MissPrissy....silkiechicken....speckledhen....a question?

[Cetawin]

My girls are now 3 weeks old and they have been having a small amount of chick scratch with their crumbles from day one...because we have still had cold damp weather....my question...do they need grit in addition to the scratch or will the scratch suffice ?

I am going grocery shopping in a bit and if they need the grit, I will grab some parakeet grit for them until I get to the feed store.

Thanks for the help.

 

[twigg]

Quote:
If you are feeding Scratch, they need grit.

Sorry, I am not Miss P or Silkie

 

[tiffanyh]

I was going to answer, but then I saw that the questions wasnt addressed to me. That would be rude of me!

 

[silkiechicken]

Anyone can answer.

If you are giving scratch, a bit of grit would be a good idea to help break down the large chunks of food. Parakeet sand would work just fine.

 

[twigg]

Quote:
I just have a big mouth

 

[Cetawin]

Thanks everyone for the answers...I just tagged three knowledgeable persons that I am familiar with to address the post to.

I appreciate all input, advice and suggestions. I will get them some parakeet sand/grit this afternoon.

 

[arwmommy]

Parakeet grit (at least all the ones around here!) have crushed oyster shells and charcoal in it as well! I just use a bit of sand when they are babies, or go get a bit of tiny gravel from our local gravel place.... every time I have gone in with a gallon zip loc bag and asked how much it would be for *this much* gravel, they just laugh at me and give it to me for free.

I need to take them some cookies or something I think.....

 

[MissPrissy]

I have to question why they need the scratch? It is like candy. At 3 weeks they should be under brooder lamps have no need for corn to generate body heat. Given the choice of scratch or feed they most likely will prefer to eat all the scratch before touching the starter feed. They need the starter feed. They don't need the scratch. Of course if they are eating scratch they need some fine chick grit. If you really want to help them in place of scratch give them a bowl of cooked eggs and yogurt with starter and/or a tiny bit of grit sprinkled over. The yogurt is good probiotics, far better than corn.

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Well, being a newbie

, I mixed a bit of the scratch in their crumbles as I was taught growing up. Mixed at about 1/4 - 1/2 lbs chick scratch to 10# starter crumbles...so not an excessive amount by any means.

The girls get yogurt since they came off their antibiotics (which by the way did great for them), they also got some plain baked yams, steamed broccoli and just recently, sunflower meat.

So...what should I change? What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it? LOL

They are looking and acting okay...spoiled LOL

 

[MissPrissy]

They are getting a great diet! They just don't need the corn scratch. Stop the corn and keep on truckin! Honestly they don't need the corn. It will cause fat to build up around their internal organs and cause stress to the functionality of their body.