Good treats for baby chicks?

[billfields]

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Cooked. I just break it into small lengths and toss it in with the eggs and let it cook as they boil

 

[JaJoJu]

While working on my garden, I found a lot of worms and threw them into the crate with my chicks. They love them. It is hysterical to watch two grab a worm and have a tug-o-war over it. I have tried fruit but they don't seem interested. They did like the dandelions my daughter threw to them. I haven't had the stomach to buy the live meal worms yet, though I have read on here that they are a favorite.

 

[stargazingmommy]

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They probably don't give grapes to their dogs because they can cause an elevated calcium level and elevated blood urea nitrogen, and kidney failure leading to death. Raisins are also a doggie no no because of this.

We had a runty chick that we started feeding a mix of boiled egg yoke, oats, and yogurt. I didn't realize we ran out of plain, so the kids being helpful and making her food for me, gave her strawberry bananna yogurt. snot won't eat any other kind now.
Gave them green beans last night. Was so funny watching them eat the long beans.
Spaghetti is a hit. Any veggies cut up. Lawn clipping salad that includes dandelions.
Canned cat food that my cats refuse to eat(1 small can split among the 2 chicks every 3-4 days), the ducks don't like the canned food.
anything growing in my garden(I have no corn or sugar snap peas left growing, they ate them to the ground).
worms worms and more worms.
Threw the ducks in the pool while we were setting it up, let them eat the worms in there. It was hilarious.
I haven't given grit yet, they are 5-6 wks. But we've also been taking them for outside play time since about 3 wks and at 4 wks threw them to the coop, and all day in the dirt run.

 

[Sadiew]

As this is day 21 and my babies are due any time now I am so glad to have seen this thread, full of ideas now on whats best for them, thank you for making this thread, hope I find it easy again.

 

[Nausicaa]

Mine just went crazy for some left over wheat pita bread

 

[SittinHen]

Hello! I've just hatched my first batch of chicks last week. I was wondering about treats and my dad suggested oatmeal. I mentioned cooking some up for my ladies, when my dad looked at me and said "how many chickens do you know cook for each other?"

So, I gave them raw oatmeal last night and they LOVE it! Just a little in the palm of my clean hand. Gives them a snack, and gets them more used to me. Good luck!

I also read about sprinkling a little parakeet grit in with their pine shavings after the first week. Literally about a tablespoon in their entire brooder. The parakeet grit is actually smaller than their chick starter feed. Something to help until I take them outside to peck around

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

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Welcome!! This is a great community. It's been a great resource for me and I can always find an interesting read. Got lots of coop ideas, thoughts on breeds and lots of just good chicken talk.

I don't know if it's the worm aspect or what but since they were days old mine have gone for the spaghetti...I try and keep it in fairly short pieces---but long enough to get some tug of worms going.

Try mixing it with some cut up greens (people greens and/or grass clover and such) or the boiled egg yoke everyone mentions. Mine really didn't care for the egg until it was mixed in with the spaghetti. There are 18 of them and they can clean a saucer of boiled egg yoke greens and spaghetti--chicken pasta salad-- in 5 minutes.

Thanks for reminding me--today's treat will definitely be long long whole-wheat spaghetti! Mine have loved chopped hard=boiled eggs since I first started with treats, about week 4.

My neighbor-friends and I are really getting "countrified". I've put a bunch of lawn chairs down by the chicken pen, and people like to come over at treat time and watch the action. Our fave so far in the "chicken treat follies" has been crickets, slowed down some by a quick visit to my freezer. (What can I say? I wanted to be sure the chickens got to eat those things. I paid an arm and a leg for them!)

So, a question: Is it a problem to include egg shells with those hard-boiled eggs? I see people here who say they do that, but I've heard not to, because it gets the chickens thinking about breaking open their own egg shells. Help?

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

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Good idea, I think (but I'm another newbie). I also used parakeet grit for my new chicks, now 6 weeks old, but about week 4, I noticed they were getting noticeable "crops" on their fronts....Could it just be that they were growing, or was the parakeet grit too small and not helping them digest the greens and other non-chicken-starter food? Anyhow, I then bought "real" chicken grit in the "fine" grade/size, suitable for younguns, according to the package--

and chicken grit is HUGE compared with parakeet grit. So I think maybe you need to hit the feed store and get some -- not that parakeet grit is wrong, per se, but not big enough to serve as (joke coming....) TRUE GRIT.

 

[hickchick55]

I just found that the best thing to bribe my chicks back to the coop (they can only free range on a limited basis) is dried mealworms. They will do anything for them. Not cheap, but very effective.

 

[billfields]

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I don't but then I started giving it to them when they were tiny chicks. I started them on grit early too. I too was aware of the potential to teach a bad habit and it just didn't seem worth it. Egg shell around here always go in the compost.

Mine are now 7 weeks and I've cut back on the boiled egg-spaghetti greens. It'll be an occasional thing. This week they have loved cleaning out cantaloupe rind but the main treat I'm using now is a handfull or two of scratch feed. I'm fininshing the outside run today so their bug intake will definately increase as well---I hope