Day 18 and I picked up Mama hen and THERE WAS A BABY CHICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A little black one so possibly an Australorp. I'm beyond excited. Now I'm wondering when I need to put the chick food out? Now? Or tomorrow? When do they need to eat commercial food? #newbie
Day 18 and I picked up Mama hen and THERE WAS A BABY CHICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A little black one so possibly an Australorp. I'm beyond excited. Now I'm wondering when I need to put the chick food out? Now? Or tomorrow? When do they need to eat commercial food? #newbie
Yeah, I use to that too!!When my broodys raise the chicks I actually don't put out any chick feed, my whole flock is on an all purpose flock raiser pellets and momma will break that down for the babies and within a week or two they eat those pellets by themselves!.. I have done this since last spring as chicks hatched with a broody are raised within the flock and it was to difficult to try and incorporate two different feed types and keeping the others out of the chick starter... Like you, I thought chicks needed a special food but a wise person at our local feed store (small town) told me he had raised chickens for years and never gave the bitties chick starter.. I am on my fourth round of broody raised chicks for the year with the first batch at the point of lay so it hasn't harmed them at all and the last round only a week old
Its much easier to have an all purpose feed and then put out oyster shells for the layers
Oh and by the way Congrats!!!
This morning, there was a broken/eaten egg in the nest. But after I counted, there were still 10 eggs. I think she laid an egg and then ate it. Not sure why, but the others are still okay. Maybe she can only fit 10 under her? She is sitting on them longer than she did last week. But I thought broodies stop laying.
