Is chicken scratch okay

[Swampy_9]

Alright so the dumbest thing happened on my part. I hadn't ordered the chick feed in time and I completely ran out yesterday I ran to the store to see if by chance they had any, which they never do, and I got some scratch. My order will be here Tuesday, today is Thursday so I guess I'm asking would it be okay to feed them this for just those Couple of days? Should I mix it with something else?

My chicks are about to be 5 weeks old this coming weekend

 

[K0k0shka]

Scratch is high calorie and low nutrition, so it would be like feeding your kids nothing but candy for almost a week. Will they die? Probably not. Will they suffer consequences? Probably yes. It's better than starving them, obviously, but does your store have any other kind of actual poultry feed that's not candy? For example, an all flock type of feed works just fine for chicks as well. Even layer crumble would be fine for just a few days, and much better than scratch! A little bit of extra calcium that's added to layer feed won't hurt them in 5-6 days, but 5-6 days of nothing but scratch will have consequences. I bet your store las layer feed - that's like the #1 most popular chicken feed, so if they have any, they will probably have that. So go back to the store and get some layer feed, and feed them that instead of the scratch. Crumble is better, because the smaller particles will be easier for them to swallow, but if they only have pellets, that's fine - get the pellets to carry you over until your chick feed arrives, and just crush them until they're small enough for little mouths to eat.

 

[Tonyroo]

It's fine as a temporary food, but sometimes chicks that young are disinterested cause it's new to them.

Since your chicks are still young you can try grinding or smashing the scratch into smaller pieces. Makes it easier to swallow and digest. You can also ferment the scratch in water for 3 days.

 

[JackVinehopper]

You might try a little canned cat food for protein in small amounts as quick fix to get you by.

 

[nuthatched]

Did they have an all flock?

 

[NatJ]

Alright so the dumbest thing happened on my part. I hadn't ordered the chick feed in time and I completely ran out yesterday I ran to the store to see if by chance they had any, which they never do, and I got some scratch. My order will be here Tuesday, today is Thursday so I guess I'm asking would it be okay to feed them this for just those Couple of days? Should I mix it with something else?

My chicks are about to be 5 weeks old this coming weekend

They won't die, but it's not ideal. Chicks that age are growing quickly, so they will show problems faster than an adult chicken would.

The biggest problem I see is lack of protein, so I would try to give them some protein to go with it.

Things like cat food, puppy food, or fish food might work (check the label: you probably want at least 20% protein if you are giving it alongside scratch. Some kitten foods and fish foods have 40% protein or more, and that is great for a supplement in this situation.)

Human foods like egg, meat, and fish are great sources of protein.
Beans, lentils, and similar things can be reasonable protein sources, but they need to be cooked (not raw/dry.) If they are moist in a can, they have already been cooked and are fine.

Bugs and worms are fine too, although it takes a large number to make much difference.

It might be good to also offer greens, fruits, and vegetables. Chicks can be picky about what they eat, so it's hard to know what will work and what will not.

Do make sure they have grit available, so their gizzards can grind up the grains (scratch) and the other things they eat.

 

[Swampy_9]

They won't die, but it's not ideal. Chicks that age are growing quickly, so they will show problems faster than an adult chicken would.

The biggest problem I see is lack of protein, so I would try to give them some protein to go with it.

Things like cat food, puppy food, or fish food might work (check the label: you probably want at least 20% protein if you are giving it alongside scratch. Some kitten foods and fish foods have 40% protein or more, and that is great for a supplement in this situation.)

Human foods like egg, meat, and fish are great sources of protein.
Beans, lentils, and similar things can be reasonable protein sources, but they need to be cooked (not raw/dry.) If they are moist in a can, they have already been cooked and are fine.

Bugs and worms are fine too, although it takes a large number to make much difference.

It might be good to also offer greens, fruits, and vegetables. Chicks can be picky about what they eat, so it's hard to know what will work and what will not.

Do make sure they have grit available, so their gizzards can grind up the grains (scratch) and the other things they eat.

Oh thank you thank you! I'll go ahead and do some. I luckily have all of that

 

[NatJ]

Oh thank you thank you! I'll go ahead and do some. I luckily have all of that

The "perfect" other foods are always things you have available! I tried to list a variety of options, because I didn't know what you might have

 

[Swampy_9]

Scratch is high calorie and low nutrition, so it would be like feeding your kids nothing but candy for almost a week. Will they die? Probably not. Will they suffer consequences? Probably yes. It's better than starving them, obviously, but does your store have any other kind of actual poultry feed that's not candy? For example, an all flock type of feed works just fine for chicks as well. Even layer crumble would be fine for just a few days, and much better than scratch! A little bit of extra calcium that's added to layer feed won't hurt them in 5-6 days, but 5-6 days of nothing but scratch will have consequences. I bet your store las layer feed - that's like the #1 most popular chicken feed, so if they have any, they will probably have that. So go back to the store and get some layer feed, and feed them that instead of the scratch. Crumble is better, because the smaller particles will be easier for them to swallow, but if they only have pellets, that's fine - get the pellets to carry you over until your chick feed arrives, and just crush them until they're small enough for little mouths to eat.

I'll have to go and look again. All I see them sell aside the scratch is mealworms and some other chicken feed. But I'll have to look for pellets and see

 

[K0k0shka]

I'll have to go and look again. All I see them sell aside the scratch is mealworms and some other chicken feed. But I'll have to look for pellets and see

Check what that "some other chicken feed" is. If it's called "feed", then it's probably good, whatever it is. Scratch and mealworms aren't "feed" in terms of the commonly understood meaning of the word, even though they can be fed to chickens. "Feed" means a complete meal that's been formulated to be used as the chicken's primary nutrition, while scratch, mealworms and the rest are extras.