Hard boiled egg yolks for baby chicks?

[glendor787]

Anyone feed green peas baby food to the hatchlings? I'm giving mine boil egg Yolk and some green peas, alternating with his chicken feed, he seems to enjoy it and his appetite is bigger!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Greens are good. Just be sure that everything you feed them is mashed and of a consistency that won't choke them.

 

[glendor787]

I will thank u!

 

[donrae]

Hello,

So he wont eat...I gave him a mixture of boil egg, baby chicken feed and water. He ate it, so I can tell he was very hungry. Now he sleeping under a feather hat I got, heater on, very quiet. I need him to figure out how to eat by himself by tomorrow as I'm working, took leave today to stay with him. I won't mind getting a play mate for him, but the only guy I know that sell chickens, they are already like 2 to 3 weeks, way too big by tiny Pollito! Fingers crossed for him. He is the only hatch from 17 eggs.

Aren't your eggs only day 21? You haven't given up on them, have you? It can take a day or two later for hatch.

Baby chicks don't need to eat for the first 24-48 hours. He just "ate" an entire egg yolk right before he hatched, he will eat chick food when he needs to. No baby chick is going to starve itself.

Mixing 2 week old chicks with day olds is fine. I've done up to a 5 week age difference and had no problems.

I agree the chick needs to be able to get out from under the heat. If he had hatched under a momma, he'd be poking his head out and taking short trips out from under her. He needs to be able to get to an area of cooler temps.

 

[glendor787]

Unfortunately the rest of the eggs stink...so they r going to the trash. The heater is a little bit away from him. It gives the whole bathroom a nice temperature! So far he seems to be doing fine!!

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Strangely enough I did once get a clutch of turkeys from a male whose ancestors were raised on only crumble, nothing natural, and from the instinct this male passed on, the chicks actually did starve in the midst of plenty, under an experienced mother.

I had to make something the color and consistency of crumble before they would eat. Then I had to forcefeed to get them started. They were nearly dead by that point.

These misdirected instincts came only from the father. The mother had many clutches with different males before and after him which all consisted of thriving, easy-to-feed chicks who ate what their mother told them to. But chickens in general will experiment which is also why they're more likely to eat non-food objects than turkeys are.

Quote: True in general, because chickens with normal instincts can live in a mixed flock of every age group without issues.

But watch out for hatchery stock or any birds not bred and reared in at least a semi natural family unit or environment. Many from that background have lost the instincts they should have had, and instead are cannibals and murderous bullies. We can easily modify or breed in or out instincts we take for granted.