Has anyone ever done a Treat Chart for baby chicks?

[boxermom]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie too. Brought home my first "practice" chicks last Thurs.

They will be a week old tomorrow. On Sunday, my DD's gave them some boxelder bugs. The chicks were frightened of them. My DD's then killed the bugs and gave them to the 3 chicks. Then the fun started. They loved them! Today, the chicks had their 1st earthworms. Yum! They had so much fun running and chasing, that I didn't really get to see if each one got a worm or if there was a "piggy" in the bunch. I figured if they were with momma, they would be getting that stuff anyway. I've been waiting until they are a week old before I try yogurt. I also gave them a "sand box" on Saturday. They look like they are doing very well. These chicks are California Whites. I will be getting my big batch of chicks on April 25th. 40 BO and 10 EE's.

 

[desertgirl]

What a great idea. That would be a sticky that would really come in handy for us newbies(and give the vets a break!!). Pasty butt treatments and timelines/temperatures for transitioning to outside would also be really usefull....

How 'bout it,moderators?

 

[bucketgirl]

I'll jump in with what has worked for me thus far. I'm completely and totally new to chickens - I don't even know how old my chicks are. I think a little over a week. Chick days were the weekend before I got my chicks so I figure they are closing in on 2 weeks.

I've got 4 Buff Orp and 2 Barred Rock

Day 1 - Chick starter only
Day 2 - Chick starter only, but I noticed they were scratching and consuming little pieces of pine litter. I got very worried and started looking up snack ideas to give them something else to do.

Day 3 - Blades of grass. They were slow takers. The Barred Rocks were more interested in the grass than the buffs. I sprinkled it around to give them something to peck at besides litter. I cut some in tiny pieces.

Day 4 - by morning, every speck of grass was gone, so I decided more grass and some cooked oatmeal when I got home. Later on, grass was a huge hit. They plucked it right out of my hand. Cooked oatmeal was a loser. I could only get them interested into it by chopping up grass like chives and mixing it in, and then they would just pick out the grass and fastidiously clean their beaks. It got stuck everywhere and even though they got the hang of eating the oatmeal part and there were a few rounds of chickie keepaway, all in all it didn't seem fun/enjoyable for them to eat. It got on their feet and stuck to their feathers and I didn't want to create another problem. To make it I put 2 TBSP of oatmeal and water to cover, microwave until it starts to boil over and cool thoroughly.

Day 5 - This morning I gave them fresh grass, clover, and a couple pieces of dandelion. This was very exciting and everyone rushed to get some. They seem to enjoy taking it from me and dropping it as much as they do eating it. The biggest hit was 2 TBSP of uncooked oatmeal though! My chickies are in my bathtub, which I can see from the shower. I gave them the oatmeal and started getting ready for work. I have never seen so much chickie concentration! They stayed at the bowl until every last speck was gone.

Now I'm debating whether it's a good idea to sprinkle oatmeal over their bedding to give them something to do, and planning to pick up some sprayed millet on the way home if I can. Oatmeal will probably be the bribe of choice for learning how to be tame and friendly.

 

[boxermom]

My chicks are a week old today. I tried the yogurt. they weren't interested at all. Should I keep trying or wait until they are older? They seem to be afraid of everything new.

 

[Bridgette1221]

Mine ignored the yogurt at first too, I left it in there about an hour and they eventually stepped all in it and then started to peck at it. By the time I removed the small dish I had it in it was about gone. Tonight was hog heaven for my little guys. They are 2 weeks today and for fun I bought 40 small crickets (they are very tiny) and 50 meal worms. I just dumped them all in, eventually (at first just the crickets and hand fed some of the meal worms), and the race was on!!!! I'm sure there are still some hiding in their bedding but they are having fun scratching around looking for them. The video of it will be really cute.

 

[norcal]

I fed my little gals yogurt & hard boiled egg, starting yesterday. I think they are about 3 weeks old. They freaked over the egg white, didn't like the yolk as much. With the yogurt, they wouldn't eat it out of the dish, but when I dabbed it on the wall of the brooder they went crazy for it - they like to peck at the walls.

Goofs!!

Don't worry, I wash the tubs every few days.

 

[Dana's Kids Chicks]

I hope I didn’t mess up. My chicks were 9 days old yesterday and have been scratching in the brooder like the grown ups. They started doing that when they were only a few days old.

When they were one week old they started tearing off pieces of the paper towel over the newspaper and running around stealing it from each other until one of them would eat it. That worried me so since they were old enough to be on bare newspaper I took the paper towel out. Then yesterday they were scratching on the newspaper so much I felt bad for the little buggers, so I put a couple of dirt clots from my garden in with them to give them something to do, along with some torn up strips of newspaper. They really seemed to love that and today they were dust bathing in the newspaper strips and have been pecking away at the dirt clots and happily scratching away.

I clean the whole thing out every day, and I don’t think I will put dirt in their again if it is a problem. I just figured that if they were with mamma hen they would be out eating dirt days ago.

 

[Bridgette1221]

I dont think it will hurt them at all. I dont use newspaper or papertowels though, pine bedding is best in my opinion and its cheap. I clean their cage every 2 days. It gives them something to mess around with and scratch in and is an easy clean up. I take my chicks, who are 17 days old now outside and let them eat whatever they want on the ground. I have also given them small crickets, meal worms (HUGE hit!!

) Yogurt, and today for the first time oats, non cooked. They have also had boiled eggs.

 

[Dana's Kids Chicks]

Thanks, I was worried after reading posts about impacted crops.

I use newspaper after about a week because I have read that they will eat the pine shavings and get sick from that. Also it gets in the water and makes a mess. I guess I will try it, because you are right, it would give them something to scratch.

 

[norcal]

So, with oatmeal, it doesn't matter if it's cooked or not? I saw this question, but not a definitive answer.

Thanks!

-Laurie