Hungry babies

[Buggirl]

I feel like a bad mama. I bought three teeny tiny bantam chicks yesterday and set them up with Purina Start and Grow. They were still picking at it when I left for work this morning.

I just got home and checked on the chicks and they were still pecking away at the feed. I then picked one up and noticed it's crop was empty. All three had empty crops. Then it hit me... the standard chick granules are too big for very small chicks. I took a mallet to the feed to grind it up finer, and their crops started to fill up. Glad I know now!

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Very interesting. I'm glad you sorted out the issue, I'm sure your chicks are glad too!

Enjoy them.

 

[zebra2u]

whats a crop?

 

[ducksNchickens]

whats a crop?

It's the first stomach the food goes to, and you can feel it when you gently rub their chest.

 

[Mister B]

I bet you could get a cheap yard sale blender and make a batch at a time. A crop is a food storage pouch. When the chicken eats, the food goes in the crop, then through gizzard and finally into the stomach. Since they don't have teeth, they need the gizzard to grind the food. They swallow little rocks called grit to grind their food.

 

[Buggirl]

Great idea to use a blender. Thanks, Mister B.!

 

[zebra2u]

Thank you!! I will check my girls to see if they are eating.

 

[zebra2u]

Thank you!!

 

[ShockValue]

You can also wet the food down. I don't do it regularly, but my chickies LOVE the mush when I do

It gets icky quick though, so you can't do too much at a time.

 

[Buggirl]

Good idea, ShockValue! Thanks.