Yikes! The Ladies (ok so I'm hopeful & they're only 3 weeks) are eating starter with the waterer changed 2x a day. I decided to scramble them (9) an egg each morning as well as giving them some finely shredded spinach, greens, yellow squash, grapes...They eat all of this throughout the day - well, they wouldn't touch the grapes...I just had some and thought I'd try. I'm I okay to do this? I read elsewhere on the BB not to give treats for the first few weeks. They were 2 weeks when we picked them up so they've only had the buffet for 5 days (and I got up late this am and didn't scramble). TIA for the advice!! [edited b/c I forgot to put their age.]
There is at least one other person I've heard on here that gives her chicks scrambled eggs, so as long as it's just a treat and not their main food, you should be fine!
I would not give young chicks any fruit or anything except perhaps eggs and plain yogurt. I never feed mine treats at that age and usually no scratch till they are about three months old. Even then, very little and mainly for training to come when called. EDITED TO ADD: every time you give them treats, that effectively lowers their protein levels that they need to grow (except eggs).
You should be ok as long as it isn't alot of whatever you are giving them - their bodies are very small and need to starter most. Just give them a little bit.
The eggs and greens would have the most concentrated nutrition for them. I'd probably skip the yellow squash and grapes for now, since the volume of food they are eating is so much smaller than for a large adult chicken. Every bite really has to count. When giving food to any species, I try to really focus on what size they are. In this case, how small they are. I think about how big I am and what a reasonable serving is as a meal or a snack. I wouldn't be eating a serving the size of a basketball or a bushel basket. That might help you as you decide how much they should be getting as a treat or supplement.
Thanks for all the answers. Other than sometimes I feel like the egg is a lot b/c it's extra large, it is split between the 9 and the rest of the stuff is very minimal...they like to scratch around for it and "forage." I'd say if I had to put their starter consumption to a percentage it's probably 98% of the diet - or more. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't putting them in some type of danger by giving them the "treats." Again, thanks so much for sharing the knowledge!
I give my babies an occasional earthworm or "doodle bug", both of which they LOOOOOVE! I think it's ok as long as they are eating chick starter 95% of the time. We have chickweed growing in the yard, which I know is ok to give, but I haven't tried them on anything green yet. I will probably wait awhile since my babies are only just over a week old.
My chicks were introduced to earwigs at an early age. They thought that was great, and I am pretty sure that earwigs have some protein in addition to crunchy legs. Actually, I used my urban composter as a daytime brooder; brought the chicks in at night. The chicks found all kinds of yummy stuff in the composter. This worked great until they were about 4 weeks old, when they started getting too big for the composter.
It's ok to feed babies that, just feed it in moderation. They have sensitive bellies and should be fed mostly starter at that age. I feed my babies grass, dog food, and cheese from day one. Never hurt any of them. Think of it this way... in the wild, they'd eat what mama eats.