New Chicks!...questions!!

[Irishsilk]

Sadly our 'one egg' that hatched some months ago died at 2weeks old. I was so devastated that I couldn't come on here to talk about it.
Chick seemed fit and healthy, then was dead one morning. I felt so sad for Mama Hen.
No idea why, as Mama was such a good devoted mum.

Anyway ...... She has now got 4 more chicks that she hatched 3 weeks ago!!
They all seem fit and strong. I just can't get as excited as I did before as I'm worried something could happen to these too.
I read posts on here everyday....but can you please just run me thru what these baby's need.
Is Mum ok on chick feed until chicks old enough to have adult food? At what age is it best to progress them onto different feed....and what do you give them?
I have posted another thread about chick grit....as can't get any here in our part of Ireland.

I really appreciate this forum.....Thankyou!!

 

[1muttsfan]

It is always sad to loose a young bird. As we all find out, birds will unexpectedly die for many reasons.

Your hen will be fine eating chick food until she decides the chicks are on their own and goes back to laying.

Most feed tells you on the bag what age to feed it to - here in the States you would progress from starter, to grower/finisher as the chicks get older.

Chicks out on the ground will likely pick up gravel on their own. They don't actually need grit unless they eat food other than their chick starter, which does not require grit to digest.