Keet Treat?

[arent87]

I have been feeding my roughly 3 week old Keets 24% gamebird crumble since day one (I can't find 28% anywhere, for the life of me, but they seem to be doing ok), and also adding that nutri drench stuff to their water. My question is, when can I start adding dried mealworms to their diet? I have heard that's a good way to help endear the keets to you... sit with them and give them delicious mealworms... but what age is good?

 

[R2elk]

I have been feeding my roughly 3 week old Keets 24% gamebird crumble since day one (I can't find 28% anywhere, for the life of me, but they seem to be doing ok), and also adding that nutri drench stuff to their water. My question is, when can I start adding dried mealworms to their diet? I have heard that's a good way to help endear the keets to you... sit with them and give them delicious mealworms... but what age is good?

Whenever you feed something like mealworms, you need to provide the appropriately sized grit so they can digest them. Mealworms are an excellent source of high protein (50% protein) and should be considered a treat. Total treats should not amount to more than 10% of their total diet. Too much protein can actually be more harmful than too little protein.

Basically you can start the mealworms as soon as you provide the keets with grit.

 

[BoogieBug]

My keets are a week old and have already been eating dehydrated meal worms. The first time I gave them to them, they didn't seem interested but apparently they changed their minds because they go crazy now for them!! I've also been giving them chick grit. They are doing great ... maybe TOO great! Lil stinkers are flying out of the brooder box!!!

Oh, and I found these two options for high protein turkey starter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJDCGM0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJDCGM0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This one is only 24% protein...
http://sunrisefarm.net/turkey-starter-feed/
http://sunrisefarm.net/turkey-starter-feed/

 

[arent87]

I picked up some dried meal worms yesterday and tossed a pinch of them in with the babies... Like yours the first time... Not a lot of interest. A couple of them darted over to see what had just landed nearby, pecked a little bit aaaaaaaand that was about it.