Greener Pastures chick starter and mealworms...is this enough?

[Rainbird2]

Hi Everyone,

We are raising our first batch of chickens in NorCal. We have Buckeyes and New Hampshires for meat and Buff Orpingtons for eggs. My family decided to make a homemade feed recipe and give it to the chicks along with milk, eggs and worms from the compost.

We are running into a few problems, however. The chicks don't like the scrambled eggs, so we decided to stop those. We have been giving them milk, but it turns sour and curdles and they won't eat it! Also, it gives them bad pasty butts. We took it away today and no more pasty butts. Now, we're giving them about a 1/2 cup of dried mealworms a day in addition to the homemade starter, plus their H20 with ACV and garlic.

Our question is, is this sufficient for our birds? They are 1 week and 2 days old. We plan to put them on our pasture (protected, of course) when they are 2 weeks old. We lost one bird this morning, and I'm totally obsessed with them (how many hours did I spend on this site today?!), so I want to make sure they are getting everything they need with just the homemade mix and the mealworms.

Should I look into fish meal? If so, where do I buy it?

Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[HEChicken]

Birds don't have the ability to digest milk so dairy products are not a good idea. Honestly if I were you, I would invest in some commercial chick starter while you do some more research into what they actually need. The one you lost could have been due to many factors, one of which is dietary.

 

[Rainbird2]

Thank you for the advice!

We bought this and they are eating it:

http://www.scratchandpeck.com/products/nfstarter

We're also giving them mealworms every day and H20 with ACV and garlic. They get a 2nd H20 with nothing in it and also some chick grit. Anything else they need?

Thanks again!

 

[galanie]

While fresh milk gives them problems, cultured milks such as yogurt, kefir, and buttermilk are good for them. The lactose they have problems with has been transformed in the culturing process and is no longer there.

In the meat bird section is a thread on fermenting feeds. Might be an interesting read.