Good treats for baby chicks?

[mymilliefleur]

This is what my babies got: Kale, mealworms, & a little corn. I also gave them chick grit.

That looks good! I should try this for my chicks next spring.
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[FarmerMac]

Is it okay to feed dry mealworms to week old chicks. I see where everyone is talking about live mealworms

I don’t see why not, the chicks will peck and break the dried worm then eat the small pieces.

 

[dthompson]

I started giving my chicks treats at about 1 week old.  The first was a slice of tomatoe, which they loved.  I put it on a paper towel and set it in the brooder box and they went after it right away.  There is alot of water in tomatoes so I figured it couldn't hurt them.  The next thing I tried was craisins that I had cut in very small pieces.  They went nuts over those too.  Now they are almost 6 weeks old and I give them lettuce, squash, mushrooms, sliced oranges, melon, apples, avocados, raisins, grass clippings, bread, frozen raspberries, cucumbers, etc.  The only thing I would not give them is potatoe peelings and any form of chicken.  I have given them hard cooked eggs.  I do not buy any of the above at full price; however, I do go to our local food distribution every two weeks at 6:00 a.m. and help unload a truck full of nearly expired food and then buy a share for $14 just so that I can have 'fresh' food to feed my chickens.  I also give them whatever table scraps we have left, which isn't many---too many big eaters at my house.


They come running when they see me coming with their treats!

Be sure to only Gove the flesh of the avocado. Skin and seed and even the leaves and bark are poisonous.

 

[MonicainAZ]

Is it okay to feed dry mealworms to week old chicks. I see where everyone is talking about live mealworms

I may have been a naive newbie, but I did this. If you can get over the 'ick' factory they are easy to crunch up in your hand into little pieces and they can peck at the little bits. I'm sure they could probably break them up themselves also, but 'bite sized' seems to avoid them trying to steal them from each other, lol. They love them.

 

[FarmerMac]

I also give spaghetti noodles chopped in little pieces mixed with crumbled hard boiled eggs. The chicks pick a noodle or a piece of the egg white and run around so the other chicks don't take it away, as if they had a tasty worm. LOL

 

[rtmc]

Our baby chicks are a week old. We have sand in the brooder. Do I still need to feed them grit? They are eating Purina start and grow and we have given them an occasional mashed egg yolk.

 

[Peeps61]

Our baby chicks are a week old. We have sand in the brooder. Do I still need to feed them grit? They are eating Purina start and grow and we have given them an occasional mashed egg yolk.

I would watch the sand. If they are eating too much of it, it will keep them from eating the nutritious food they need. You should not need supplemental grit if your chicks have access to sand or dirt. I raised mine in a chicken tractor this summer with a dirt bottom and they did just fine.

 

[Mely75]

When we grill we always throw a few extra corn stalks on for the girls without seasoning. I cut them in 3rds leaving them about tennis ball size or a little smaller. We have three girls about 14 weeks old, I drop one piece each for the girls in the run and they go nuts. They love some corn off the grill. They pick, pluck chase, carry and scratch the corn cobs around the run. The family sits back and watches what laughably seems to be a chicken soccer game..... It's a blast....
We also have a great bowl that we often put in a mixture of lettuce, and the occasional boiled egg, and/ or the ear of corn. There is ofcourse the favored dried meal worms, and fresh night crawlers from the garden..

 

[Junediamond]

My chicks are 3, 8, and 9 weeks old. I give them scratch, lettuce, and black berries. The naughty little things steal my sprouts I am trying to grow, and love MY strawberries.

 

[Junediamond]

Plus they get to run around the yard all day. And LOVE the dirt bear the composte.