Oh No, Wrong Foods??

[sarahjane2740]

I fed my chicks (4 weeks) some wax worms this evening they look like this:

They haven't had any grit yet ever, i only have oyster shell. Should i grind some of that and give it to them??

Just read the thread that says about worms biting through the chicks stomach :s

Help?

 

[danischi24]

I think that the digestive juices & chick food being crushed against them will kill them rather satisfactorily. Don't worry.

 

[Imp]

Oyster shell is not a good idea for chicks, and it's not a great source of grit. It's too soft, and has too much calcium, for regular use.
If you can get chick grit that would be best, or get some coarse sand/pebbles out of your yard.
Here's a pix of chick grit:

worms biting their way through chicks stomachs. Not heard that before. I'd be skeptical.

Imp- now going looking for that thread.

ETA- I think Danischi is right, not a dire emergency. The first time I raised chicks, I didn't know about chick grit. They got no grit for 5 months.

 

[sarahjane2740]

C_Dzchicks wrote:

They love Meal worms. I got a little can of 500 live ones form Wild Birds Unlimited for like $7. After they have eaten them all you should see them start to forage looking for more. Its a sight.

Also Crickets are really entertaining. If you can stomach it, you may have to tear off a back leg to make it catchable.
Use caution with feeding young chicks mealworms...I have read in posts here before that if you don't cut off the worms head it can do damage to the stomach of the chick.



I gave my girls a red wriggler (from my indoor composting bin). They are 5 days old and they went nuts for it. But then I read here there is some concern regarding parasites in worms! Ugh.

So, then mealworms looked promising but now the eat through stomachs!!

Grapes are poisonous to dogs so I held off on that.

Its on the 'good treats for baby chicks' thread, i was just imagining the worms chewing through my chicks like a predator film :s

Feel more at ease now thanks!