Help! Chicks can't seem to find food??

[SwedishDude99]

I just got my 10 meaties yesterday and some of them are continuously scratching around trying to find food in the bedding. I've put dipped their beaks in the feed, but they won't eat it! There are about half of them that are doing this. What should I do? Will they find it on their own eventually? I'm just worried they are going to starve. They are currently extremely active though which is good. TIA

 

[fried green eggs]

Congrats. Meaties are eating and pooping machines and they have very small brains. lol You have chick crumbles type feed right? I think they will figure it out if, some of them are eating out of the feeder. Just make sure they are drinking water. By the time they are 2 weeks old most people only let them have feed in front of them for 12 hours per day.

 

[WildfireSmitty]

have you tried spreading some feed on a couple sheets of cardboard?

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I always line my brooder with a couple of layers of paper towels for the first few days. The chicks aren't as confused by the bedding, trying to sample it and scratch in it. It also means I can put a small pile of crumbles right on top of the clean paper towels and tap on it with a finger, the way a mother hen would signal to her babies that food was there. The chicks always seem to get the message of that tap against the floor near the food. When the paper towel gets messy (probably once in the morning and again in the evening), I lay another layer over the top. Sometimes only the area right under the heat lamps needs freshening so you can only add new paper to that area. When the paper towels are several days thick the whole bunch can be rolled up and removed as one big roll and you can do it again or switch to shavings.