How young is too young for bug treats?

[chris10sen]

I am sure this has been asked before, sorry. But I have 5 day old chicks which we just got yesterday and my husband put three box elders in the brooder and they ran super fast and ate them up like nothing. While it was cute, I don't want to give them too much too soon. We have an infestation of box elder bugs, so no complaints from me if this becomes one of their favorite treats!

Thanks,

Lisa

 

[gryeyes]

Don't forget to provide grit for them (construction sand will do nicely) whenever they are eating something OTHER than their commercial feed.

 

[gritsar]

If mama hen had the chicks she'd be showing them bugs to eat from the very first time she took them outside; at a few days old. We have an infestation of a locust type bug going on. My chicks have been eating them up since they were 5 days old. I provide grit every other day and let them go at it.

 

[noodleroo]

I don't even know what kind of bugs those are (sorry). If you are going to feed them anything other than chick starter, you need to make sure they can process it in their little bodies. That means they need some sort of grit to grind up the bugs. I didn't buy anything special, I just let them have dirt out of the yard.

 

[chris10sen]

You are lucky not to have box elder bugs!

 

[sharol]

In my part of the country we refer to them as Republican bugs (or Democrat bugs depending on your personal political leanings) because they are completely annoying. I just refer to them as Politician bugs. ;-)

Quote:

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I went and looked at images of those bugs, since I wasn't familiar with them. We have them too, though not very many. These grasshopper/locust things are the worse! When they are little they are harmless, but I once picked up a big one to feed to my adult birds. I watched as he brought two little "fangs" out and gnawed on my knuckle.
Thank goodness the chickens love em.

 

[1_FnkyFrm]

Box elder bugs are a pain in the rear

, your chicks will be fine. Just make sure they have grit.