HELP! Newbie fed some raw oatmeal to chicks

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

DON'T PANIC Its going to be OK.

Raw oatmeal as in the kind we cook and eat is OK in moderaton. Just make sure they have plenty to drink as it will dry them out and be hard to pass.
I GIVE IT TO MY BIRDS WITH LOOSE STOOLS

Any way that being said you need to get some chick food.
If you only have a few chicks you can find small 25 pound bags bags at most farm/feed stores.

You can find small boxes of grit at walmart in the Pet/Bird section, That should work..

Its the whole oats and and other dried grains like corn that you MUST also offer grit.

 

[livin-green]

I have 14 chicks of 3 varieties: leghorn, cochin bantam, and brahma.

I do have some starter feed and a feeder & waterer like the ones pictured on the BYC's 101 page. The feeder is full of starter feed only, and I check the waterer daily to make sure it's clean.

Yes, the oatmeal is the kind we cook and eat--a pretty fine grade, too. I mixed in some oats and regular bird seed mix with the starter feed. I sprinkle about 1/2 a handful of this mix into a shallow box several times a day, and chicks peck and scratch at it until it's gone...usually within about 5-10 minutes!

This afternoon, I went searching around outside for some fine, gritty dirt with small pebbles. I think I found some that is what everyone is talking about, plus I added a little extra sand to it--just to make sure. I put it in the box for them to scratch in, and most of them investigated right away.

Thanks for the info.

 

[chickenshadow]

I've alway fed my young chicks ground up oatmeal as a way to get them used
to hand feeding. It has never caused a problem. I have learned from reading
dlhunicorn's posts that oatmeal may be hard for new chicks to digest so I backed
off some.

Week #1: Ground chick starter with a good vitamin/electrolyte in the water
Week #2: Anything and everything

I've never seen a chick eat grit. I put it out at 3 to 4 weeks just to be safe.

 

[livin-green]

Being new to the whole thing here, I'm not really sure if they "ate" any or not. When I put it in there, they scratched around on it and pecked at a few things. I'm not really sure if they actually ate any of it.

Guess I'll lay off any extra stuff for a few more days. They should be a week old on Tuesday, I think. They shipped from Ideal Poultry on Wednesday last week--anyone know how quick Ideal ships after hatching??

 

[Frosty]

I believe the postal regulations say that baby poultry has to be less than 24 hours old to ship.

 

[livin-green]

Thanks--that would mean that they had to have been hatched sometime during the day on Tuesday or early on Wednesday. Since Tuesday was April 15th (tax day), I think I'll just use that day....easy to remember.