Help! Getting babies in a week. Confused on feed

[Aunt Angus]

Oh, ok. I see now.
I asked about pellets bc I’m finding it hard to find all flock crumble. Had my hopes up for a min bc I can get all flock pellets. Chick crumble will do.
Gotcha on the nutridrench.

Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to confuse!

I have never seen all-flock crumble. Why do you want it? Feeding multiple species?

 

[Magnumchicken]

Being too lazy to go 30 mins away to just buy a small bag of chick feed, I take grower pellets and soak in water until it turns into mash. I also feed the scrambled eggs at about 1 egg to 4 chicks per day. I add water to the eggs instead of milk so they are super soft and don't dry out.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Being too lazy to go 30 mins away to just buy a small bag of chick feed, I take grower pellets and soak in water until it turns into mash. I also feed the scrambled eggs at about 1 egg to 4 chicks per day. I add water to the eggs instead of milk so they are super soft and don't dry out.

Does softening it negate the need for grit, then, too?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to confuse!

I have never seen all-flock crumble. Why do you want it? Feeding multiple species?

I like the idea of a wet mash and/or fermented feed. It seems logical that crumble would be better suited for that than pellets simply due to surface area of the product. I’m sure it can be done either way with good results.

 

[Magnumchicken]

Does softening it negate the need for grit, then, too?

The pellets turn to mush once wet for 15 mins. It takes more water than you would think.
I have never given grit when chickens are on pellets. From what I thought, pellet fed chickens don't need it unless they get some sort of seeds. However I do have about 300 SQ ft of free range area per chicken so they have plenty of grit from the ground.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Also does it matter which brand of electrolytes I buy?

I forgot to mention this part. My go-to for this is clean water. I consider it essential that their water is not allowed to get dirty. If they poop in it or scratch bedding in it, the water needs to be changed at least once a day. More often does not hurt. I don't know how you plan to water them, if you use nipples this is less of a concern.

Whether straight from the incubator or the post office I do not automatically add any supplements to the water just because I can. I haven't seen the need and I tend to do things by need. A couple of times I've had a weak individual chick. I treat the individual. Instead of buying special electrolytes I feed some hummingbird liquid to the chick to give it a burst of energy. I use a medicine dropper to put drops of liquid on the tip of its beak. It will swallow them and I'm not risking forcing liquid down the wrong way. The sugar is essentially the same as the electrolytes and I always have hummingbird liquid on hand.

If I received a shipment of chicks that had a rough shipment, say they were delayed a day, I would supplement their water, probably by boiling some sugar in the water to dissolve it and then cooling the water. To me that would be a reason to do something. I've never had a problem like that in shipping.

There is nothing wrong with giving them the electrolytes. It will not hurt them. I just don't consider it to be necessary without a special reason. If you do give them some, read the instructions on how to give that specific one. Some may say to only give them once. Some may say to dump the water and clean the container after a certain amount of time, I've read 12 hours for one supplement. Some may be fine to forever give them.

As far as Flock Raiser, All Flock, Starter-Grower, or some other marketing name, the name isn't that important. What matters is the analysis. The two critical nutrients are protein and calcium. Calcium needs to be low, a lot closer to 1% than 4%. The protein is whatever level you want. If you look at the analysis on the bag label you'll see that all the others are essentially the same. Whatever is available at your feed store will do fine.

If pellets is all you can get, the pellets are too big for baby chicks. So put some in a blender or food processor and reduce the size. I've had to do that. Try to not reduce it to a full powder, it's "best" if it is still in chunks. If you reduce it to a powder the ingredients can sort themselves by density so the chicks may not get a fully balanced diet. Of course there is a fix for this. Wet the powder to turn it into a paste. Just make sure they clean it up so it doesn't last long enough to go sour.

Does softening it negate the need for grit, then, too?

When it is manufacturer they gather all the ingredients for chick or chicken feed and grind them all together. If they sell this as a powder, it's called mash. To make pellets they wet mash to turn it into a paste, extrude it through a die, and flash dry it. This is pellets. To make crumble they crush the pellets some. So the ingredients are the same in all of it. And it was all powder once. Since it has already been ground there is no need to give the chicks grit if chicken feed is all they eat. Pellets and crumble will fall apart when they get wet with digestive juices let alone get crushed in their gizzard.

