How old?

[NorthChicken]

How old do chicks have to be before you can feed them food other than starter crumbles?

My chicks will be a week old on Monday, would love to be able to give them a bit of scrambled egg yolk or meal worms. Are they still too young?

What other foods are safe to give chicks?

Chick fell asleep on her back in my friend's son's hands! So sweet.

 

[Veer67]

Aww, what a cute little chick.

I feed my chicks clovers and chick weeds from day one, if your chicks are 1 week old they are definitely old enough to eat mealworms and other foods . I feed my chicks strawberries, blueberries, apple, various insects, clovers, chickweed, dandelion leaves, and other foods that I can't think of right now. Scrambled eggs should be fine too just don't add salt to it, good luck on your baby chicks!

 

[MrsBachbach]

What a cute chick! About the only thing I give young chicks other than chick starter is cooked egg yolk or regular dry oatmeal. Don't spoil em with the extras though! The nourishment they need is in the chick starter and if you treat them everyday, they may turn off their chick food.
Btw, the chick very likely isn't sleeping. Just about any chicken you turn on it's back, does that. I don't know what it is, but putting them on their back put's them out. I don't know if it interfers with their breathing or circulation or makes them dizzy, but it does "put them out".

 

[NorthChicken]

Thanks guys! Gave them some boiled egg yolk crumbled up this morning, but they didn't really know what to think of it! Pecked at it a bit out of my hand, then stepped over my hand to get to their starter feed! Lol oh well, guess I will try again in a few days.

And I didn't know that about when you put them on their backs! And here I was thinking it was totally adorable, whoops! I hope it didn't hurt the chick!

I will remember that, always keep chicks upright!

 

[MrsBachbach]

Thanks guys! Gave them some boiled egg yolk crumbled up this morning, but they didn't really know what to think of it! Pecked at it a bit out of my hand, then stepped over my hand to get to their starter feed! Lol oh well, guess I will try again in a few days.

And I didn't know that about when you put them on their backs! And here I was thinking it was totally adorable, whoops! I hope it didn't hurt the chick! :/ I will remember that, always keep chicks upright!

Well, I just don't know if it hurts them. It does come in handy when you have to work on an older chicken that just won't stay still.

 

[sumi]

Those pics are amazing, thanks for sharing! I'd just like to add if you give your chicks treats they will need some grit to help them break it down. Chick starter is fine, but things like mealworms need a little roughage. If you can't find chick size grit sprinkle some clean coarse sand over their food. It works just as well. There are some treat ideas here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/181429/good-treats-for-baby-chicks

Also don't be tempted to feed too much treats. Keep it to 10% or less of their daily food intake.

 

[Veer67]

Thanks guys! Gave them some boiled egg yolk crumbled up this morning, but they didn't really know what to think of it! Pecked at it a bit out of my hand, then stepped over my hand to get to their starter feed! Lol oh well, guess I will try again in a few days.

And I didn't know that about when you put them on their backs! And here I was thinking it was totally adorable, whoops! I hope it didn't hurt the chick!

I will remember that, always keep chicks upright!

I have heard that it can choke chickens, because when they are put on their backs their organs press against their lungs making it hard for them to breath. Here's a link that might interest you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/513170/chickens-sleeping-on-their-backs

 

[MrsBachbach]

Those pics are amazing, thanks for sharing! I'd just like to add if you give your chicks treats they will need some grit to help them break it down. Chick starter is fine, but things like mealworms need a little roughage. If you can't find chick size grit sprinkle some clean coarse sand over their food. It works just as well. There are some treat ideas here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/181429/good-treats-for-baby-chicks

Also don't be tempted to feed too much treats. Keep it to 10% or less of their daily food intake.

Yes, for very young chicks that works well too. Just get a box of the parakeet gravel and grit that is sold in pet stores or Walmart. It is basically sand with a few larger bits of crumbly grit inside.