Mother hen feeding her babies food from the DO NOT FEED list!

[bethanyrae]

My mother hen is taking her 4 - 5 day old chicks out in the yard and feeding them all manner of things: grass, bugs, cucumber, scratch grain, dirt, random seeds and leaves, and not paying much attention to the chick feed I'm putting out for them. I would normally tend to think that mother critters know best.....but why are we given all these warnings when we try to raise chicks ourselves? There are so many things NOT to feed them or they might die, etc., etc.

 

[Hay]

What? Bugs? My chicks go outside for a little bit and LOVE bugs! And they are only a week old. They don't really eat the grass, but sometimes they try to. Anyways, I think the bugs should be fine, at least, since chicks need lots of protein.

 

[emzee]

Maybe you should keep the mother hen and her chicks penned up somewhere so they can't eat all those other things.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Has the mother hen SEEN the list? maybe she was simply unaware of it's existance.

I've had a lot of broodies with babies - and yeah, they know best.

I wouldn't worry about it, if they are out free ranging, then they are getting grit in their food - so they can eat more stuff than an indoor brooded chick can eat.

meri

 

[Judy]

I offer baby chick grit in a separate dish and let my broody take care of her chicks as she wishes. Their gizzards are functioning well at a young age and they seem to know which grit to take. Worked fine, anyway.

 

[acbear93]

Mojo Chick'n :

Has the mother hen SEEN the list? maybe she was simply unaware of it's existance.

LOVE THAT!!!

I saw one of my almost 2 week old chicks outside eating a tiny worm, and I thought, oh, good for you! but then I wondered should you be eating that??? But hey, they are only doing what comes natural to them, and mama is out there, showing them what to do, they will grow up to be the best chickens I am sure...I would say dont worry...​

 

[gritsar]

Mama knows best. Everything I've read says mama raised chicks are smarter - have more chicken smarts - than brooder raised chicks and I believe it to be true.

 

[Mahlzeit]

Momma knows what she's doing. Don't fret.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Like several of the above have posted: Mother knows best. What do you think happens to the chicks raised by feral hens or by wild fowl? There's no chick feed magically growing out there. Heck, I tried giving my broody hens sunflower seeds because I know they love them, but instead they gave them to the chicks. They even tried to crack open the seeds for them.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Totally agree with everyone else, the only reason these things are 'do not feed' is becuase brooder babies don't normally have access to grit, and can be kind of dumb.

Chicks are small enough that dirt can be grit for them, mama knows what she's doing, and is showing her babies the good stuff!