If you feed them anything other than mash, crumbles, or pellets they do need grit. This means grains, grass or weeds, kitchen scraps, bugs, just about anything.

 

[rosemarythyme]

And at what age would nutridrench no longer be needed? Thx

I stop the Nutri-Drench pretty early, like after a few days, assuming they're all active and doing well. I save the remainder of the bottle for emergency usage, if birds are somewhat lethargic for any reason. A lot of times just a few drops in the mouth is enough to perk them right back up.

I asked about pellets bc I’m finding it hard to find all flock crumble. Had my hopes up for a min bc I can get all flock pellets. Chick crumble will do.
Gotcha on the nutridrench.

I do start off my chicks on an all flock type crumble. For young chicks, it really should be crumble size or served wet and broken down for them to easily be able to eat it.

Keep in mind that "all flock" is a generic term and not all brands label it as such. It can be called flock raiser, hatch-to-hen, etc. The one I use is labeled hatch-to-hen and I keep the chicks on it until most of them are actively laying.

 

[AZDesertChick]

There are so many options for food it’s a little overwhelming.. where do I start?? I get day old chicks next week. What do I need to know/buy? What’s the best option?

I’ve decided on everything but the food/any supplements. Also does it matter which brand of electrolytes I buy?

I really like the Scratch and Peck brand organic starter. I also put just a touch of organic apple cider vinegar (with mother) in their water. Among other things, organic feed and the ACV are supposed to help with pasty butt. We’ve never had a chick develop that and we haven’t ever lost a chick, so it seems to have worked for us.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I really like the Scratch and Peck brand organic starter. I also put just a touch of organic apple cider vinegar (with mother) in their water. Among other things, organic feed and the ACV are supposed to help with pasty butt. We’ve never had a chick develop that and we haven’t ever lost a chick, so it seems to have worked for us.

I like S&P starter but with a caveat - I feel the particles are a bit on the large side even for standard chicks, and it really should be fermented, as there's a very large amount of fines in it and it's crucial for developing chicks to not be allowed to pick and choose the grains they eat and instead, ingest the complete feed.

Keeping a good area of lower temperature areas in the brooder so far seems to be the most effective prevention for pasty butt for me. I use a mama heating pad so they get nice and toasty under there, but exposed to outdoor temperatures otherwise.

And not to make it confusing for OP, but just to clarify, as what I advise and what I actually do are different: I complicate my feeding of chicks by starting them on hatch-to-hen crumble (dry), then offering fermented S&P starter as well after about 2 weeks. At about 8-10 weeks I switch to fermented S&P grower (and continue with dry crumble) and continue with that until they're laying, then I swap out the crumble for dry layer pellet. So I don't advise following that routine simply because it's a lot more feed management than most people would want to deal with, but I do it so I can micromanage protein and calcium intake throughout the year.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I like S&P starter but with a caveat - I feel the particles are a bit on the large side even for standard chicks, and it really should be fermented, as there's a very large amount of fines in it and it's crucial for developing chicks to not be allowed to pick and choose the grains they eat and instead, ingest the complete feed.

Keeping a good area of lower temperature areas in the brooder so far seems to be the most effective prevention for pasty butt for me. I use a mama heating pad so they get nice and toasty under there, but exposed to outdoor temperatures otherwise.

And not to make it confusing for OP, but just to clarify, as what I advise and what I actually do are different: I complicate my feeding of chicks by starting them on hatch-to-hen crumble (dry), then offering fermented S&P starter as well after about 2 weeks. At about 8-10 weeks I switch to fermented S&P grower (and continue with dry crumble) and continue with that until they're laying, then I swap out the crumble for dry layer pellet. So I don't advise following that routine simply because it's a lot more feed management than most people would want to deal with, but I do it so I can micromanage protein and calcium intake throughout the year.

Totally see the benefit. I really liked feeding S&P fermented. I used to give them that plus dry pellets, but it did get to be too much for me when I got ducks and goats. My morning routine just took too long to juggle straining the fermented feed along with changing out the duck buckets and cleaning the goat house. I just do all-flock pellet with added yeast. I still do fermented feed, but only on weekends when I have more time.

Bottom line: Simple = better for me and my mental health! Lol