how often do you change food?

[mendozer]

none of them are pasty so that's good. what's a good amount per day for 4 chicks? I use a handful every 2 days and there's still most of it left. i also want them to eat the powdery good stuff and not just the solid chunks in the feed.

I'm also going to give them kitchen veggie/fruit scraps as they age

 

[Bahachick]

When they find no big crumbles and are hungry they will eat the fine stuff. Just let the feeder run almost empty.

 

[mendozer]

on a side note, how about shavings? i have 4 chicks and i'm changing them out totally every 4 days. i sprinkle new stuff on every day or so. but even at 4 days, nothing stinks. I know many people here on BYC have like 20 chicks in a brooder and they wait 3 days. Does that carry over to weeks for me?

 

[NickyPick]

I don't change food, just refill it. The first week, I didn't have to do anything. They had 2 feeders that held maybe 3 cups each. The second week, I was refilling them every 3 days. They're 18 days today and I've had to refill daily for the last 4 days. I'm starting to look into getting bigger feeders. They eat a LOT! I just introduced a bowl of boiled egg yolk in the afternoons and they swarm it line a hive of angry bees!

 

[Bahachick]

I used to turn the shavings over so it can dry and not mold then sprinkle new one on top.
Once they are out of the brooder just dump or compost the whole thing.

 

[gal_amy]

Quote:
That's what I did also. I read on some FAQ on the internet it helps with pasty butt. So far, I have one that I have to clean daily.

 

[mendozer]

we let them out daily to run around on a blanket. that's when i sprinkle shavings and mix it up with my hand to aerate it. So as long as it doesn't stink it's ok?

 

[mons02035]

When you put fresh shavings over old, just throw some scratch in there and the chickens will turn it all up for you. It saves you from having to do it. I also throw down some DE on top. I have 5 hens and I change them completly about every 3 or 4 months. It's a 4x8 coop. I was using sweet pdz but I found that it makes things a lot harder to clean because it hardens all the shavings together.

 

[dldolan]

Mama surrogate is penned in with the chicks in the middle of the big run so the other birds can get used to the chicks! Medicated chick feed for three weeks, and mama starts venturing out with them at two weeks, so they are free ranging in the large yard, plus have free choice chick starter until 16 weeks when they go on layer pellets...

At four weeks with Mama...