After an impulse buy at the auction I came home with a broody hen and 10 biddies. They look to be about a week old, but for 12$ I couldnt pass it. Anyways Im still building a coop and have them inside in a large plastic dog crate. Every one looks like there doing fine. Im using the long chick feeder the one with the holes on top. and a chick waterer. Now the question is how do I feed them all? I have chick starter in the chick feeder and I put laying crumbles in a crock attached to the front of the crate for momma. BUT she nocks out the feed all on the floor and then eats it and the babies too. and they jump up and eat out of her crock. should I just keep feeding only chick starter for momma until there older? or will the layer feed hurt the biddies? another thing I have 4 rir chicks I hatched (from my homade bator woo hoo) they are about 2 weeks old. can I put them all together? Im going to finish my coop this week hopefully. Tony
She'll eat the chick feed and be just fine!! That's what I'm giving mine and she looks as healthy as she did before she went broody As far as adding the 2 week old chicks they should do fine but the only problem I'd see is there might be too many for her to properly take care of!!
Yes, just use chick starter for them all. Do not put out layer feed for momma, because the extra calcium in it can cause health problems for growing chicks. Momma may or may not want the older 4 chicks, but it's worth a try to put them all together. Good luck!!!!
