My 5 wk olds eat nothing but chick starter...refusing any scratch

[I'M On Island Time]

I have older hens and a roo (separate free rangers) that are absolute garbage disposals and eat anything not nailed down. They have pretty much always been like that and actually preferred scratch grains over chick starter way back when.

However, my 5 wk old leghorns will eat only chickfeed. In fact, if it isn't dry crumbles, they won't go near it. I had made a little bit of a mash with some 'booster' oil in it to flesh them out a bit more, but they sniffed it, stared at it, one tasted it, and then they all ran the other way. Luckily, the old girls were more than glad to consume it. The babies also will not eat grass or plants in their growing pen. They pick at it and taste it, but spit it back out.

So, will they eventually develop an appetite for bugs, scraps, and scratch, or am I stuck with a bunch of spoiled brat chickens?

P.S.--While they don't need grit with the chick feed they eat, they do have access to it in their growing pen and eat that a little.

 

[lux_interior]

The first things my chicks would eat besides grower were worms and scratch.... they also liked yogurt from early on, try mixing some yogurt or oatmeal WITH their starter.... sometimes that helps... think of them like babies, you just have to keep sampling things and giving them new choices and do it often, they'll pick up on it!

 

[Davaroo]

Interesting question. It is known that chickens have definite preferences and do not like disturbance to their routine. Once trained to one thing, they will shun others.
It is also known that Med breeds like Leghorns are peculiar birds, or at least they have different ways about them.

Therein probably lies your solution - you have to actively train them to eat something else. SO start mixing the current feed with the "new" stuff. Little by little taper off on the old, until only the new feed remains. Thats the theory, at least.

 

[I'M On Island Time]

Thanks for the responses already. I am tempted to put in my old brahma hen with them to show them what to eat. She has mothered all of my chicks over the years and socialized them before they went out with the whole flock.

As for leghorns being peculiar...YES! This is my first time with this breed. I have 22. This is the first group of chicks I've raised that will not go in their house at night, are absolutely the most active birds, and can fly pretty high and pretty far. I think they have springs for little yellow legs!

I do enjoy them, though. The females are already very feminine looking, and aside from the food issues, are very polite and the healthiest I've raised so far (maybe because they only eat chick feed?) (by healthy, I mean uniform growth and development among all of them, no picking or injuries, and feathering out quickly). This is also the only group of chicks so far that have gotten along with the old birds (the old girls and roo accidently got into the growing pen yesterday while I was cleaning out the babies' coop, and they were mingling without any fighting).

 

[Davaroo]

I'M On Island Time :

1. I am tempted to put in my old brahma hen with them to show them what to eat. She has mothered all of my chicks over the years and socialized them before they went out with the whole flock.
2... absolutely the most active birds, and can fly pretty high and pretty far. I think they have springs for little yellow legs!

3. The females are already very feminine looking, polite...

4. This is also the only group of chicks so far that have gotten along with the old birds (the old girls and roo accidently got into the growing pen yesterday while I was cleaning out the babies' coop, and they were mingling without any fighting).

1. This is a good idea. Please do that and let us know how that works.

2. They are considered a "flighty" breed, and even "nervy" by some. They are not generally recommended as yard birds for that reason, as things lawnmowers and barking dogs are reputed to send them into a nervous fit. I suspect you give them lots of room.
They are also not considered table birds as are the dual purpose breeds. THey are smaller, with less meat on them - but they are egg laying machines and they eat less. Pretty good trade off.

3. "Feminine looking" and "polite" are some interesting ways of measuring them. Is that in the standard?

4. That IS interesting. Have the different breeds/birds been in proximity as they've grown?​

 

[I'M On Island Time]

The leghorn roos are going to be stew soon because I cannot keep that many boys. Definitely not meaty, but oh well.

The growing pen is just a chicken wire pen, so I am sure the other chickens have seen them there for a few weeks now and realized they aren't a threat. However, it hasn't seem to matter with past batches of youngsters. Go figure.

Will do with Snowbirdy teaching those brats about being a real free ranger!

 

[baglady456]

My chicks (now 9 weeks old) will not go near anything unless I put it on my finger or in my hand first. I have been hand feeding them once a day since I go them so I guess they equate my hand with treats. Once they taste it out of my hand they will go for it in the bowl. Excpet for green peas, they wouldn't touch them except to pick them up and spit them out on the ground. So if they are used to your hands that may be a way to get them to try something new.

 

[Davaroo]

And as un-BYC like as it sounds I never bother over it. If they only like certain things, then thats what they get... until something else goes on sale.

 

[bethandjoeync]

also I have found that my 11 wk olds will eat anything if they are hungry enough.

my son has fed them worms and bugs all their lives so they like to see him coming.

once I read somewhere that if they aren't scratching than you are feeding them too much. I have noticed if I let the feeders go empty for about an hour the coop floor with be all turned up (and then we don't have to do it

) or they will be outside in the run scratching around. try that, let them go an hour without feed, or sprinkle it on the ground that they can get to.

I have some smaller chicks that are about 7 weeks old that are in a wire dog kennel in the coop (so they can be around the older ones and easier to integrate) that don't really scratch around. but I noticed when we let the food get empty for a bit and sprinkled some on the floor below them they would scratch away.

good luck! hope that helps ya!

 

[Im4dabirds]

Mine are pretty funny that way too. I read all these posts about how they'll eat just about anything, but unless they grow into it, mine will just be finicky eaters. I did finally get them to eat seedless grapes when I cut them up and offered them in my hand. I've tried watermelon, squash, cooked rice, pasta, greens left over from the kitchen, tomatoes. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. On the bright side, that may mean my garden is safe if I turn them loose in the yard!