping an eye on their fecal matter though they have great little digestive systems.

After a few days of that, they love bananas! they also like slaughtering little apple slices, but apple seeds are poisonous!!! So NO seeds!!

 

[agirly4chicks]

Quote:
At what age do you give yougurt?

 

[PortageGirl]

anytime.. well, maybe a week. Let em get settled in and comfy.

 

[speckledhen]

I always wonder why people even want to feed chicks anything except their starter. The only "treat" I ever give is hardboiled, chopped up, eggs and only a couple tablespoons every few days for the entire brooder-full of chicks. Later, I offer a tiny bit of active culture plain yogurt, but no fruits or scratch till they are half grown. It upsets the balance of vitamins and protein in their starter.

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
Very true Speckled! I don't bother either. It's not like they care much, they're too busy growing and being noisy! I just figured I'd warn to at least feed the yogurt since it sounded like firedove was sort of determined and they really need grit and bacteria to handle anything more. I've learned to just roll with some things people want to do. hehe. All usually turns out ok in the end.

Nothing but starter and water for mine till they are showing lots of feathers.

 

[firedove]

LOL, I wouldn't say I'm determined. The chicks already get grit anyways, I sprinkle it on their paper towels every time I change them out. I had thought that fruit might be a problem since I have raised rabbits for 10 years and fruit is hardest on their systems. I will think about giving them some plain yogurt if you think it will give them an extra boost.

I just wondered about treats in general since our last batch of chicks were terrified of us for the first few weeks despite regular gentle handling and they never fully warmed up to us, but treats after 4 weeks did help a tiny bit. They still aren't particularly friendly and won't let us pick them up at all. I just hoped I could bribe this new batch a little sooner to maybe gain some friendlier birds, especially since they are hatchery Wyandottes and I've heard they can grow up to be mean. Some other post had mentioned veggie treats being OK for young chicks, fed with grit of course.