Hello! New to raising chickens from WV

[Ashleync108]

Just got 10 baby chicks ... I think they are about 2 weeks old. What are some fun things to feed them besides their chicken food?

 

[Acre4Me]

No treats until they are older. They get their nutrition from chick starter. They are growing feathers, feathers are protein, treats dilute feed and don’t usually have much protein.

If you just can’t stop yourself, then make sure you are providing grit (crushed granite). You can give them scrambled eggs (bitsof crushed shell are ok), or wet feed, a tiny amount of anything else, like scratch. And by tiny, I really mean it’s like you think they are getting hardly anything....but they are pretty tiny too.

Mealworms, btw, are very high in fat so not great for chickens, overall as a constant treat.

My chickens often get feed as their treat. Normally, they get dry feed so I make wet feed as their treat. I add water and get it to batter consistency. I’ll mix inscrambled egg, sprinkle in seeds, or chopped fruit. The other day my flock got chopped up hard boiled eggs left over from Easter, colored shells and all. I mixed it with some fruit purée I had left over from a recipe. My kid gives them handfuls of grass (keep it really short Bits for chicks or they can get impacted crops). Overall, I try to keep in mind protein content, and trying not to dilute it or the rest of the nutrition in their feed much or very often.