Good treats for 3 day olds

[gabrielle1976]

Ok so I only looked thru sevral pages befor giveing up and posting this, try not to be too angry but I wasnt finding anything about this for chicks . So does that mean I should be looking in the chick section instead of this one?
Anyways, can I give wheat germ to well tammrow they will be 4 days old. And when I got these little buggers today no one said anything about grit so did I miss something horribly important? They are in a brooder with a heat lamp and they have a water with marbles so they dont drown eatch other and a feeder full of starter chick scratch. I was hopeing that they could eat treats or really things to help them grow better I cant see how corn can be all that good for wee fuzz balls that grow so fast... These are my first ever chickens if you didnt guss.

 

[ghillie]

Chick mash has everything they need to grow. Electrolytes/vitamins in the water would help. You won't have to give grit if all they have is mash. If you give treats you will have to give them grit and watch that they dont fill up on the grit.....

 

[CovenantCreek]

Starter chick scratch??? Is it truly scratch, or is it a starter feed with all the nutrients required for growth in a size appropriate for the babies? I'm going to assume you mean it's regular starter feed. For treats you could offer chick grit -- they seem to really enjoy it AND it prepares their crops for tastier treats. After they have some grit, which enables them to grind up larger pieces of food than what's in the starter feed, you can introduce small amounts of greens, fruits, other treats in chick-sized bites.

I also give my little ones watered down, no-sugar-added fruit juice (usually a blend of cranberry/blueberry/grape/apple). They don't need the grit to be able to get the benefits of having fresh fruit in their diet.

 

[Sister Mary Michael]

I use mashed frozen peas and hard cooked egg yolk. Excellent for sick chicks, and a yummy treat for any peep. I brought a chick that had been thrown out a the feed store back to health and he grew into a fine young rooster. also have a recipe with spirolena, cornmeal, wheat germ muffins that the girls go crazy over, but need to look for it. I found it in Backyard Chicken Mag. Have fun with your peeps!

 

[TXmom]

I think crumbled up hard-boiled eggs is the best treat for young chicks. It's nutritious (what they were nourished with inside the egg) and they LOVE it.

I'm not sure what you're feeding them..."scratch" is not really food, it's more like a treat for chickens. What does it look like? My food (Purina Start & Grow) looks like tan-colored crumbles.

 

[TXmom]

Oh, I forgot to add about the grit...I give my chicks Parakeet grit because it's very fine like sand. They also think that's a huge treat, so I only give them a smallish amount because they don't NEED it to digest their chick food. They do need it once you start giving them other treats that need breaking down.

 

[gritsar]

I'd wait until they were at least a week old. Let them get a good start on their chick starter first. Then some chopped hard boiled egg and/or plain yogurt is a good treat.

 

[RendonRoo]

My chicks love it when i mix their crumbles with yogurt. This way i know they aren't filling up on yogurt and not getting the nutrients in the crumbles. It also keeps them from slinging yogurt everywhere. Good Luck and hope this helps.

 

[gabrielle1976]

The stuff the women at the feed store sold me was in a big clear plastic bag and looks for all the world like simply smashed up corn . thats why i was wondering if they could have other food cuase if thats just corn how can they grow on that but its called chick scratch.

 

[cherig22]

I just use medicated chick starter until they are about 5 weeks old, then feed soft foods. They don't get 'treats' from me until at least 3 months old, and then still soft foods from canning. I don't give them cracked corn or wild bird food until they are around 5 months old.

But that is just me, lol.

Cheri