New Member - How young can you feed chicks treats?

[btxnew2003]

Hi everyone. I love the idea of all the different treats chickens can eat. I never had any idea. I just got my first 6 chicks ever about 2 weeks ago. How old do they need to be before I try any of the treats out on them? And......which ones do you recommend starting with? I was thinking the yogurt or the millworms, but I would really love opinions from those of you with experience.

BTW....you will probaby see a lot of questions from this newcomer in the next few weeks. I am very excited about this new adventure and am very happy there is a site like this. Thank you in advance for all of your help!!!!

 

[PeeperKeeper]

They will tackle earthworms and small caterpillars at about 5 days old. Just remember that if you satisfy them with treats then they may not eat their chick starter that has the nutrion needed for proper growth and health.

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

At about 1 week old, I start giving my chicks chopped boiled eggs about every 3 days---they LOVE it, and its good for them. At about 2 weeks of age, I add grated carrots to the boiled eggs---they LOVE that too.

 

[IggiMom]

I give mine chopped boiled egg, sometimes a little cooked rice, and sometimes a few meal worms. They are MANIACS over meal worms.

They do not get to fill up on them, though.

Catherine

 

[underground chickenman]

I usually wait until 3 or 4 weeks just to be sure to get them off to a good balanced start on their starter ration. After that, I give them some spinach leaves, strawberries, plain yogurt and a few other things, but nothing in any great quantities. Their feed has what they need. The treats are more for us because it is fun to watch them be chickens.

UGCM

 

[okiegirl]

regarding the yogurt, I went to Walmart to get some. All I found was low fat/no fat. nothing real.
what kind of yogurt do ya'll give?

 

[IggiMom]

Golly, Walmart should have regular yogurt. Breyer, maybe?

Catherine

 

[btxnew2003]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. This is going to be a really fun experience. I was going to let them outside for a while today (in a safe pen), but we got a norther last night and it is actually too cold here in Texas for that. I will wait til it warms up again. My husband is almost finished with their coop, so it will be all ready for them in a few weeks.

Thanks again everyone!!!! Glad to be here.

 

[chicken boy sam]

On the chick's third day, I gave them some lettuce just to pick at. Should I have done that? They didn't completely eat it though.

 

[sarahsark]

I waited about a week and a half, two weeks or so, and then I started giving them tiny bits of treats - a few Cheerio's, a spoonful of cooked rice, a spoonful of cooked, chopped macaroni, mostly bugs and worms, which they went ape for!

The trick is, just make sure the treat is truly a treat - make sure you don't overfeed the treats, no matter how much they beg and peep for more! They've got to eat that starter food, you know!

It is so much fun to discover your chickens favorite treats, and over time you will begin to get a feel for their unique personalities - some chickens love fruit, others wouldn't touch it even if they hadn't eaten for a week. Mine used to go nuts for rice, but have since developed a "meh.... what else ya got?" attitude towards it and prefer macaroni noodles instead, for instance.