Is it wrong to feed my 7wk old chicks their feed moistened in the morning

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Also be sure there is grit available to them, naturally or offered by you, if they are eating anything other than crumble.

Cute birds! GLWs?

My 6 Black sex links

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, in the AM, I give my 7 week old chicks their feed with some water added to make it soft and warm with a few added blueberries or banana. Is this routine wrong? My thinking is because its chilly in the high 50’s from 6am-8am.
thank you for your expertise.

My flock eats fermented feed (which is very similar to a wet mash) which comprises about 50% of their total provided diet. They usually finish it by roost time. It's never spoiled. I've scooped it out and smelled it in the evenings to check it and it's fine. No indication of mold growing on it. I've been feeding them this way for over 3 years without issue. I have zero compunction about leaving a wet feed out all day, all year round.
I agree with @Sally PB that it makes incorporating the fines much easier.
I also use the mash when I give them electrolytes during extreme temperatures (like now) or when I de-worm the flock for a week straight with Flubendazole.
To keep it available during winter, it goes into a heated dog water bowl.
I will cut up the core of the previous days apples to remove the seeds and mix the rest into the mash. Or the guts of a processed cantaloupe, butternut squash or honeydew melon. But for the most part, it's just fermented feed.

 

[Waters-flock]

This may be a dumb question but what is the difference between mash and fermented mash. I feed my chicks (three weeks) mash every day from my hand as a treat so they get used to being around me. This helps me pick them up and hold/inspect them. One time, I put the mash in a sealed container and it popped open (from the fermentation, I thought). Thanks

 

[yakitori]

This may be a dumb question but what is the difference between mash and fermented mash. I feed my chicks (three weeks) mash every day from my hand as a treat so they get used to being around me. This helps me pick them up and hold/inspect them. One time, I put the mash in a sealed container and it popped open (from the fermentation, I thought). Thanks

Mash is just water added to feed. Fermented mash is mash left to ferment... It seems like you’ve accidentally made fermented mash too!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^^ that.

and in some environments, you can get a white, vaguely moldy (actually yeasty) growth across the top. Its called "kahm", and is not harmful. Arguably, its beneficial in that it prevents more dangerous things from colonizing your feed, just not desirous in food making.

Really depends on your native environment, just as artisanal beer, wine, cheese, and yogurt making does.

 

[K0k0shka]

I feed my chickens wet mash every day, in all seasons, at all ages. They love it! They also have regular dry feed available all day. I don’t think this is a bad plan/habit at all, and no it doesn’t make going away and leaving the birds with another caretaker harder. Some days I’m too busy/lazy to mix them wet mash, so I don’t. They just eat dry feed that day and are fine. I don’t ask other caretakers to mix mash for the chickens. Feed is feed, so when they don’t have wet feed, they just eat the dry.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I feed my chickens wet mash every day, in all seasons, at all ages. They love it! They also have regular dry feed available all day. I don’t think this is a bad plan/habit at all, and no it doesn’t make going away and leaving the birds with another caretaker harder. Some days I’m too busy/lazy to mix them wet mash, so I don’t. They just eat dry feed that day and are fine. I don’t ask other caretakers to mix mash for the chickens. Feed is feed, so when they don’t have wet feed, they just eat the dry.

I have to say K0K0, i agree with you 100%. Do you add anything to the mash? Mine are about 8 weeks old and I’ll add a few (10) blueberries, or a little banana. I only give a small amount. it was in low 50’s here in CT so warm mash seemed to make sense. If I dont want to do it, I wont; they eat the dry food, no worries. I use the morning mash as an opportunity to do their wellness check. I enjoy my morning cup of coffee with them and their morning mash

Your opinion please: is leaving grit out for them in a hung bowl unnecessary? They have mulch and dirt in the run?? They seem to be eating the starter grit in the bowl too. Wasnt sure if it could hurt or not?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have to say K0K0, i agree with you 100%. Do you add anything to the mash? Mine are about 8 weeks old and I’ll add a few (10) blueberries, or a little banana. I only give a small amount. it was in low 50’s here in CT so warm mash seemed to make sense. If I dont want to do it, I wont; they eat the dry food, no worries. I use the morning mash as an opportunity to do their wellness check. I enjoy my morning cup of coffee with them and their morning mash

Your opinion please: is leaving grit out for them in a hung bowl unnecessary? They have mulch and dirt in the run?? They seem to be eating the starter grit in the bowl too. Wasnt sure if it could hurt or not?

Won't hurt - if they don't need it, they won't take it up. and its not like grit goes bad...

Neither mulch nor dirt makes good grit. if there's a source of tiny rock in your dirt, then ?maybe?. Mine seem to make a go at the recycled concrete base (basically, crushed concrete) around my barn, and used as the barn floor. I can't recommend it - I don't know anything about the chemistry of concrete in a chicken's crop and digestive system - but it doesn't appear to be hurting. <=== Thus, my ?maybe? and I leave grit out for mine, as well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I feed my chickens wet mash every day, in all seasons, at all ages. They love it! They also have regular dry feed available all day. I don’t think this is a bad plan/habit at all, and no it doesn’t make going away and leaving the birds with another caretaker harder. Some days I’m too busy/lazy to mix them wet mash, so I don’t. They just eat dry feed that day and are fine. I don’t ask other caretakers to mix mash for the chickens. Feed is feed, so when they don’t have wet feed, they just eat the dry.

I figured the same - when I went on vacation (once lol) it was easy to ask my neighbor to just dump a cup of dry feed on a plate in the morning in lieu of their usual fermented breakfast (we left their main dry feeder in place for duration of our trip), rather than expect her to manage fermented feed. She was surprised that she had to do so little but I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her.

 

[K0k0shka]

Do you add anything to the mash?

Most days I add a small handful of black oil sunflower seeds. I have a hen with mild but chronic wry neck, and I read that they are a good source of vitamin E (which is supposed to help with that). The chickens love the seeds. Some days I add blueberries to the mix as well, or kitchen scraps, but it's a treat and maybe once or twice a week.

Your opinion please: is leaving grit out for them in a hung bowl unnecessary? They have mulch and dirt in the run?? They seem to be eating the starter grit in the bowl too. Wasnt sure if it could hurt or not?

Never hurts to offer grit. The run isn't always a sufficient source of grit, especially if it's mulched and there's a lot of bedding piled up. And not all dirt has the right kind or amount of rocks that can be used by chickens either (they might be too large or too small). I always have a small bowl of grit available at all times. Just make sure it's protected from the rain (if outside), or if not, drill a couple very small holes in the bottom of the container so that rainwater can drain out. Grit is just rocks so it doesn't spoil, but the bowl can fill up with water when it rains and then the chickens won't be able to get to the grit itself through the water.